America Dancing

September 15, 2015
In her debut, a scholar and freelance critic transforms some key people and events into artful coat trees on which to hang the history of American popular dance. Pugh is offering not a detailed, comprehensive history but a focused, intentionally limited account. Some readers may quibble with her choices-why chapters on Agnes de Mille and Michael Jackson and not Bob Fosse and Gene Kelly?-but as the text unfurls, most readers will be satisfied (Fosse does get significant mention in Jackson's chapter). The author opens with a startling moment: the 1939 arrest of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson in Times Square for loitering while contemplating a neon sign of himself, and Robinson's influence, as well as the influences of numerous other black dancers, glides through the text. Others meriting considerable attention include Fred Astaire and Paul Taylor, but Pugh is careful to include myriad other important figures, including Hermes Pan (who worked with Astaire) and Cholly Atkins (whose work Jackson studied closely). Some will find surprises here, as well. With his wife, Henry Ford wrote a manual for square dancers (Good Morning, 1926), and Michael Jackson learned the moonwalk from others, practicing for years before he presented it to the public. Although Pugh's scholarship is considerable, she is writing not for a scholarly but for a general audience. Readers won't get lost in any forest of arcane vocabulary or be confused by charts and diagrams. Her intent, instead, is to show dance's sort of mockingbird origins: moves come from earlier moves and moments-evolution, not intelligent design. At times, the author has a dancer's grace in the flow of her prose. She calls a piece by Paul Taylor "an exercise in delicious contrarianism." Her tone is relentlessly positive, however, with seldom a discouraging word. Pugh gracefully dances the fine line between critic and fan.

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October 15, 2015

Critic and poet Pugh shares her perspectives on "American dancers who have been celebrated for embodying the country in movement." This book is divided into six sections and presented chronologically starting with the cakewalk ("America's First National Dance"). Tappers Bill Robinson and Fred Astaire are discussed, along with choreographers Agnes de Mille and Paul Taylor. The last chapter focuses on the influence of Michael Jackson. Legendary performer Robinson is known for his "stair dance" and was a key transitional figure in elevating tap into an art form. Astaire built on this and blended it with ballroom and ballet, while de Mille created Rodeo and choreographed Oklahoma! using square dance and country motifs. The troubled history of America is reflected in dance, says Pugh, who discusses the origins of the cakewalk, minstrelsy, and the career of Robinson, who played a supporting role to Shirley Temple in Hollywood movies. A list of dance films and videos is provided. VERDICT Major figures are highlighted in this cultural overview of American dance. Recommended for readers of dance history and for academic libraries with dance programs.--Barbara Kundanis, Longmont P.L., CO

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