Steven H. Lonsdale

This book examines the function of dance in ancient Greek religion. It does a very thorough job of examining it's function in various parts of worship. There are many translations of historical references in the text but also very good analysis of what the passages imply. It certainly gave me a very good understanding of how dance fit into religious life in Greece but I wish it had also gone onto discuss specific dances as well. The book covers an array of human transitions and how dance played a functional role in them such as the transition from being a boy to a man or a girl to a woman. It covers dance as it relates to both fertility/childbirth and death as well. I loved that it covered so many of the functions dance had in Ancient Greece. The only problems I had with this book (and subsequently the reason why it received only 4 stars) were that the author sometimes seemed to really be driving a point sometimes and in doing so sometimes reiterates his point far too much. Secondly, he gets a little wordy from time to time to the point where I found after having read the page I really didn't know what he was talking about anymore as I had gotten lost somewhere in the middle of what he was trying to say. I also thought he brought Plato's laws into play little too much and although I think he did an excellent job demonstrating how Plato's laws reflected the functionality and purpose of dance in Ancient Greece it seemed at times as though he was trying too hard.… (mer)