The Routledge Dance Studies Reader has been expanded and updated, giving readers access to thirty-seven essential texts that address the social, political, cultural, and economic impact of globalization on embodiment and choreography.

These interdisciplinary essays in dance scholarship consider a broad range of dance forms in relation to historical, ethnographic, and interdisciplinary research methods including cultural studies, reconstruction, media studies, and popular culture.

This new third edition expands both its geographic and cultural focus to include recent research on dance from Southeast Asia, the People’s Republic of China, indigenous dance, and new sections on market forces and mediatization.

Sections cover:






Methods and approaches



Practice and performance



Dance as embodied ideology



Dance on the market and in the media



Formations of the field.

The Routledge Dance Studies Reader includes essays on concert dance (ballet, modern and postmodern dance, tap, kathak, and classical khmer dance), popular dance (salsa and hip-hop), site-specific performance, digital choreography, and lecture-performances. It is a vital resource for anyone interested in understanding dance from a global and contemporary perspective.