Talking Dance

Dance is intimately woven into the lives of people around the Southern Mediterranean, reaching beyond studios and into streets, homes, politics and families. It is expressed in a myriad of ways and reflects a cultural reality of hybrid, diverse and dynamic societies. But existing accounts of dance in the Southern Mediterranean have been subject to misinterpretations, often succumbing to distorted, romanticised and exoticised impressions. This book provides a rich montage of stories that capture the voices of dancers from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco, as well as the other countries of the region. The stories challenge existing representations of dance in the Southern Mediterranean and their rich commentary reveals the diverse cultural and political experience embodied in dance.