Hanna Järvinen – författare

Tracing the historical figure of Vaslav Nijinsky in contemporary documents and later reminiscences, Dancing Genius opens up questions about authorship in dance, about critical evaluation of performance practice, and the manner in which past events are turned into history.

Tracing the historical figure of Vaslav Nijinsky in contemporary documents and later reminiscences, Dancing Genius opens up questions about authorship in dance, about critical evaluation of performance practice, and the manner in which past events are turned into history.

This is the first book in English exploring the quadrille as danced among the Skolt Saami, one of the indigenous Saami peoples in Northern Europe.The Skolt quadrille - the focus of this book - offers a fascinating case of transnational movement of dance forms, as well as insights on a living dance tradition in a specific indigenous culture. Today, the Skolts’ quadrille is a social dance with six figures, and it is most often danced by four couples. The dance resembles quadrilles in northern Russia, but its historical roots are in the imperial French quadrille. This book traces the history of the Skolt Saami through the lens of their dance and what is known of the Skolt quadrilles from historical sources. This is contrasted with contemporary narratives and practices, including interview materials with practitioners. The Skolt quadrille is examined as embodied action and as performance, taking place amid changing historical, social and cultural discourses. The book considers how the dance represents issues attached to the Skolt people's identity as a religious minority, both among the Finnish majority and the Saami; an evacuated community, living amid other Saami groups and Finns; and as Finnish citizens, most speaking Finnish as their first language.

The first comprehensive work in English on the three major regional styles of Uzbek women’s dance – Ferghana, Khiva and Bukhara – and their broader Silk Road cultural connections, from folklore rootsto contemporary stage dance.The book surveys the remarkable development from the earliest manifestations in ancient civilizationsto a sequestered existence under Islam; from patronage under Soviet power to a place of pride for Uzbek nationhood. It considers the role that immigration had to play on the development of the dances; how women boldly challenged societal gender roles to perform in public; how both material culture and the natural world manifest in the dance; and it illuminates the innovations of pioneering choreographers who drew from Central Asian folk traditions, gestures and aesthetics – not Russian ballet – to first shape modern Uzbek stage dance. Written by the first American dancer invited to study in Uzbekistan, this book offers insight into the once-hidden world of Uzbek women’s dance.