From the ballet de cours of the seventeenth century to Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake, this fascinating selection of new writing invites the reader to revisit key moments in the history of Western theatre dance practice. By taking a fresh approach to the study of history in general, Alexandra Carter's Rethinking Dance History offers new perspectives on important periods in dance history and seeks to address some of the gaps and silences left within that history. Encompassing ballet, South Asian and modern dance forms, this book provides exciting new research on topics as diverse as: *the Victorian music hall *film musicals and popular music videos *the impact of Neoclassical fashion on ballet *women's influence on early modern dance *methods of dance reconstruction. Featuring work by some of the major voices in dance writing and discourse, this unique anthology will prove invaluable for both scholars and practitioners, and a source of interest for anyone who is fascinated by dance's rich and multi-layered history. Ramsay Burt, Alexandra Carter, Ananya Chatterjee, Judith Chazin-Bennahum, Beth Genne, Lena Hammergren, Marion Kant, Andre Lepecki, Alastair Macaulay, Larraine Nicholas, Chris Roebuck, Helen Thomas and