The Dance Of Freedom

A Dance to Freedom is a highly personal, inspiring tale of beating the odds to find the truth that can set you free. In addition to offering an inside look at the excesses, dangers and even tenderness within the world of adult entertainment, the book gives much-needed practical advice, based on the teachings of Alice Miller, on how anyone can break the invisible chains of the painful dramas of their past.

Susan was born to a mother cold and pretentious, and a father distant and, as she recalls, "most likely borderline autistic." Not the best nurturing environment for a gifted child, so she rebelled: flunking out of school; befriending those her mother would have considered "undesirables;" basically, living a life completely at odds to the one that would have ordinarily been "expected."But it was those early experiences that showed Susan how difficult life was for so many; it instilled in her a passionate zeal to help "the marginalized, the forgotten and the disenfranchised." And this interest in social justice has been "present" throughout her entire adult life.It is no wonder Susan as the choreographer, the painter, the writer, the dancer, has consistently used all her art forms as instruments to promote human rights and the concept of equality.Nowhere has that combination of creativity and activism been more compelling, and more successful, than with her teaching modern dance for the past 20 years to men imprisoned within the NYS correctional system. Her dance company, named "Figures In Flight," has garnered much critical and professional acclaim. A documentary about her work, entitled "The Game Changer," won Best Documentary Short at both the Harlem and Cannes film festivals. But the ultimate award for Susan's lifetime work must be how those men felt, aloft and moving, dancing to Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come." We can only "Imagine." But Susan knows.

This anthology brings together the late Barry A. Crouch's most important articles on the African American experience in Texas during Reconstruction. Grouped topically, the essays explore what freedom meant to the newly emancipated, how white Texans reacted to the freed slaves, and how Freedmen's Bureau agents and African American politicians worked to improve the lot of ordinary African American Texans. The volume also contains Crouch's seminal review of Reconstruction historiography, "Unmanacling Texas Reconstruction: A Twenty-Year Perspective." The introductory pieces by Arnoldo De Leon and Larry Madaras recapitulate Barry Crouch's scholarly career and pay tribute to his stature in the field of Reconstruction history.

In this pivotal book, the captivating and kinetic images of noted photographer Eric Waters are paired with a collection of insightful essays by preeminent authors and cultural leaders to offer the first complete look at the Social, Aid and Pleasure Club (SAPC) parade culture in New Or-leans. Ranging from ideological approaches to the contributions of musicians, development of specific rituals by various clubs, and parade accessories such as elaborately decorated fans and sashes, Freedom’s Dance provides an unparalleled photographic and textual overview of the SAPC Second Line, tracking its origins in African traditions and subsequent development in black New Orleans culture. Karen Celestan’s vibrant narrative is supplemented with interviews of longtime culture-bearers such as Oliver “Squirk” Hunter, Lois Andrews (mother of Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews and James Andrews), Fred Johnson, Gregory Davis, and Lionel Batiste, while interdisciplinary essays by leading scholars detail the rituals, historic perspective, and purpose of the Second Line. Freedom’s Dance defines this unique pub-lic-private phenomenon and captures every aspect of the Second Line, from SAPC members’ rollicking introductions at their annual parade to a funeral procession on its way to the crypt. Visually dazzling and critically important, Freedom’s Dance serves as both a celebration and a deep exploration of this understudied but immediately recognizable aspect of the African American tradition in the Big Easy.

A conceptual framework for understanding the development of improvised dance in late 20th-century America

This is a story of an immigrant, a woman who migrates from Sri Lanka to the United States in search of freedom from societal constraints. She travels across the world with a six year old daughter in pursuit of further education. The narrative outlines the challenges she faces as she adjusts to her new life, raising her daughter as a single parent and learning to play the multiple roles of parent, student and breadwinner. She learns to balance the pursuit of freedom with her desire for love, family, friendship and career, a balancing act she describes as a “dance of freedom and desire”.

"In the follow-up to ... A Stolen Life, [kidnapping survivor] Jaycee Dugard tells the story of her first experiences after years in captivity: the joys that accompanied her newfound freedom and the challenges of adjusting to life on her own"--Provided by publisher.

This is a how-to book for dance and movement teachers of people with intellectual disabilities. It offers ideas and stimuli for people working in the field of disability who may not have a strong dance background, as well as dance therapists who may be inexperienced in the field.