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Dancing in Time: The History of Moving and Shaking
A full-color visual history of dance from the waltz to modern hip-hop, with 200+ illustrations from the British Library collections, including photographs, cartoons, step notation, magazines and musical scores. This title reveals the incredible impact of dance on society, rebalancing gender dynamics, shattering expectations of class and embracing cross-cultural influences.
Dance is at the heart of diverse cultures around the globe, from the increasing popularity of salsa clubs, to break dance battles that gather crowds in the street, to the constant stream of dance routines going viral on TikTok.
But behind the glitzy performances are amazing and unpredictable histories: the shocking debut of the waltz in eighteenth-century Vienna; the power of African-American influence on the jive and Lindy hop; and the early foundations of hip-hop in funk and disco styles. Tango, samba, Charleston, cha cha cha, rumba – each dance has distinct rhythms, quality of movement and complex rules to learn and follow. But they all shook up society and gave ordinary people the freedom of self-expression.
Choreographer Robert Hylton navigates an extraordinary array of photographs, periodicals and ephemera from the British Library collections, which reveal the true origins of the popular dance styles that have, at one point or another, swept the population off their feet.
Dance is at the heart of diverse cultures around the globe, from the increasing popularity of salsa clubs, to break dance battles that gather crowds in the street, to the constant stream of dance routines going viral on TikTok.
But behind the glitzy performances are amazing and unpredictable histories: the shocking debut of the waltz in eighteenth-century Vienna; the power of African-American influence on the jive and Lindy hop; and the early foundations of hip-hop in funk and disco styles. Tango, samba, Charleston, cha cha cha, rumba – each dance has distinct rhythms, quality of movement and complex rules to learn and follow. But they all shook up society and gave ordinary people the freedom of self-expression.
Choreographer Robert Hylton navigates an extraordinary array of photographs, periodicals and ephemera from the British Library collections, which reveal the true origins of the popular dance styles that have, at one point or another, swept the population off their feet.
224 pages, Hardcover
Published September 19, 2023
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August 25, 2026
Recounting the history of dance – or, more precisely, that of expression through structured motion – and the customs surrounding it is no easy feat. Even when repeated, motion is by its very nature fleeting, and while the past century has provided the means for the first time ever of recording that motion visually so as to preserve it this only captures its recent history. Though other means of recording dances existed before motion pictures allowed them to be filmed, as Robert Hylton notes, learning dance steps from the manuals that were the primary means of preserving their patterns is “akin to putting together a table or shelves from a very famous Swedish furniture story: you will get there in the end, but you will take twice as long as other people and will not doubt have a frustrating experience.”
This problem shapes the focus of Hylton’s breezy and immersive study of the history of dance. Starting with the well-documented emergence of formal dancing in the aristocratic ballrooms of early modern Europe, he summarizes the development of dances ranging from the quadrille and the cotillion to the hip-hop dancing of today. It’s a very European-centric approach that not only leaves out dance in Asia from his “history of moving and shaking,” but it consigns the history of dancing in the West before then to a hazy era of “folk dancing” that is addressed only when it is incorporated into modern forms. It is a choice that narrows the concept of dancing to a lineage of Western forms infused through colonialism with African contributions.
A limiting account of dance is not without its advantages, however, as it allows the author to focus on the styles associated with modern competitive dancing. Starting with the waltz, he shows how dance was engaged in a constant process of innovation and adaptation, as various cultural and social influences fueled the creation of expressive dances and their refinement into new forms. This he ties to the histories of the communities in which they emerged, as he traces how they filtered upward to the more polished and formal performances in upper-class venues and middle-class dance halls. The liberal incorporation of pictures and advertisements from the British Library’s extensive collections reinforces the heavily Anglo-American focus of the book, but it also makes for a visually attractive book that underscores the enduring popularity of dance in modern society.
This problem shapes the focus of Hylton’s breezy and immersive study of the history of dance. Starting with the well-documented emergence of formal dancing in the aristocratic ballrooms of early modern Europe, he summarizes the development of dances ranging from the quadrille and the cotillion to the hip-hop dancing of today. It’s a very European-centric approach that not only leaves out dance in Asia from his “history of moving and shaking,” but it consigns the history of dancing in the West before then to a hazy era of “folk dancing” that is addressed only when it is incorporated into modern forms. It is a choice that narrows the concept of dancing to a lineage of Western forms infused through colonialism with African contributions.
A limiting account of dance is not without its advantages, however, as it allows the author to focus on the styles associated with modern competitive dancing. Starting with the waltz, he shows how dance was engaged in a constant process of innovation and adaptation, as various cultural and social influences fueled the creation of expressive dances and their refinement into new forms. This he ties to the histories of the communities in which they emerged, as he traces how they filtered upward to the more polished and formal performances in upper-class venues and middle-class dance halls. The liberal incorporation of pictures and advertisements from the British Library’s extensive collections reinforces the heavily Anglo-American focus of the book, but it also makes for a visually attractive book that underscores the enduring popularity of dance in modern society.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review