HELEN THOMAS is Reader in Sociology at Goldsmiths College, University of London. She has published numerous articles on dance and presented papers on her work in Europe, North America and Japan. She is editor of Dance, Gender and Culture and Dance in the City, and is author of Dance, Modernity and Culture. She recently completed an AHRB funded study, Dancing into the Third Age: Social Dance as Cultural Text.

• IntroductionPART 1: CULTURAL BODIES The Body in Culture: Before the Body ProjectThe Body in Culture: The Body ProjectEthnography Dances BackPART 2: DANCE, THE BODY AND CULTURAL THEORY The Body in DanceReconstructing the Dance: In Search of Authenticity?Dance and Difference: Performing/Representing/Re-Writing the BodyDancing the Night Away: Rave/Club CultureConclusionReferencesIndex.

'Comprehensive and illuminating...Students of contemporary culture will find her interdisciplinary treatment of dance in all its forms an essential text.' - Professor Bryan Turner, Cambridge University, UK