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Wild Grace

The Untamed Women of Modern Dance

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Pub Date Feb 10 2026 | Archive Date Not set


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Description

The untold tale of the extraordinary women who drove the modern dance movement, boldly confronting cultural narratives about sex and power.

In Wild Grace, Sara Veale profiles nine of the pioneering North American dancers at the heart of this movement. She shows how Isadora Duncan and Loie Fuller fearlessly rejected nineteenth-century paternalism and how Katherine Dunham and Pearl Primus battled to recenter marginalised histories with Dunham leading America's first major Black dance troupe and Primus breaking down doors as the first Black student at New York's New Dance Group.

Each of these dancers redefined the meaning of grace in their art and their lifestyle, conveying vital truths about what it means to walk the world as a woman. Veale brings to life the stories and artistry of these remarkable individuals and reveals how, in their refusal to conform, we can find urgent lessons for today.

The untold tale of the extraordinary women who drove the modern dance movement, boldly confronting cultural narratives about sex and power.

In Wild Grace, Sara Veale profiles nine of the pioneering...


Advance Praise

"These female dance makers, whose works emerged from an age of hopefulness, are brought back to life, and are an inspiration for the future." - Sarah Crompton - Spectator

"Compelling." - Harper's Bazaar

"A refreshing blend of biography, criticism and social history." - Zuzanna Lachendro - New Statesman

"Written with love . . . this pithy, passionate volume is a hymn to the American female dancers from the early 1900s on . . . a valuable and often fascinating document." - Mark Monahan - Sunday Telegraph

"[An] ardent debut . . . Rigorous research matches with a zesty turn of phrase . . . while broader insights emerge organically into how a person might move through the world with authentic grace." - Hephzibah Anderson - Observer

"These female dance makers, whose works emerged from an age of hopefulness, are brought back to life, and are an inspiration for the future." - Sarah Crompton - Spectator

"Compelling." - Harper's...


Available Editions

EDITION Hardcover
ISBN 9780571368563
PRICE $34.95 (USD)
PAGES 288

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