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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

Faber US | Faber & Faber


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Description

"Opening a door into the rich world of modern dance." Kirkus starred review ⭐
"Captivating." Publishers Weekly starred review ⭐
"Refreshing." New Statesman
"Compelling." Harper's Bazaar
"Passionate." Sunday Telegraph

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.

"Opening a door into the rich world of modern dance." Kirkus starred review ⭐
"Captivating." Publishers Weekly starred review ⭐
"Refreshing." New Statesman
"Compelling." Harper's Bazaar
"Passionate." ...


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 Other Format
ISBN 9780571368563
PRICE $34.95 (USD)
PAGES 288

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Featured Reviews

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Sara Veale has taken on the ambitious and challenging task of writing about the women who created, developed and performed Modern Dance from Isadora Duncan to the Judson Church era dancers...(at least the JCE women were mentioned...that would be Trisha Brown, Yvonne Rainer and Anna Halprin).
I am so appreciative that she covered small details about the icons of Modern Dance history. I particularly loved the chapter on Maud Allen. There was so much more in this book that I did not know; Ms. Veale's research is invaluable! I loved reading the chapters on Katherine Dunham and Pearl Primus...I was 17 when I took my first Modern Class with Ina Hahn, a member of both the Graham and Humphrey dance companies, and like many of the women mentioned in this book, that first class, which was a Graham class, touched a part of my soul that I didn't even know existed.....I never looked back! So, today as I teach my Graham, Humphrey and Cunningham classes, I will have even more fodder for discussion of dance history for my students to hear. Thank you to Ms. Veale and to publishers Faber & Faber Limited.

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