In response to a scarcity of writings on the intersections between dance and Christianity, Dancing to Transform examines the religious lives of American Christians who, despite the historically tenuous place of dance within Christianity, are also professional dancers. Emily Wright details how these dancing Christians transform what they perceive as secular professional by transforming concert dance into different kinds of religious practices in order to express individual and communal religious identities. Through a multi-site, qualitative study of four professional dance companies, Wright explores how religious and artistic commitments, everyday lived experience and varied performance contexts influence and shape the approaches of Christian professional dancers to creating, transforming and performing dance. Subsequently, this book provides readers with a greater awareness and appreciation for the complex interactions between American Christianity and dance. This study, in turn, delivers audiences a richer, more nuanced picture of the complex histories of these Christian, dancing communities and offers more fruitful readings of their choreographic productions.
"'Bubbling over with rich insights, Wright's book marks an important contribution to dance studies and religious studies. Her revisionist framework articulates Christianity's stance on dance with nuance and verve.... Wright's text has sufficient theoretical sophistication to engage a scholarly audience, but it remains accessible enough for undergraduates and the general populace.
Dancing to Tra
Kathryn Dickason, Dance Research Journal
"'Wright employs ethnographic research-predominantly autoethnography, fieldwork, and qualitative interviews-to discuss the interplay between dance, faith, and religious service among contemporary Christian dancers in the USA when engaging in stage performance. [...] This valuable book raises a range of questions about embodied Christianity that are of high importance for both religious studies sch
