Wild Grace

The Untamed Women of Modern Dance

Sara Veale

$55

Hardback

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English

Faber & Faber
23 April 2025

Dance; Social & cultural history; Feminism & feminist theory

'Refreshing.' NEW STATESMAN 'Compelling.' HARPER'S BAZAAR 'Passionate.' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

The untold history of the extraordinary women who drove the modern dance movement and changed cultural narratives about sex, power and women's rights.

'Don't let them tame you!' ISADORA DUNCAN

The story of modern dance is a story of subversion - of forms challenged and hierarchies toppled in the pursuit of blazing artistic integrity. In Wild Grace, Sara Veale profiles nine of the pioneering women at the heart of this movement, from Isadora Duncan and Loie Fuller's fearless rejection of nineteenth-century paternalism to Katherine Dunham and Pearl Primus's battles to recentre marginalised histories in the wake of the Second World War.

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.

By: Sara Veale
Imprint: Faber & Faber
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: Main
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 153mm,
ISBN: 9780571368563
ISBN 10: 0571368565
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 23 April 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Sara Veale is a London-based writer and editor focusing on dance, feminism and design. She studied literature and dance as an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and holds an MA in English: Issues in Modern Culture from University College London. Veale has been a freelance dance critic since 2013, reviewing major international dance companies, covering arts festivals across the UK and Europe and interviewing industry giants. She has written regularly for the Observer, The Spectator, Fjord Review and DanceTabs. Her dance criticism has also appeared in Gramophone, Auditorium, Exeunt and more; her literary criticism has appeared in The Literateur, Fiction Uncovered and Review 31, where she was the fiction reviews editor from 2014 to 2020. Veale is also a member of the Dance Critics' Circle.

Reviews for Wild Grace: The Untamed Women of Modern Dance

""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