This penetrating analysis of one of the most extraordinary fads ever to strike America details how dance marathons manifested a potent from of drama. Between the two world wars they were a phenomenon in which working-class people engaged in emblematic struggles for survival. Battling to outlast other contestants, the dancers hoped to become notable. There was crippling exhaustion and anguish among the contenders, but ultimately it was the coupling of authentic pain with staged displays that made dance marathons a national craze. Within the well-controlled space of theatre they revealed actual life's unpredictability and inconsistencies, and, indeed, the frightful aspects of social Darwinism. In this grotesque theatrical setting we see also a horrifying metaphor - the ailing nation grappling with difficult times.
- ISBN10 0878056734
- ISBN13 9780878056736
- Publish Date 1 August 1994
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 7 August 2012
- Publish Country US
- Imprint University Press of Mississippi
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 288
- Language English