Dance is intimately woven into the lives of the people of the Southern Mediterranean. It extends beyond studios and reaches into streets, homes, politics and families. It is expressed in a myriad of ways that reflect a cultural reality of hybrid, diverse and dynamic societies. But existing accounts of dance in the region have been subject to misinterpretation, succumbing to distorted, romanticized and exoticized impressions. Talking Dance - the Southern Mediterranean captures the true voices of dancers from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco, as well as the other countries of the region. It provides a rich montage of stories that challenge existing representations of dance in the Southern Mediterranean, revealing the diverse cultural and political experience embodied in dance and emphasizing its central role in contemporary Middle East culture.

The South China Sea has a rich and turbulent history. Today territorial disputes in the region including China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines and Indonesia make it potentially one of the most dangerous points of conflict in Asia and millions of people have crossed its waters in search of safer shores. This new book reveals the ways in which the peoples of the South China Sea region have used dance as a means of contending with the immense political, economic and cultural rifts that have affected their lives. Drawing on the stories of indigenous dancers in southern China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, it offers unique insights into the ways in which people have used creative movement as a means of understanding the divisions and alienation that conflict, diaspora and globalization have brought and as a first step towards reclaiming their identities and their worlds."