Table of Contents

List of Illustrations ix
Foreword xi
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xvi
Notes on Translation, Transliteration, and Honorifics xviii
Timeline xx
PART ONE HIDDEN ROOTS 1
1 The Goddess and the Dancing Boys 3
2 The Primacy of Rhythm 27
PART TWO THE DANCE ZONES 41
3 Ferghana Dance 43
4 Bukhara and Samarkand 55
5 Khorezm Dance 83
PART THREE FROM THE ICHKARI TO THE CONCERT STAGE 97
6 Mentors and Martyrs 99
7 Cross-Pollination: Moscow and Paris 111
8 From Revolution to Evolution 121
PART FOUR TERROR AND WAR 135
9 Uprooted: Koreans and Crimean Tatars 137
10 The War Front and the Home Front 149

PART FIVE THE ARRIVAL OF SPRING 159
11 The Blossoming of the Bakhor Ensemble 161
12 Constructing Karakalpak Dance 179
13 Kizlarkhon Dusmukhamedova—“Queen of All the Girls” 189
PART SIX FROM RED STAR TO CRESCENT MOON 197
14 New Celebrations for a New Nation 199
15 Conclusion: Lessons of Resilience 209
Glossary of Dance Related Terms 214
Bibliography 217
Index 236

Promotional Information

The first comprehensive work in English on the three major regional styles of Uzbek women’s dance and their broader Silk Road cultural connections, from folklore roots to contemporary stage dance.

About the Author

Laurel Victoria Gray is Professor of World Dance at George Washington University, US, and past Adjunct Professor of Dance of the Islamic World at George Mason University, US. In 2007, she was named Honorary Professor at the Uzbekistan State Institute of Arts and Culture in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. She has been the founding artistic director and choreographer for Silk Road Dance Company in Washington DC, US, since 1995.