by Hannah Kosstrin

Honest Bodies: Revolutionary Modernism in the Dances of Anna Sokolow illustrates the ways in which Sokolow's choreography circulated American modernism among Jewish and communist channels of the international Left from the 1930s-1960s in the United States, Mexico, and Israel. Drawing upon extensive archival materials, interviews, and theories from dance, Jewish, and gender studies, this book illuminates Sokolow's statements for workers' rights, anti-racism, and the human condition through her choreography for social change alongside her dancing and teaching for Martha Graham. Tracing a catalog of dances with her companies Dance Unit, La Paloma Azul, Lyric Theatre, and Anna Sokolow Dance Company, along with presenters and companies the Negro Cultural Committee, New York State Committee for the Communist Party, Federal Theatre Project, Nuevo Grupo Mexicano de Clásicas y Modernas, and Inbal Dance Theater, this book highlights Sokolow's work in conjunction with developments in ethnic definitions, diaspora, and nationalism in the US, Mexico, and Israel.

Table of Contents:

Preface: Honest Bodies
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction
1. Dances of All Nations: Choreographing Communism
2. Revolutionary Exile in Postrevolutionary Mexico City: Jewishness and Mexican Modernism
3. The Wandering Frog that Did Not Travel Well: Jewishness, Mexicanidad, and Ethnic Dance
4. White Rooms, Red Scare: Sokolow Defines America
5. Modernist Forms in a Jewish State
Epilogue: No Fists in the Air: Anna Sokolow and the Cold War
Selected Bibliography
Index