 Dance marathons, performing American culture in the 1920's and 1930's.
Author: Martin, Carol Published: 1994 This penetrating analysis of one of the most extraordinary crazes ever to strike the USA details how dance marathons manifested a potent form 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 the other contestants, the dancers hoped to become famous. 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. |
