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Studies in Dance: Theories and Practices

Studies in Dance book series aims to further the goals of DSA by making widely available the rich and diverse scholarship that takes dance as its subject.

Ranging from new methods of historical inquiry to multiple theoretical perspectives, books in the series answer a growing demand for works that provide fresh analytical perspectives on dancing, dancers, and dances in a global context. Each volume in the series is accessible to specialist and layperson alike, providing a valuable resource for scholars and an informative education for the general reader.

Founded in 1988 as a scholarly journal, Studies in Dance History was redefined as a book series in 1994. Now titled, Studies in Dance: Theories and Practices, it is published by the University of Michigan Press. 

Authors wishing to submit proposals or manuscripts to be considered for publication in the Studies in Dance should consult these guidelines. Contact: [email protected]

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES HERE

READ ABOUT THE FIRST-TIME AUTHOR MENTORSHIP PROGRAM

The front cover of Dancing on the Fault Lines of HistoryDancing on the Fault Lines of History (2025)

Dancing on the Fault Lines of History collects essential essays by Susan Manning, one of the founders of critical dance studies, recounting her career writing and rewriting the history of modern dance. Three sets of keywords—gender and sexuality, whiteness and Blackness, nationality and globalization—illuminate modern dance histories from multiple angles, coming together in varied combinations, shifting positions from foreground to background. Among the many artists discussed are Isadora Duncan, Vaslav Nijinsky, Ted Shawn, Helen Tamiris, Katherine Dunham, José Limón, Pina Bausch, Reggie Wilson, and Nelisiwe Xaba. Calling for a comparative and transnational historiography, Manning ends with an extended case study of Mary Wigman’s multidimensional exchange with artists from Indonesia, India, China, Korea, and Japan.

Like the artists at the center of her research, Manning’s writing dances on the fault lines of history. Her introduction and annotations to the essays reflect on how and why these keywords became central to her research, revealing the autobiographical resonances of her scholarship as she confronts the cultural politics of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

Susan Manning is Bergen Evans Professor in the Humanities at Northwestern University.

Editorial Board

SanSan Kwan, Series Editor
Aimee Meredith Cox, Associate Editor, First-Time Authors Program

To see the full Editorial Board, visit the Leadership & Management page.

We are now accepting applications for the Studies in Dance Editorial Board. A Studies in Dance editorial board member serves a three-year term. We seek to build a board with coverage of a wide and balanced range of expertise.

Specific duties include:

  • Attending all editorial board meetings (usually about 2 per year)
  • Helping to evaluate submissions
  • Helping to identify potential new authors
  • Weighing in on editorial board policies and procedures
Eligibility/Qualifications include:
  • familiarity with the Studies in Dance History book series,
  • publication of at least one monograph, and preferably also editing of an anthology and/or other collaborative publishing experience, and
  • relevant experience in editing and mentorship

To apply, please submit a one-page letter of interest and current cv to [email protected] with SUBJECT: Studies in Dance, Editorial Board Applicant - NAME by June 1st, 2026.

Position begins Sept 1st.

Previous Publications

** indicates issues now out of print