Abstract
This paper examines Alice Walker's essay, "Beauty: When the other Dancer is the Self" that is a brief summary of how her perception of beauty has had an impact on her internal life. The paper looks at how Walker describes how, when she was young and perfect in her own eyes, she was confident and this confidence was lost when she perceived herself as greatly flawed. The paper asserts that regardless of what Walker wants the reader to take away from this essay, the ending reminds the reader that even her alleged acceptance of her remaining flaw is flawed in itself.

From the Paper
"Alice Walker's essay "Beauty: When the Dancer is the Self" is about how people respond to an individual's physical appearance. However, it is also about how she behaves when her perception of her own beauty is challenged. Walker brings the reader through the stages in her life that begin with the quietly self-assured belief in oneself that exists in childhood, through the accident-related doubts that come in preadolescence, to the changes in her self-perception as she matures and grows. The essay ends by relating a conversation between Walker and her daughter, creating a temporal "loop" back to acceptance again."

Tags:walker, beauty, mothers

Abstract
This paper takes a look at the history of the art of ballet, as well as reviews the different types of the ballet dance and the strenuous demands that ballet makes on the dancer. This paper also covers various dance choreographers and their particular styles of dance.

From the Paper
"Classical ballet celebrates the potential harmony of the human body, the utopian ideal of collective endeavor, the possibility of the interchange between masculinity and femininity. Something of this is what has recommended ballet to the communisms of the USSR, Cuba and China. Beneath the aristocratic tat of the settings and the charming but dispensable never-never of the stories, there is an implicitly socialist vision.
Yet classical ballet must of course always come wrapped in the specifics of where and for whom it is performed, what other values and meanings it is attached to, and these are riven with contradictions. In practice, in Britain, classical ballet is, at one and the same time, elitist and popular, and woman-centered, heterosexist and part of gay male culture, universal and distinctly white. It is all of this at once.
It is selective in part because it is expensive. Not only are sets on a grand scale and not only do most of the classics require large casts, but behind all that there are the years of investment in training. "

Tags:classic, contemporary, music, movement, body, graceful, steps, tippy, toes, france, italy

Abstract
This paper examines how "The Grass Dancer" by Susan Power develops two forms of the female soul as represented by Lydia Wind Soldier and Anna "Mercury" Thunder. It looks at how this theme plays itself out through the entire novel; Anna, though powerful, uses her power to her own ends, while Lydia, less powerful, gives all of herself away for the sake of others. It shows how, regardless of the nature of their actions, both women are deeply embroiled in the playing out of time and how this dominates the role of women in the Dakota spiritual world.

From the Paper
"Contrasting this life of earthly gratification is the character of Lydia Wind Soldier. Lydia gives nearly everything of herself for the sake of those around her to such an extent that she appears to be visibly disappearing: "He [Harley] reached out and hugged her then-something he did only rarely since turning seventeen because as he watched her, she blurred at the edges, looked to him like a person being slowly erased by some spectral finger." (Power 18). Lydia has given of herself so much that her physical body is somehow reduced, although the manner of this reduction is quite different than Anna's physical ugliness and decrepit form."

Tags:dakota, lydia, wind, soldier, mercury, thunder

Abstract
This paper presents a brief biography of the dancer, Isadora Duncan, as well as a description of her philosophy of the dance form. The paper also discusses her influence on and contribution to modern dance.

From the Paper
"Duncan's personal success as a dancer should not diminish what is perhaps her greater contribution, her success as a teacher and a creator of her own tradition. She began her first school in Grunewald, Germany in 1904, selecting children from the poorer classes and providing completely for all their physical and materials need from her own pocket. Later, she established schools in both Russia and Paris. Interestingly enough, these schools are proudly proclaimed as providing an unbroken legacy of tradition with their founders. "The existence of Isadora's dances lies in the transmission of the choreographies from one dancer to another in an unbroken line of generations of Duncan dancers," writes Lori Belivoe in the periodical and press release of the foundation that bears Isadora's name. (Belivoe, Isadora Duncan Foundation for Contemporary Dance, "Isadora Duncan Legacy and Schools") Duncan's indefinable, inexact balance between classicism and personal, inner artistic poetic expression manifested in dance thus became a "tradition" in and of itself."

Tags:barefoot, grecian, gown, strangled, spokes, vehicle, classical, movement, calliope

Abstract
This paper examines Alice Walker's article which a personal narrative that takes the reader on a journey through emotional rejection and reconstruction to realize that love exists beyond the physical self created by the mind.

From the Paper
"She has a personal revelation when her daughter finally notices her eye. She feared that her daughter would reject her just as she had dreaded her entire lifetime that the world would push her aside. Instead, her daughter was amazed that there was a "world in her eye". The young child thought her mother's defect was beautiful and special. An entire lifetime of resentment and pain became a source of pride and strength. Love was not given based on beauty but out of a culmination of emotions such as respect, loyalty, and affection. It took her child and the innocence of youth to show her life's ultimate beauty is found within and not based on an unrealistic ideal set by society's expectations. She missed so much by hiding her face from the world and found a lifetime within the eyes of a child. Ultimately, Alice Walker's journey was about finding acceptance. She needed to learn to love and accept her body because it was an integral part of her entire person, regardless of the flaws it contained or the imperfections. She was still the cute child that everyone loved, all grown up and ready to face the world with her head held high. "

Tags:love, acceptance

Abstract
This paper gives a detailed description of a sculptured female dancer from the Western Han dynasty in China 2nd century BCE. It includes the sculptures history, symbolism, and ritual significance. The sculpture is housed at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City.

From the Paper
"The sculptured figure of the female dancer dated as of the second century BC belongs to the Han dynasty. This would have been roughly equivalent to the period of the ascendancy of Great Rome in the West. It was also the period of the consolidation of Confucian thought as official policy in China even though Confucius himself had lived centuries earlier or a time roughly equivalent to the ascendancy of Athens."

Tags:Han dynasty, sculpture, Han dynasty, Confucianism, sculpture, tomb art

Abstract
This paper briefly summarizes the plot of Paula Fox's book "The Slave Dancer" and then explains how the book can be used to teach students about slavery, race, morals and ethics. The paper explains how the book can even be integrated into other subjects and the multimedia support available that can be used to teach the lessons in the book.

From the Paper
"An exciting story from the point of view of a student, but a potential lesson in history and ethics in the eyes of a teacher, for Jessie, as compelled by the crew, must play for the slaves so they can dance and keep themselves 'in condition' for the horrific state of human enslavement that awaits them. Few Africans survived the journey known as the Middle Passage with bodies or minds intact, and Jessie becomes a part of this frightening part of American history. This merging of American history and personal identification with the story's main character is conveyed in an especially strong fashion by the author because young children can so easily identify with the protagonist. Like all of boys junior high school age, children such as Jessie are often thrust into a situation where, in his words, was no one can save him. In other words, Jessie has very little control over his life. His father is dead, and he has few resources other than his own wiles. (Fox, p. 22) He does not choose his fate, his fate chooses him."

Tags:american, slave, trade, bollier, lost, father, fife, docks, new, orleans, the, moonlight, ship

Abstract
The following assignment is for a first year sociology course. The topic of the assignment itself is exotic dancers and immigration. The Assignment itself is a paper that looks at the entire phenomena. It argues that the new law will not protect immigrants from exploitation. Mostly because it is simily a political stunt and lacks common sense.

From the Paper
Exotic Dancers and Immigration Laws Introduction Immigration has always been a highly charged political topic. This is particularly true when there are issues of potential exploitation involved. For example, in "Women's Work" Susan Mcclelland states, Traditional livelihoods, like farming, are no longer viable in many countries. The solution for many people is to move abroad, and in the West there is a demand for workers in jobs traditionally held by lower-class females, like prostitution, caregiving and domestic work(Mcclelland 44).

Tags:exotic, dancers, immigration

Abstract
This paper discusses eating disorder patterns among ballet dancers and non-dancers. The paper examines what anorexia is and presents the causes of anorexia and the reasons that it is seen so much in ballet dancers as opposed to non-dancers. The paper explores the impact of ballet dancing on children with respect to eating disorder patterns and identifies whether any difference is seen in the frequency of eating disorders in professional ballet dancers and non-professional ballet dancers.

From the Paper
"Anorexia nervosa is a growing psychological and physiological disorder in the society of today. A surprisingly large number of people are affected by eating disorders, the major cause of which is anorexia nervosa. The cultural ideals especially of the western world cause young women to believe that they should maintain thinner bodies than intended by nature. This causes them to alter their eating patterns and this leads to eating disorders like anorexia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is most prevalent in young girls from the upper middle classes and generally between the ages of eleven to eighteen. Anorexia nervosa is fatal in about twenty percent of the cases and this is the reason for concern. Psychiatric assistance is able to help about thirty percent of anorexics to overcome the disease. A person is considered as anorexic if the body weight of the individual is twenty percent less than the normal weight of a healthy person of that age and height."

Tags:anorexia, bulemia, diet

Abstract
The paper looks at the research on exotic dancers to determine the manner in which female exotic dancers perceive themselves and feel supported by society, culture and family. The paper discusses the issue of women as sex objects and describes these dancers' isolated and inclusive family and social network. The paper also touches upon the issue of religion in this social group.

From the Paper
"Exotic dancers have become a serious topic of discussion in a culture where challenging the social taboos is occurring more rapidly than ever before and where the backlash of challenging just what these social taboos says about individual and culture pervade the academic world. Yet, there are clearly only very few research based works on exotic dancers and how they see themselves, feel culturally supported or other ethnographic issues alone or in comparison to other women and men of their age and demographic. Limited research offers limited but interesting insights into the culture of the young female exotic dancer."

Tags:society, culture, family, sex, desire