Includes bibliographical references and index.

PART ONE: HIDDEN ROOTS -- Chapter 1: The Goddess and the Dancing Boys -- Chapter 2: The Primacy of Rhythm -- Chapter 3: Dance Zones: Khorezm, Ferghana, Bukhara-Samarkand -- PART TWO: FROM THE ICHKARI TO THE CONCERT STAGE -- Chapter 4: Mentors and Martyrs -- Chapter 5: Cross Pollination: Moscow and Paris -- Chapter 6: From Revolution to Evolution -- PART THREE: TERROR AND WAR -- Chapter 7: Uprooted: Koreans and Crimean Tatars -- Chapter 8: The War Front and the Home Front -- PART FOUR: THE ARRIVAL OF SPRING -- Chapter 9: The Blossoming of Bakhor -- Chapter 10: Kizlarkhon Dusmukhamedova: Queen of All the Girls -- Chapter 11: Constructing Karakalpak Dance -- PART FIVE: FROM RED STAR TO CRESCENT MOON -- Chapter 12: New Celebrations for a New Nation -- Conclusion: Lessons of Resilience

The first comprehensive work in English on the three major regional styles of Uzbek women's dance - Ferghana, Khiva and Bukhara - and their broader Silk Road cultural connections, from folklore roots to contemporary stage dance. The book surveys the remarkable development from the earliest manifestations in ancient civilizations to a sequestered existence under Islam; from patronage under Soviet power to a place of pride for Uzbek nationhood. It considers the role that immigration had to play on the development of the dances; how women boldly challenged societal gender roles to perform in public; how both material culture and the natural world manifest in the dance; and it illuminates the innovations of pioneering choreographers who drew from Central Asian folk traditions, gestures and aesthetics - not Russian ballet - to first shape modern Uzbek stage dance. Written by the first American dancer invited to study in Uzbekistan, this book offers insight into the once-hidden world of Uzbek women's dance.