Dance Lest We All Fall Down: Breaking Cycles of Poverty in Brazil and Beyond

by Margaret Willson

Overview

An unexpected detour can change the course of our lives forever, and, for white American anthropologist Margaret Willson, a stopover in Brazil led to immersion in a kaleidoscopic world of street urchins, capoeiristas, drug dealers, and wise teachers. She and African Brazilian activist Rita Conceicao joined forces to break the cycles of poverty and violence around them by pledging local residents they would create a top-quality educational program for girls. From 1991 to the graduation of Bahia Street's first college-bound graduate in 2005, Willson and Conceicao 's adventure took them to the shantytowns of Brazil's Northeast, high-society London, and urban Seattle.

In a narrative brimming with honesty and grace, Dance Lest We All Fall Down unfolds the story of this remarkable alliance, showing how friendship, when combined with courage, insight, and passion, can transform dreams of a better world into reality.

Watch the book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVXj44o3rVE

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780295990583
Publisher:	University of Washington Press
Publication date:	08/01/2011
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

-John Collins , Anthropology, City University of New York

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

part 1 learning to dance

1 Seduction 1

2 The First Return 13

3 Agnaldo and Candomblé 25

4 Letting Salvador Inside 35

5 Learning to Dance 45

6 A Dangerous Embrace 53

7 Marginals 63

8 Sex and Friendship 71

9 Rain 83

10 Burnt Knives 91

11 A Stranger 101

part 2 treading water

12 Encountering Seattle 111

13 Ideas 117

14 Life Change 125

15 Letting the Outer Skin Be Social 135

16 Of Race and Remembrance 143

17 More Sides of Bahia 153

18 A View Into the Abyss 163

19 Power and Presence 177

20 Trust 185

21 Tall Poppy 199

22 A Shadowed Color of Shade 209

part 3 laughter lessons

23 Leaves of Understanding 219

24 Love 229

25 Barriers of Glass 239

26 Storms 249

27 Sharing a Lifeboat 259

28 Heartbreak 271

29 Evolution 283

30 Resting on the Wings of a Butterfly 293

Afterword 301

What People are Saying About This

Dr. Robert Boonzajer Flaes

"A classic in the making. Under the guise of an easygoing and well—written travelogue, we are taken away into the unbelievable story of Bahia Street. And we come out of it bewildered and refreshed. . . . If true—to—life anthropology can be this breathtaking, who needs fiction?"

John Collins

"Always poignant and often productively uncomfortable, Dance Lest We All Fall Down is a highly personal, beautifully written, and theoretically sophisticated ethnography of modern connections in Brazil’s northeast that focuses on the successes as well as the shortcomings of non—governmental institutions and contemporary means of addressing social inequality."

Maria Elena Garcia

"An ideal text for classroom discussions about the cultural politics of development. Dance Lest We All Fall Down illustrates both how transnational solidarity can improve livelihoods and how it is not free from the tensions and contradictions that have always accompanied outside efforts to ‘do good’ in the Global South. This book gives proponents and skeptics of NGOs plenty to think about."

Darius Mans

"A very moving tale about race, gender, and class in the ‘Capital of Happiness’ in Brazil, Bahia . . . and a powerful and personal account of succeeding against the odds in breaking the cycle of poverty for young poor black girls there…Beautifully illustrates that, yes, it can be done through local empowerment and determination."

Editorial Reviews

"The book is accessible to a broad range of readers. . . Although Dance Lest We All Fall Down should not be read as an ABC of starting an NGO, the book certainly provides invaluable inspiration, reflection, and ideas on how to proceed."

Journal of Latin American Studies - Marit Ursin

... Margaret Willson's story about founding a school for poor girls in a favela in Salvador, Brazil, combines Eat, Pray, Love's romantic self-discoveries with the can-do idealism of Three Cups of Tea.

-- "Crosscut.com"

a text written passionately, sincerely, and sentimentally; all in the very best sense of all these terms. To understand Bahia, one needs mandinga, mischievousness, and the ability to interpret the true meaning of a smile.... Capoeira, a form of combat that is also a dance, is a fine metaphor for Willson's struggles to feel, to change, and to represent Bahia.... Margaret Willson, Rita Conceicao, and the girls of Bahia Street became experts in how to learn and how to teach such lessons.

-- "The Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology"

An emotionally affecting book. It makes a strong case for local empowerment. . .

-- "The Bookmonger"

The book is accessible to a broad range of readers. . . Although Dance Lest We All Fall Down should not be read as an ABC of starting an NGO, the book certainly provides invaluable inspiration, reflection, and ideas on how to proceed.

--Marit Ursin "Journal of Latin American Studies" (1/1/2012 12:00:00 AM)

From the Publisher

"An emotionally affecting book. It makes a strong case for local empowerment. . ."

The Bookmonger