The Dancing Goddesses: Folklore, Archaeology, and the Origins of European Dance

A fascinating exploration of an ancient system of beliefs and its links to the evolution of dance.

From Southern Greece to northern Russia, people living in agrarian communities have long believed in “dancing goddesses,” mystical female spirits who spend their nights and days dancing in the fields and forests. In The Dancing Goddesses, archaeologist, linguist, and lifelong folkdancer Elizabeth Wayland Barber follows the trail of these spirit maidens—long associated with fertility, marriage c...