Includes bibliographical references.

Ch. 1. "She, the Beautiful Fountain, Dances to the Wind": Introduction -- Ch. 2. "Tell Them the Dancer Has Come": An Overview of Dance in Zimbabwean Society -- Ch. 3. "I, the Dancer of the South, Pupil of Mountain Shadow": The Aesthetic and Historical Dimensions of the Jerusarema Dance -- Ch. 4. "She Dances from the Wild Center of the Earth": The Historical and Aesthetic Dimensions of the Muchongoyo Dance -- Ch. 5. "I Am All Movements, I Am the Caterpillar": Rhythm as Text and Structure in Zimbabwean Dance -- Ch. 6. "Like This We Dance to the Limits of the Universe": Conclusion.

"In Zimbabwe Dance, Dr. Welsh Asante's interviews with the keepers of one nation's oral history have yielded a harvest of information on two specific ethnic groups, the Ndebele and the Shona, and their traditional dances, the Muchongoyo and the Jerusarema. Her descriptive analysis of indigenous cultural motifs, myths, and symbols provides us with a "living text" on music, song, and rhythm that radiates - and replenishes - the spirit, the values, and the worldview of a distinctive African society." "She examines and celebrates not only the specific ethnicities of the Ndebele and the Shona peoples (i.e., the ethnic diversity of Zimbabwe) but also the survival and endurance of the Zimbabwean national character (i.e., the cultural unity of Zimbabwe). She also highlights the significant role played in modern African civilization by developments in the southern half of the continent."--BOOK JACKET.