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.