In this book Anthony Shay examines the life and works of renowned choreographer Igor Moiseyev and his dance company. Formed in 1937, The Igor Moiseyev Dance Company have performed across the globe and are the first major Soviet dance group to perform in the United States. Through The Igor Moiseyev Dance Company, dance became a vital diplomatic tool, ballerinas replaced atom bombs and helped usher in a new era of cultural exchange, formalized by an agreement signed by the United States and the Soviet Union. Through this book Shay explores the multiple lenses of spectacle, Russian nationalism and the Cultural Cold War, to describe and analyse the history of Moiseyev’s company, and the shock that ‘innocent’ folk dance gave the American government. Blending academic study and personal anecdote, Shay provides a nuanced analysis of Moiseyev’s importance and his place in the world of dance. This is the first English language study of Igor Moiseyev and his dance company.

'This recent publication is an insightful study on a cultural phenomenon, the Igor Moiseyev Dance Company.'

Anthony Shay is professor of dance and cultural studies in the theatre and dance department at Pomona College, USA. He holds a Ph.D. in dance history and theory from the University of California, an MA in anthropology from California State University and an MA in folklore and mythology from UCLA. He is the author of six monographs, including Choreographic Politics: State Folk Dance Companies, Representation and Power (Wesleyan University Press, 2002), which received the CORD prize for Outstanding Dance Publication, and four edited volumes, including the Oxford Handbook of Dance and Ethnicity (2016). He is an award winning dancer and choreographer.