Close to the Floor brings together a distinguished and diverse cast of dance ethnographers, dancers, teachers, choreographers, and dance historians to discuss and reflect on a variety of topics in the world of Irish step dance and related percussive dance forms. This volume includes essays that originated at a symposium held at New York University in 2006 to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Riverdance. The contributor list is impressive and includes the most well-known names in both Irish dancing scholarship and performance."

"Music from the Heart" follows Emile Benoit, a fiddler from French Newfoundland, through a rapidly changing musical milieu as he moves from a small rural community to international musical and folk festivals. Seeing himself as a representative of French Newfoundland, Benoit viewed his music as an expression of that identity. In Benoit's tunes one finds reference to the people, places, communities, roads, and natural landmarks that have framed his life. The compositions included represent a range of work that evokes his youthful experiences and follow his career as he leaves home, plays with...