El. knyga: The Sixth Sense of the Avant-Garde: Dance, Kinaesthesia and the Arts in Revolutionary Russia

What makes The Sixth Sense of the Avant-Garde an invaluable scholarly contribution is the persuasive and ambitious argument that the authors, Irina Sirotkina and Roger Smith, present in the book an argument that extends well beyond literary and artistic studies of modernist practices. Specifically, they seek to reassess longstanding notions on the senses of perception [ The book] provides an interesting perspective on avant-garde art, offering a wide-ranging overview of the ideas that preoccupied intellectuals at that time. As such, it can be of interest to scholars of various backgrounds. Furthermore, while the authors try to redefine and even dismantle some of the stable categories and bring attention to a concept of the knowing body, they also keep the content lively and engaging for their readers throughout the entire work. * Slavic and East European Journal * This book is a treasure chest of personages and practiceseveryone from Kandinsky to Blok, from Scriabin to Shklovsky, and multiple souls in between; everything from Dalcroze Eurythmics to the Foxtrot. It offers dynamic new ways to view the cultural history of this time. It all but exhorts its readers to go out and dance themselves. Many sources were crunched to make this books chapters, and many exciting roads lead out of them into future projects. * The Russian Review * This volume examines kinesthesiathe sense of movementas a foundation of personal knowledge and cultural innovation, claiming primacy of kinesthesia over the other senses in that it affords unmediated contact with the world... The extensive notes and suggestions for further reading compensate and make the book invaluable. Summing Up: Recommended. * CHOICE *