Overview

An unexpected detour can change the course of our lives forever, and, for white American anthropologist Margaret Willson, a stopover in Brazil led to immersion in a kaleidoscopic world of street urchins, capoeiristas, drug dealers, and wise teachers. She and African Brazilian activist Rita Conceicao joined forces to break the cycles of poverty and violence around them by pledging local residents they would create a top-quality educational program for girls. From 1991 to the graduation of Bahia Street's first college-bound graduate in 2005, Willson and Conceicao 's adventure took them to the shantytowns of Brazil's Northeast, high-society London, and urban Seattle. In a narrative brimming with honesty and grace, Dance Lest We All Fall Down unfolds the story of this remarkable alliance, showing how friendship, when combined with courage, insight, and passion, can transform dreams of a better world into reality. Watch the book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVXj44o3rVE

Full Product Details

Author:   Margaret Willson
Publisher:   University of Washington Press
Imprint:   University of Washington Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.20cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.618kg
ISBN:  

9780295996851

ISBN 10:   0295996854
Pages:   320
Publication Date:   20 July 2015
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Part One | Learning to Dance 1. Seduction 2. The First Return 3. Agnaldo and Candomble 4. Letting Salvador Inside 5. Learning to Dance 6. A Dangerous Embrace 7. Marginals 8. Sex and Friendship 9. Rain 10. Burnt Knives 11. A Stranger Part Two | Treading Water 12. Encountering Seattle 13. Ideas 14. Life Change 15. Letting the Outer Skin Be Social 16. Of Race and Remembrance 17. More Sides of Bahia 18. A View Into the Abyss 19. Power and Presence 20. Trust 21. Tall Poppy 22. A Shadowed Color of Shade Part Three | Laughter Lessons 23. Leaves of Understanding 24. Love 25. Barriers of Glass 26. Storms 27. Sharing a Lifeboat 28. Heartbreak 29. Evolution 30. Resting on the Wings of a Butterfly Afterword

Reviews

The book is accessible to a broad range of readers... Although Dance Lest We All Fall Down should not be read as an ABC of starting an NGO, the book certainly provides invaluable inspiration, reflection, and ideas on how to proceed.--Marit Ursin Journal of Latin American Studies (01/01/2012)

The book is accessible to a broad range of readers... Although Dance Lest We All Fall Down should not be read as an ABC of starting an NGO, the book certainly provides invaluable inspiration, reflection, and ideas on how to proceed. -- Marit Ursin Journal of Latin American Studies An emotionally affecting book. It makes a strong case for local empowerment... The Bookmonger ... Margaret Willson's story about founding a school for poor girls in a favela in Salvador, Brazil, combines Eat, Pray, Love's romantic self-discoveries with the can-do idealism of Three Cups of Tea. Crosscut.com a text written passionately, sincerely, and sentimentally; all in the very best sense of all these terms. To understand Bahia, one needs mandinga, mischievousness, and the ability to interpret the true meaning of a smile... Capoeira, a form of combat that is also a dance, is a fine metaphor for Willson's struggles to feel, to change, and to represent Bahia... Margaret Willson, Rita Conceicao, and the girls of Bahia Street became experts in how to learn and how to teach such lessons. The Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology

Author Information

-John Collins , Anthropology, City University of New York

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