Jonathan S. Marion is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Arkansas, President of the Society for Visual Anthropology (SVA), and author of Ballroom: Culture and Costume in Competitive Dance (2008) and Visual Research: A Concise Introduction to Thinking Visually (2013, w/Jerome Crowder).
'Ballroom is a deeply layered and compelling account of competitive ballroom dance, combining Jonathan Marion's insightful roles as ethnographer, photographer, and accomplished ballroom dancer. The book should be read by everyone curious about the fundamental nature of dance in human society, no matter what their particular dance passion may be. Anyone interested in the world of competitive ballroom dance will find Ballroom an invaluable resource.' Anya Peterson Royce, Indiana University 'With the ethnographic authority of a ballroom dancer, Jonathan Marion takes us to the world of competitions in this exciting dancesport. Ballroom is an absorbing book. It reveals how this dance form indexes broader issues of performance and costume as well as gender, transnationality and the visual.' Helena Wulff, Stockholm University A welcome addition to a growing body of literature about competitive and social dance forms ... not only contributes to our understanding of ballroom dance but also furthers and suggests the continuing promise of dance research carried out through interdisciplinary methodologies. American Ethnologist