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Customer Review
Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2001
This book is positively fascinating for about the first half. You find out about the "nude dance" craze of the Weimar Republic and the dancers/dances/movements it inspired.
However, Toepfer's work is SO complete, SO intricate, it comes off more like a doctoral thesis than a book.
As pure reportage, it's a fine volume. But I kept waiting for some kind of idea of what the author thought about all of this; was it fascinating or does he just think it was weird? We never really find out.
Still, some of the images he leaves you with makes you wish you could transport yourself back to some of these obviously sensual and often bizarre performances to see them for yourself.
If you're a fan of dance history, or a nudist, I recommend this book. But don't be surprised if you put it down long before you finish; this is definitely more than most people would really want (or need) to know.
However, Toepfer's work is SO complete, SO intricate, it comes off more like a doctoral thesis than a book.
As pure reportage, it's a fine volume. But I kept waiting for some kind of idea of what the author thought about all of this; was it fascinating or does he just think it was weird? We never really find out.
Still, some of the images he leaves you with makes you wish you could transport yourself back to some of these obviously sensual and often bizarre performances to see them for yourself.
If you're a fan of dance history, or a nudist, I recommend this book. But don't be surprised if you put it down long before you finish; this is definitely more than most people would really want (or need) to know.
