Dance Lest We All Fall Down: Breaking Cycles of Poverty in Brazil and Beyond Paperback – August 12, 2010

Got this for kindle cause require for my culture anthro. class, it is a GOOD read, but not always the easiest to know the concepts from the class and make sure the TEACHER knows it! If they want to put this on the class tell the teacher to plan disscussing it, because not EASY to relate to things you should know, but as you learn them, they start to connect.

Required reading for a class. Surprisingly a very fast read that is at once informative and interesting. Written more like a novel/memoir than an ethnography it keeps the reader engaged throughout. I read it in a couple of hours.

I couldn't finish this book. It was not what I thought it would be - the tone, storyline, how it is written is tedious reading for my liking.

good stuff

I learned recently that some college Anthropology classes have begun using this as a textbook - if it had been my textbook during the semester during my freshman year when I was fascinated with anthropology, I can say pretty clearly that I might have majored in it. Later, when I got involved with my first nonprofit organization, I went looking for a handbook to grassroots organizing, and couldn't find one. This book serves on both levels - satisfying me academically, and as a community volunteer.The story is real, and genuinely told -- on several levels. There's raw poverty, but no paternalism; there's expected recognition of the challenges, and unexpected moments of joy. It's led me to ask new questions whenever someone solicits funds for their nonprofit from me such as: "How many of the people you serve are on your Board of Directors?" If the answer to that is zero, I contribute elsewhere. Small NGOs aren't easy to build, manage and operate; to find one that succeeds organizationally while remaining true to the ideal of serving the community from within, is rare indeed.

Dance Lest We All Fall Down is a wonderful book. I am a retired professor who wrote a textbook about global issues, including poverty, and worked in the field of development in four developing countries, including Brazil. I was so moved by this book that I gave $1,000 to Bahia Street, the organization Margaret Willson and a Brazilian friend set up to educate girls from the slums of Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, thus breaking the tragic poverty cycle they were caught in.I consider Willson's book to be one of the best books I have ever read.

Adventurer, activist, anthropologist and storyteller Margaret Willson's book is compelling. Her story is true, but it's as engaging as if it were fast-paced fiction, with richly-drawn characters, authentic conversations, sadness, gladness, frustration and joy. A summary: she moves to Brazil, lives in the Salvador slums, studies capoeira, and befriends Rita Conceicao, with whom she launches Bahia Street, a grassroots program that is changing the future for girls from the favelas. Willson's clear-eyed observations and intimate insights will both touch and inspire you. I loved it.

The greatest thing about "Dance..." is that it doesn't fall under any particular genre, as I think it would appeal to just about anyone. It's funny, smart, inspiring, and incredibly insightful. "Dance..." is a story about how a spontaneous trip to Brazil led to a unique friendship in which two women sought to address social inequality in the shantytowns of Salvador.