America Dances! 1897–1948: A Collector's Edition of Social Dance in Film/A Dancetime Publications Production; Collector and Organizer, Carol Teten. Kentfield, Calif.: Dancetime Publications, 2003. DVD, 75 min., $49.95.

Dawn of a New World: Two-Step to Lindy Hop (1890s-1940s)/Centuries Historical Dance; Renée Camus. Lanham, Md.: National Film Network, 2005. DVD, 60 min., $29.95.

Dance historian-choreographers Carol Teten and Renée Camus have recently released DVDs that document the evolution of American social dance from different but complementary perspectives. America Dances! presents social dances from the 1890s through 1940s in their historic contexts through archival film footage, while Dawn of a New World pairs contemporary choreographic reconstructions with historically informed analysis and visual documentation. whether for research, teaching, or performance, both videos provide valuable documentation of the dances that animated generations of popular and even art musics. These videos provide a desperately needed visual text to accompany American popular music histories. In addition, excerpts can serve to illustrate social dances that inspired a myriad of twentieth-century art music or theatrical dance compositions. These compilations make primary source moving images easily accessible, particularly for classroom teaching, transforming not only music, dance, theater, or film history and performance, but also American intellectual, cultural, and aesthetic studies.