Starting with the early years of European colonization and continuing to the present, the reference peers into musical traditions at the pub as well as the concert hall. Tracing indigenous practices as well as imported ones, it describes fields of musical and dance performance including chamber music and percussion, opera and piano-playing, musicals, ballet, butoh, and tap, and looks at the history of instrument-making, social dancing, and classical and popular composing. The work covers technology, education and training, venues, festivals, management, subsidy, and other issues. The dozens of contributors are academics and practitioners; the editors are musicologists with a special interest in music and dance making in their native nation. Distributed by Antipodes Books and Beyond. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR