Spirit exorcism among Kelantanese Malays speaks as much to the mundane world of village society as to the world of the spirits. Within these exorcisms, called Main Peteri, dance serves both as a strategy for healing and a sign of health. Main Peteri dance is taken from other types of Kelantanese theatre, which together form a recognized complex of arts. Within the Main Peteri this complex represents Kelantanese society as a whole, and the patient's trance-dance, through which he participates in this complex, symbolizes his re-entry into society and reaffirms his status as a Kelantanese.

The psychological aspects of magical dance in Southeast Asia have been described in some detail, especially in regard to the dances of Bali (see Bateson and Mead 1942). Specifically pertaining to the Main Peteri, Raybeck (1974), Rosemary Firth (1966), Raymond Firth (1967), and Kessler (1976), have offered more sociological interpretations of the Main Peteri and its role in Kelantanese society. These anthropological analysts of Kelantanese life recognized the ability of the Main Peteri to deal with mental disorders particularly when caused by stressful situations.

This study proposes to investigate how anxiety is related to the dance experience and to a person's creative behaviour within that experience. A number of assumptions regarding the creation, improvisation, composition, and performance of dance have centered around the relationship of anxiety to the dance experience. These assumptions point to anxiety as being integral in the creative behaviour of dancers and as being a vital ingredient for good performance. Others suggest that the dance experience is a medium of expression which reduces tension or anxiety. (See Barron 1972:96–97 and Leith 1972:246.)

This exploratory study looks at the creative potential that an individual brings to a simulated studio composition session. The study also investigates the relationship of this creative potential to dancers' self-reported anxiety and their creativity in performing the composition.

As the literature of dance proliferates, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep track of what is available. The need for current bibliographies of dance materials has been addressed during the past few years at meetings of both CORD and the Dance History Scholars; this first installment of a western dance history bibliography is the direct result of such discussions. At the historians' meeting held during the August 1978 ADG-CORD Dance Conference in Hawaii, plans were formulated and a number of people offered to contribute to the project in one way or another. A report was made at the February 1979 history conference in New York City, and again the response was positive. A few months later, CORD offered to help support the project.

This is the first installment of materials published in 1978. It includes books and articles in twelve categories. An index in seven sections guides the reader to time, place, and area of subject matter; people, dance works, and institutions named in titles; and to authors. Part I of the bibliography is far from complete and only minimally international in coverage since most of the collecting has been done by one person located in the United States. Some periodicals have not yet been searched at all, and some categories of materials that may be included in the future – book and performance reviews, for example – have generally been omitted here.