Dance Lest We All Fall Down: Breaking Cycles of Poverty in Brazil and Beyond

by Margaret Willson

Book Overview

An unexpected detour can change the course of our lives forever, and, for white American anthropologist Margaret Willson, a stopover in Brazil led to immersion in a kaleidoscopic world of street urchins, capoeiristas, drug dealers, and wise teachers. She and African Brazilian activist Rita Conceicao joined forces to break the cycles of poverty and violence around them by pledging local residents they would create a top-quality educational program...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0295990589
• ISBN13: 9780295990583
• Release Date: August 2010
• Publisher: University of Washington Press
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.1"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

A New Model for Change!

Dance Lest We Fall Down is an intimate look at a the creation of a non-profit, Bahia Street, from the street need to the world support. Bahia Street's philosophy and vision rebel against the current norms of International Development. This is a refreshing and exciting new model that others could/should follow. Willson writes from her experience, and shares her struggles as a foreigner to subvert power structures and keep the central power of Bahia Street in the hands of native Brazilians. Not only do we get a glimpse Salvador, Brazil and the struggles of its community, but we get to learn with Willson the challenges of helping without dictation, using one's privelege without replicating the power dynamics she's working to circumvent. Willson's writing truly captured our hearts and takes us with her on her journey to create a new model of change. In short I loved it, and am so excited to know that Bahia Street exists and hope that it will be replicated!

Compelling Read, Important Primer

Dance Lest We All Fall Down is a Compelling Read with a little bit of a misleading title. Its author is a magnificent story teller, who offers a useful message to people around the world who are considering establishment of a small charity. Ten years ago, two women, one an American and the other a Brazilian, decided to establish a school for ghetto girls in Brazil. Twelve people in Seattle each chipped in $50 to school a young Brazilian girl for a year. Ten years later, the women operate a school with nearly 60 young girls in attendance. Good story, great ideas for a small charity startup. I give this one five stars!

Not only that, it's a great story

Not only is Margaret Willson's 'Dance Lest We All Fall Down' an insightful and astute account of starting a third-world charitable organization, it's what the publishing biz likes to call `a good read.' I brought her book on vacation to Waikiki, and it's better than any escapist beach novel. Ms. Willson is a fine writer with a commanding narrative style. A story such as this could end up as so much inspirational blather. Instead she's created a work that is part adventure story - what can happen, for instance, to a tall blond woman wandering the streets of a Brazilian shantytown, alone, at night - part soul searching confessional, part insight into the perils and pitfalls of trying to do good work. An excellent book.

I read this book cover to cover!

I loved how this book showed how someone can really make a difference. Margaret Willson was driven to do so and not just observe a condition of inequality passively. The people she began to study as an anthropologist and quickly grew to love were given a voice and listened to. She used her position in society 'North American, educated, middle class, and white' to accrue funding for the changes the people would like to see change, rather than what she might suggest. I enjoyed accompanying her as she aptly negotiated this territory of giving from British aristocrats 'with means' to U.S. college students 'with infinite idealism'. Willson funnels their desire to give and make a difference, back to the people. Her book articulates how complex the desire to help people can be. She shows how to make a difference without taking away people's dignity or power that charity or assumption of need can do. It leads one to question his/her own motives in such a situation. At times I could hear Willson's sense that the problems of race and inequality were deeper than her own reach. I thought this only drove her commitment to the integrity of her efforts and the autonomy of the people who deserved greater opportunities. The group of girls in the educational program for girls from the shantytowns that develops is inspiring. Their courage to commit to their own future was challenged not only by their supposed place in society but also sometimes by their own family's lack of support in seeking something more. I felt defeated when they did not get what they were due and elated with their triumphs. Her storytelling inspired me to act. When I finished the book, I discovered a blog at the Bahia Street website that let me keep reading and satisfied my curiosity about what happened next. I realized that buying this book put at least 3 books in the hands of a girl who wants to read and study against all odds. This book needed to be written. I read this book cover to cover--I'm sure you will too!.

An excellent book!

I highly recommend this book-- it is a great read with an comfortable style and gripping narrative. It is a story that brings together ideas about the so-called "developed" and "developing world" and challenges us to think about the world in a different way. Willson brings us along with her as she experiences the joy, frustration, fear, and curiosity that accompany her along her journey into and within the shantytowns of Salvador. Once you pick it up, you won't be able to put it down.