51. Black Song & Dance of the Tropics, Book III - in this volume (the third in a series of four publications) I discuss the following “song & dance” traditions from Melanesia and Greater Melanesia (i.e. the region that includes Melanesia and bordering regions where related Black peoples still dwell): 1) Kiriwina song & dance, Highland love songs, and the guitar music of Fredi Sadi from the island of New Guinea; 2) the Snake Dance from Banks Island as well as String Band and Popular Music from Port Vila in Vanuatu; 3) Meke dances from Fiji; 4) Negrito songs from the Philippines; 5) some traditional songs of the Veddahs of Sri Lanka; and 6) song and dance of the Sidis of Gujarat, India. For every tradition (i.e. song & accompanying dance) presented, the “what? where? when? who? how? & why?” of each is discussed and placed within a brief geographic and socio-historic context. My intent in this publication is twofold: 1) to present examples of those Melanesian song and dance traditions of Greater Melanesia that left a deep and lasting impression on my psyche; and 2) to awaken an interest in the reader to discover and appreciate other aspects of this relatively unknown cultural region.

52. Mallar Kambam – an excerpt from Hanuman’s Warriors dealing with pole & rope acrobatics performed by members of Asan Ulaga Durai’s students in Villupuram. This 72 page volume contains 125 photos depicting warm up exercises, fixed pole mallakhamb, hanging mallakhamb, mallakhamb with weapons / fire sticks, pyramids and acrobatics as well as an interesting interview with Ulaga Durai and a glossary containing material obtained from an informative publication entitled The Art of Mallakhamb dealing with the legends and elements of mallakhamb.

53. Adventures of Waburi Book II (Vanuatu) – This second volume in the Adventures of Waburi series, takes the reader to Vanuatu where he/she is exposed to a number of story-poems including some important mythic ( Legend of the Creation , and the Separation of the Sun & Moon), philosophical (Origin of Death),religious ( Legend of John From ), historical ( Blackbirding in Epi ), and etymological ( Origin of Kava and Origin of Coconut) aspects of Vanuatan culture as well as three fascinating recently lived experiences (Encounters with Little People, The Forbidden Place,and Black Magic in Malekula ) which though absolutely true, could just have easily been drawn from the realm of folklore. Preceding each versification, there is a short prose introduction describing the relevance of the story-poem to an understanding of the culture of Vanuatu and a number of glossary entries describing the islands where the events in each-story poem are said to have occurred. It is hoped that the reading and re-reading of these verses will not only prove entertaining; but also instructive and useful as well. [This volume will be priced and made available as soon as it is illustrated.].

54. BMA VI: Hanuman’s Warriors – This 365 pg. volume, a sequel to my Dravidian Displays of Daring.. The first 60 pages deals with Hanuman, the Hindu patron god of martial artists and gymnasts and the remaining pages present five Dravidian martial arts closely associated with the Monkey God and his descendants that are still practiced enthusiastically in Tamil Nadu and Southern Kerala, namely: 1) silambam; 2) southern kalarippayattu; 3) northern kalarippayattu; 4) mallar kambam; and 5) sadúgudu (better known as kabbadi). The chapters dealing with silambam and mallar kambam are greatly expanded and updated treatments of what was presented in Book V and the material on Southern Kalari, Northern Kalari, and Kabbadi are completely new as are all the photos. This volume, with its 359 photos and optional DVD, is perhaps the most comprehensive presentation yet dealing with the Dravidian Martial Arts of Southern India.

55. Tales of Mouse Deer – This 41-page book comprises a collection of story-poems (based on Indonesian Mouse Deer Fables) that retell the adventures of Mouse Deer with other denizens of the forest including Tiger, Crocodile, Elephant, Monkey, and Man. The Mouse Deer (i.e. the tiny chevrotain found in both tropical Asia and Africa) is known as Kancil in Indonesia. Kancil (like the “cunning little one”, “clever little one” and mouse deer in Madagascar) is a “trickster” who despite its small size manages to survive through its cunning in a world populated by creatures who wish to do it harm that are much larger than itself. [This volume will be priced and made available as soon as it is illustrated.].

56. Tales of Zopilote – These 7 poetic tales, all dealing with birds, are based on a collection of Mexican folktales that appeared in Ermilo Abreu Gomez’s Leyendas y consejas del antiguo Yucatán published in 1961 / 1985. [This volume will be priced and made available as soon as it is illustrated.].

57. Song of Praise to Hausa – an expanded version of # 11, above - this version includes the original Hausa, the poetic translation, a literal translation, and detailed footnotes.

58. In Search of the Vanaras in the Andaman Islands – This is an excerpt from #47, above and deals exclusively with the Andaman Islands.

59. Black Song & Dance of the Tropics IV: Africa - In this volume (the fourth in a series of five publications), I discuss: (1) boxing and wrestling song and dance traditions of the Hausa people of Nigeria; (2) stick-flagellation song and dance of the Fulani from Nigeria; (3) hunting songs (ijala) of the Yoruba of Nigeria; (4) a number of song and dance traditions of the Zulu, Swazi and Ndebele peoples of southern Africa; and (5) poetic songs of the Swahili people of East Africa and the Comoros. For every tradition (i.e. song & accompanying dance) presented, the “what? where? when? who? how? & why?” of each is discussed and placed within a brief geographic and socio-historic context. My intent in this publication is twofold: (1) to present examples of those song and dance traditions of Africa that left a deep and lasting impression on my psyche; and (2) to awaken an interest in the reader to discover and appreciate other aspects of sub-Saharan culture. With its 71 accompanying photos, this 207-page volume details how and why song and dance permeate nearly every aspect of sub-Saharan African culture.

60. Tales of Mouse Deer – This 58 paged book comprises a collection of story-poems (based on Indonesian Mouse Deer Fables) which retells some of the adventures of Mouse Deer with other denizens of the forest including Tiger, Crocodile, Elephant, Monkey, and Man. The Mouse Deer (i.e. the tiny chevrotain found in both tropical Asia and Africa) in Indonesia is known as Kancil. Mouse Deer (like “cunning little one”, “clever little one” and mouse deer in Madagascar) is a “trickster” who despite its small size manages through its cunning to survive in a world populated by creatures much larger than itself who wish to do it harm (Price: $10 B&W and $20 Color.)