This book investigates how the 1866 ballet La Source functions as a persistent cultural artifact that mirrors shifting anxieties regarding colonialism, environmental exploitation, and religious identity over 150 years. Felicia M. McCarren, a scholar of dance and cultural theory, utilizes archival research and performance analysis to examine the ballet's 2011 and 2014 restagings. She argues that the work's original orientalist themes and ecological motifs gain new, often uncomfortable, resonance when viewed through the lens of contemporary French politics, including debates on secularism and climate change.

Scholars in dance studies and cultural history identify this work as a rigorous interdisciplinary study that effectively bridges the gap between performance art and political theory. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which demands familiarity with critical theory and postcolonial discourse.