Book Description

Should you ever give up the fast track? Could you settle down with the spirit of adventure still in your blood? And just how do you say "Mr. Wrong" in Spanish anyway? Fueled by tango addiction, the hope of romancing a sultry porteño, and a one-way ticket to Buenos Aires, Marina Palmer is about to find out.

Approaching her dreaded thirtieth birthday -- without a doting husband, a fabulous apartment, or children and a nanny -- Marina Palmer suddenly found herself adrift in anxiety. She was a successful advertising executive but was bored by her job. Lasting love was proving elusive and her weekly visit to the therapist had multiplied by three. Then, on a whimsical vacation to South America, Palmer discovered the passion that her life was missing. At a steamy two a.m. milonga, she caught her first glimpse of Argentina's signature dance and fell head over heels from the sidelines.

Leaving behind her fast-track career and her desperation to meet "the One," Palmer returned to Buenos Aires to pursue a new dream. Moving thousands of miles from friends and family, she arrived in Argentina seeking a dancing partner, storybook love, and the tango lessons that might ultimately help her earn a place on the professional circuit. Exploring her new city by day and seducing sexy Argentines on the dance floor by night, her tango obsession ruled her life. She'd never been thinner -- tango is the world's most erotic weight-loss plan! -- more confident, or closer to her definition of having it all.

From auditioning for the Broadway hit Forever Tango, to becoming a street dancer on the infamous calle Florida, to discovering just how irresistible the sizzling porteños can be, Marina Palmer chronicles her exhilarating misadventures in Buenos Aires in no-holds-barred diary-style confessions full of adventure, romance, heartbreak, and steamy sex.

Inspiring, outrageous, and bursting with passion, Kiss & Tango is the ideal book for anyone secretly daydreaming of taking their own gamble of a lifetime.

Book Description

The Souls of Your Feet is a comprensive guide to the art and language of tap dance. Complete with basic technique and creative variations, this guidebook shows the beginning dancer how to build a strong foundation in this wonderful American artform as well as expand the experienced dancer's choreographic and improvisational creativity.Traditional tap dance figures and choruses to include The B.S. Chorus and The Shim Sham Shimmy are some of many basic structures covered in this guidebook. Numerous references are made to the legends of tap dance including Charles "Honi" Coles, Brenda Bufalino, Jimmy Slyde, Sarah Petonio, Savion Glover and many others securing the artform to itshistorical roots. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

One of the most complete tap books available!
Great Book on Tap! Highly Recommend it!

A word of caution...
This book helped me a LOT, I have to admit to that. But experienced tap dancers beware: looking at words that describe steps can be extremely frustrating when you can't visually see them done. Acia has written some wonderful pearls of wisdom within this book, and I highly reccommend it to any serious tap dancer

Wonderful!
Thanks to Acia M. Gray for writing a book that's not just somebody elses steps! I was so excited to see that this book gives tools to make up your own stuff. I will say that some of the terminology is different than I'm used to but it clarifies tap dance in a way that makes sense and lays down a foundation on which to play! An intelligent guide to the "language" of rhythm with your feet.

A treasure for the open minded
This book is a must for beginners. Ms. Gray's definitions make sense. The concepts if taught from the beginning, carry the dancer easily into the advanced levels. Those who do not like the book are struggling with their own closed minds not any shortcomings on Ms. Gray's part. If we all had learned tap with these unique concepts so many bad habits would not have to be "re-learned." I have taught tap for 19 years and all my students have adapted the curriculum provided in "The Souls of Your Feet." The historical descriptions and resource information have proven invaluable as well.

Very confusing
It was more confusing than any other book I have ever read about tap or any other type of dance. ... Read more

Book Description

"Swing is king again. Louis Prima is the last word in cool; new bands like the Brian Setzer Orchestra and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy are jumping the charts; and across the country crowds are once more packing it in on the dance floor. The Swing Book is a complete guide to swing, from back in the day to today's new scene-everything you need to know about what to listen to, where to dance, how to dress, and how to move." ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Good introduction...
but nothing more. I would recommend it if you are interested in the history of swing (particularly the music) and want a guide to swing musicians. Do not expect to learn to swing dance from this book. The lindy hop chapter is like like a glossary of swing dance terms.

Overall, it is well written and and provides a good introduction but it is too general and its focus can be too brief at times. It doesn't contain anything you couldn't learn from going to a swing dance or using a search engine.

What a fabulous book! A great resource!
What a fabulous book! It appealed to the dancer in me at once. I bought it on a whim, even though I was afraid of getting just another superficial treatment of swing. Pener proved me wrong; this book is killer-diller! I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of research Pener did for the book; any history major (which I am) would be proud of this one. Well-written, well-researched, with tons of addresses, web sites, and CD recommendations, this book is a gem. I thought knew quite a bit about the history and development of swing--I was wrong. A great resource for dancers who want to learn more swing history, culture and fashions. Every dancer, music historian, and swing lover should own this book!

A must have for any music fan!
The book which ( ) is the stuff! I love swing music and this book only enhanced my views and liking of the topic and music. It is a must buy book. Also, I met Scotty Morris ata show and thanked him for such a great foward. Hoppin job by Degen!

Swing from A-Z!
Degen Pener has really done his homework on this one. A fine book which treats its subject with respect. With the exception of a few books, Swing is usually given a brief glance in books on music and Jazz and those books often put the music and the dancers down. Pener really seems to like his subject and gives great recommendations on music to buy if you're just starting a collection. Top it all off with a reasonable price and you've got a book that Jazz lovers, Swing music lovers, and Swing dancers should clear space for on their book shelf.

As fast and fun as the music itself, and with real substance
More than just a valentine to swing, THE SWING BOOK is highly informative and entertaining. It really all is in here, in a fast and fun way with so many original interviews. Some real research and reporting went into this book, and it shows. Pener does a great job tracing the history of swing back in the day, and the social history of its recent comeback, with great quotes from the people who made it happen. All the experts weigh in, on dancing, on fashion, on tracking down the perfect find (whether it's a full suit or outfit, a small accessory, or the right album with the right performance of the right song), and on the history and artists both then and now. Makes you want to get out there and dance, or at least run to your record store. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (11)

excellent presentation of difficult material
Nijinsky's unexpurgated diary is an important document both for dance history and for psychiatry. This edition has an excellent, insightful introduction and very thorough translator's notes. I found out fascinating details, such as the fact that Nijinsky began the diary the day he gave a deranged performance at a hotel, and probably meant it as proof that he was not as crazy as he seemed. (Sadly, it proved exactly the opposite.) A beautiful job has been done in presenting and contexting this difficult material. Anyone with an interest in dance and/or mental illness should read it.

fasinating dancers life
this book is highly through in it's full translation of Nijinsky's diary, but best part of this book are the inclusion of the never before published "fourth book" which included poems and letters written by Nijinsky as well as an introduction which helps to clarify not only the historical background but also delves into the mental state Nijinsky was in as he wrote his diary.

Beautiful and Prophetic
1. "God said to me, 'Go home and tell your wife that you are mad'."

Even if we are not ready to accept this assertion as a proof of Nijinsky's genius (i.e. him edging on God-Consciousness on his way to full enlightenment), we should at least be able to recognise that the author obviously did not view himself as insane, but, in his own eyes, consciously pretended to be such as the only means at hand to escape the harsh chilliness and cruelty of an insensitive world, handing over all responsibilities of the non-esoteric sides of life to those who feel they know such things better.

2. Neither the conclusion should be that the great Master of Choreography ended his life in a miserable demise, unworthy of a great genius and a potential role-model for generations to come.

On the last pages, as if to conclude the diary, Nijinsky speaks of a wonderful vision of his three years old daughter as she smiles at him: "I see what she is trying to tell me: it is not all about sadness and miserliness - there's also joy in life". Thus reminding of Tolstoy's famous formula "if you want to be joyful and happy, then just be that!".

The author's life has clearly been that of struggle and constant contemplations over the world's stubbornness in its reiterated refusal to accept the artist's message of love, despite its pure simplicity. And yet now on the verge of the sunset of life it all suddenly seems to have been nothing but a temporary, though little longer than usual, unpleasant dream, the remaining fogs of which are dispersed through a simple rearrangement of attention leading one to a life in a closer company with one's God. A life the fuller utilisation of the pleasures of which are not bound by the limits of life and death.

3. As for Nijinsky's main message, as it is contained in the diary itself, I think it is found in the place where the artist speaks of his discovery of the true nature of the phenomena of art criticism: the self-appointed critics of art are nothing but egotists who have never created anything themselves. They pinpoint and nit-pick on any flaws and draw conclusions where such cannot be drawn, causing the hearts of the sincere artists to bleed.

It implies that it is more than fair to observe that when it comes to art in general no judgements can be made whatsoever. An inspiration behind any artistic expression always comes from beyond oneself, out of a sincere desire to convey something to others. The only thing that is really alright to criticise is if the artist's motive is in question, that is if the original purpose is purely commercial and, thus, a con in its essence. Similarly judging is not the same as describing, just as to describe is not the same as to judge.

Interestingly, few other books and films have received as much subtle thrashing (along with appraisals) as Nijinsky's diary and Paul Cox' recent poetic documentary based on it. The point is that a truly worthless piece of literature, or other, never does. There simply seems to be something very provocative about innocence and tenderness to self-important people. And maybe the book CANNOT be appreciated fully by readers with a "lesser purity of heart" and large egos.

4. Other highlights of the wisdom in Nijinsky's diary (quoting freely from memory) are these: "I told my wife we had married for the wrong reasons and that we should re-marry, but this time in the spirit"; and: "People go to church and then drink wine because they have heard it said that it is the blood of Christ. How to explain to a fool that Christ's blood would make one sober rather than drunk?".

icono
Nijinsky, hombre posesionado por el genio, hace algun tiempo visiti en el museo de orsay, en Paris, la exposicion sobre él, de lo mejor al igual que su apasionada vida

Someone's mad and I'm sure it's not me.
This is another book from the barrow on 14th Street. I've read all the other reviews and I have to agree with the reader who said what was the publisher thinking of.

Nijinsky was a wonderful dancer by all accounts. [Though, you know, if he came back tonight and danced Spectre de la Rose at Lincoln Centre we'd be rolling on the floor, screaming with laughter, and Isabella Fokine would be there, too, complaining that he hadn't done the right steps - but hey, don't get me started on her.] I digress.

I am not studying schizophrenia/dementia whatever, so it's all a bit lost on me. I love to read about Nijinsky dancing, and his extraordinary creativity both as a dancer and a choreographer, but his ramblings in this diary make me wonder if a mad person's ramblings worth the ink. Is he Nijinsky or a mad person? I'm sure there are people who read these ramblings and see it as a sign of Nijinsky's genius. I read it with increasing frustration. If someone came and sat next to me on the subway and babbled on like this, I'd move away. [And, believe me, I do.]

I am alone, I'm curious about this, in finding Nijinsky offstage just a tiny bit of a prig? I gained this impression, little by little, from reading his wife's [so bad it's a sin] book, Buckle's "Nijinsky" and, oddly enough, from Bronislava Nijinska's early memoirs. ... Read more

Book Description

Feel confident on the dance floor—step by step! Social Dance: Steps to Success will teach you all the moves for eight popular dance styles:

· Swing
· Cha-cha
· Foxtrot
· Polka
· Waltz
· Rumba
· Tango
· Salsa/mambo

Each step you take is a smooth transition from the one before. Your first few steps provide a solid foundation of skills and concepts. As you progress, you learn not only the basic dance steps and styling but also how to adjust to a partner, how to make the transitions between positions, and how to create sequences from variations of those basic steps.

Each of the steps also explains why the concept or skill is important, identifies the keys to correct technique, helps you avoid common errors, and explains how to practice each skill. A compact disc featuring music for each style is included to help you practice.

Written by master teacher and dancer Judy Patterson Wright, this book is part of the Steps to Success Activity Series—the most extensively researched and carefully developed set of sport skill instruction books ever published. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Written By A Master Teacher
SOCIAL DANCE is written by a master teacher who has done a lot of research on her subject. The person who will benefit from using this book is not someone who is looking for an easy method to learn a few dance routines. It is rather meant for the serious enthusiast who knows how to study a textbook and appreciates the value of long hours of practice. It will also be useful to those who already know something about swing, cha-cha, fox-trot, waltz and polka and wish to increase their social dance skills. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Now in its ninth edition, this classic and comprehensive handbook has been revised to bring it up to date in keeping with changes on the dance floor and in the rules of dance competitions. The Quickstep, Waltz, Foxtrot, and Tango are all illustrated and described in great detail. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

leadable dancing
This book presents maneuvers that are very leadable. The lady
can follow the man without knowing in advance what he will do.
The very detailed technique is based on the bio-mechanical
necessities of good dancing. It has been the most respected
book on ballroom dancing worldwide for decades. It is useful
for teaching yourself without a teacher, if you are a serious
student. It covers international style, which has some figures
in common with American style. Where they diverge international
sticks to leadable figures, American to showy figures.

Great Book!
A new version of this book is actually available through the ISTD. It is a very helpful book, with thorough charts for all the standard dances. There is also a comparable book for Latin.

Ballroom Dancing
An excellent resource for the serious International dancer. It contains great information on body & foot mechanics. Alex Moore may not have been able to dance international, but he certainly can explain it well.

The Essential International Style Ballroom Book
This book is still available. You can either contact the publisher (A & C Black, London), or go to Amazon-UK. This book is for serious International Standard dancers (American style is not covered). Six to eight basic figures are addressed for each of the four International Standard dances: fox trot, quick step, tango, and waltz. Each figure is minutely broken down into footwork, contra body movement, body sway, and amount of turn. My partner and I found Alex Moore's Ballroom Dancing to be an indispensable part of our practice routine. Please note, this is not a 'do it yourself' book. It will be most effective if used as part of a curriculum with an experienced teacher.

The best book on International Standard ballroom dancing.
This book was last (maybe still) available from A and C Black, Pub. Ltd., Howard Road, Eaton Socon, Huntingdon, Cambs, PE19 3EZ in England. They accept major credit cards and ship immediately. The book is the absolute best I've ever seen. Nothing on the market comes close. It is invaluable for serious ballroom dancers ... Read more

Reviews (6)

You Decide ¿ A Double Review
My name is Diane Howard. I have been a dance instructor for over 10 years in the Northeast corridor. I take great exception to the negative reviews of Mr. Allen's book Quickstart to Social Dancing, especially in comparison to another book that I own by Mr. Stephenson called The Complete Book of Ballroom Dancing. Here is why:

1. Quickstart guides the beginner and helps develop the most important basic dance skills in systematic and incremental fashion. Foundational skills like correct postural movement with a partner, rhythmic movement, and leg action both for the smooth, swing, and Latin dances are wonderfully described in Quickstart. They are either completely omitted or where included, erroneously described the so-called Complete Book!

2. Quickstart guides you through a primary development with easy to use physical instructions and analogies with a direct goal in mind. That goal is to be able to dance, WITHOUT ERROR, the most fundamental patterns in six major social dances. The Complete Book starts at stages beyond the beginner with a syllabus that assumes that a dance couple already KNOWS HOW to move together. They do not and will not simply by reading a syllabus, all competent dance instructors know this!

3. Quickstart does a terrific job in addressing these primary and necessary functions. The Complete Book leaves you to your own devices.

4. The Complete Book designed for the next stage of dancing, diversity in patterns, unfortunately is laden with serious error that the beginner would certainly not be aware of in their attempt to follow its syllabus. Quickstart does not pretend to be more than it is, simply the best guide for the beginning stages of your social dance experience.

Perhaps these are the reasons why Quickstart to Social Dancing seems to be applauded by dance professionals and others who are willing to provide their names and email addresses for correspondence. I know I recommend it to students and teachers alike.

By contrast, you cannot contact even one negative reviewer of Mr. Allen's books nor can you find any reviews by competent dance professionals on the back cover or web page of Mr. Stephenson's book. In his book, Mr. Allen provides you with his contact information for questions and further help. Mr. Stephenson's book leaves none and suggests that you go elsewhere. You decide!

Don't buy this book!
I have been taking ballroom dancing for almost two years. I started my study of ballroom dancing in Japan, and as a result of language and cultural barriers, I thought I needed a book, written in English, that would compliment my study of dance. So, I purchased this book. It was the worst purchase I have ever made! The pictures are not the least bit useful for learning steps. The description of the steps and the foot diagrams are confusing (and in some cases wrong). The only good thing about the book is the section on the history of ballroom dancing, but except for that the book is extreamely limited. Don't waste your money like I did, there are alot of good ballroom dance books out there, but it is certainly not this one!

Completely Wrong !
This book is a perfect example of what is wrong with much of the dance instruction in the USA - anyone can teach, as there is no required credentialing or licensing to do so! Teachers answer to no one - no authority in dance or the educational system in general. If the packaging is "slick" enough, the unarmed and unaware public will by into it. To teach dancing and not error is a difficult profession. It requires years of experience. Unfortunately, to just show steps as this book does requires none. I find no credentials for the authors and no mention of any dance society that they have been tested by and this is reflected in the gross amount of error that exists in every single step pattern. This is probably why this book until now has not been reviewed by a competent professional ballroom instructor. A book as a tool for dance education is one of great value especially if it is reliable, not one like this, that conflicts with the accepted standards of every dance society that belongs to the National Dance Council of America and good principles of movement. It is apparent that the authors have taken someone's approved listing of dance steps called a syllabus and edited it without understanding leaving gross errors in footwork and complete omissions of how correct dance movement is created. This book leaves the unsuspecting reader with instructions that if followed, would produce flat-footed, awkward, unbalanced, non-musical, and non-rhythmic movement. But many so-called dance instructors quickly find out how easy it is to fool the consumer into believing that if the can dance a little bit, they must also be able to teach. The funny thing about The Complete Book of Ballroom Dance Error and what struck me immediately is that the couple that poses for the pictures throughout the book looks as awkward and uncomfortable as one would expect following this books directions.

Here are some of the many errors in technique found in this book that would create problems for the newcomer to dancing and needless to say any other level:

Throughout the book starting with the "Techniques," page 59, 62, 63, 64, 79, 81, 83, & on from there the Dance Positions are show with the man's right hand too low in the small of the lady's back against soft tissue. Two major problems can occur resulting from this improper arm & hand position. The 1st problem is too much hand pressure would have to be exerted to lead any rotation particularly in the rhythm or Latin dances because of the weak slouched position of the man's right upper arm which leaves that arm limp with lack of proper relationship to his own body's rotation. The 2nd problem is actually dangerous to the lady's health because that is the area of her kidney and the likelihood extending too much pressure over the period of several dances can have the same impact as a strong kidney punch in boxing. Done properly, at least the middle finger of the man's right should be place on at least part of the lady's shoulder blade and the elevation of his right elbow should be the same as his left. Good teachers stress that the elevation of the right hand and arm is MORE important than the left!

Another of the many glaring errors starts on the very first figure of this book in the Waltz section. This pattern has many errors and it, unfortunately for any reader, is the most fundamental in all of Ballroom dancing. For instance on step # 3 for the man the author writes: "Close left foot to right foot; transfer weight to left foot, continuing in rise position until end of Count 3. Any musician would have told these alleged dance instructors that Waltz begins its diminishment at the half waypoint of count 3 which is why many count Waltz: 1,2,3 &. Splitting the 3rd beat between crescendo and diminishment: The good news is that Ballroom dancers do the same thing! Done Properly: they begin a controlled lowering at the end of the third beat followed by a toe lead with the right foot to prevent any lurching backwards necessitating hanging on your partner. Then the authors tell us on step 4 to reach back (obviously from this risen position since they have already missed the moment of lowering) to the BALL of the right foot. This would have the impact of taking a backward step off a platform 2 feet from the floor (this error is repeated many times in this book of miss-instruction)! I can just see a Bride & Groom doing this on their 1st dance and the Groom hitting the floor with her on top of him! That would be one for video bloopers, in the same way this book is. If you can't get the descriptions right in the Waltz, the most fundamental dance, there is little hope for improvement from there. It would take another book to correct the errors of omission and commission this book contains and I've run out of space!

It is just what I have been looking for.
This book is just about all you could ask for as a beginning dancer. It has the history of the various dances, dialogue with footsteps for both man and women,pictures of man and woman in progressive stages of each dance and a listing of songs for each type of dance.My book prompted a request for a copy from two friends

Good description of elementary Ballroom steps.
Although the descriptions are quite good, the pictures and illustrations are confusing and not very useful. The book is quite complete, and although not great, is the best available. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Christy Lane's Complete Book of Line Dancing
"This is the best line dancing book I have read on the market today. Christy Lane has obviously done her homework. I appreciated the diagrams along with the written descriptions and the song recommendations the most. Great book Christy!" Thank You.

Good reference tool
I have been teaching dance for years and find this book easy to use and read. It is a great reference tool for all teachers! ... Read more

Book Description

Like Picasso in painting, Stravinsky in music, or Stanislavski in theatre, Rudolf Laban (1879-1958) has been a seminal influence in contemporary arts. His mark can be found in the work of artists as diverse as the international dancers and choreographers Mary Wigman, Kurt Joos and Pina Bausch. The Laban system of notation is used througout the world. This is the first major study of Laban's movement theories and practice, exploring the ideas on mastering movement and giving the reader a practical understanding of balance and harmony in the human body--the core of Laban's thinking. ... Read more

Book Description

Complete with videos and explanations!

These exercises are designed so you will be more elegant and gain more balance while you dance. They will set your body free, so you will move in a more natural way. The technique is base on discovering the functioning of your body while you do the exercises.

With videos, descriptions and explanations, you'll find this CD-Rom an excellent companion.

Want to develop your tango skills in a fun and accelerated way?Let Tango Discovery assist you in dancing with ease.

Tango Discovery has prepared the most extensive series available for today's tango dancer and tango instructor.More information is available online

Minimum Requeriments / Requerimientos Mínimos PC: Pentium with 100Mhz processor and 32 MB of RAM/ Monitor SVGA / CD-Rom 16X / Windows 95(r) or better / Microsoft(r) Internet Explorerr4 or better, or Netscape Navigator4 or better / Quicktime(r) 4 or better. Macintosh: Power Mac 100 Mhz processor 32MB of RAM / CD-Rom 16X / Mac OS 8.1 or better / Microsoft(r) Internet Explorer4 or better, Netscape Navigator4 or better / Quicktime 4 or better. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Balance and Coordination
This CD starts with a theory section, which alone may be worth the cost of the CD as it lays out the Tango Discovery method of learning tango. This method is clear, concise and simple.

A short section called "Technique" follows: Don't skip it! This section tells you how to practice these exercises in the most efficient way. I have found through trial and error that this is the best way to approach them. Read this section more than once!

Next is the heart of the CD; 24 exercises presented as movie clips with short descriptions. The clips are categorized as Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced.

Here is what I have noticed in my dancing after practicing these exercises for the last 6 months. The biggest improvement is balance. I am better able to lead and create styling without knocking my partner off balance. The next is coordination. My body seems to know better what to do. I don't have as many geeky moments when I improvise a new movement. The overall result is more confidence.

Covers a lot of ground
This is a great CD and a very quick read with lots of videos. The CD Rom covers a lot of ground I've never thought possible before. ... Read more

Book Description

Complete with video and explanations!

Are you ready to discover tango?

Learn why professional dancers and tango teachers from all over the world go to Buenos Aires to take Mauricio Castro's classes.Watch the hottest sequences that are created in the actual a vanguard of the tango movement in Argentina. These amazing sequences are recorded after class every week, so you can see the development in a clear and concise way. Not only the final product, but the making of it.

You are going to find the most exquisite and exiting forms of today's tango done by the best tango dancers in the world.

Tango Discovery provides extensive training for tango dancers at all levels of proficiency.Anyone can achieve success and advancement through this series of books, CD-Roms, training workshops and certification.

Want to develop your tango skills in a fun and accelerated way?Let Tango Discovery assist you in dancing with ease.

Tango Discovery has prepared the most extensive series available for today's tango dancer and tango instructor.More information is available online

Minimum Requeriments / Requerimientos Mínimos PC: Pentium with 100Mhz processor and 32 MB of RAM/ Monitor SVGA / CD-Rom 16X / Windows 95(r) or better / Microsoft(r) Internet Explorerr4 or better, or Netscape Navigator4 or better / Quicktime(r) 4 or better. Macintosh: Power Mac 100 Mhz processor 32MB of RAM / CD-Rom 16X / Mac OS 8.1 or better / Microsoft(r) Internet Explorer4 or better, Netscape Navigator4 or better / Quicktime 4 or better. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Congratulations !!!!
It is the best teaching tool I have seen so far. The videos are great and the descriptions are very precise. I would recomend to anybody to start first with the other CD roms of the Tango Discovery Series, cause this one it is really advance.

Delightful to watch
I bought it just to watch this two great performers of this beautiful dance, give lessons as they move.

It is very advance !!
I love it. It has great information and the videos are superb.

Practical way to learn to dance
It is amazing how easy it is to improve your dancing by watching the videos and the explanations, cause then when you go to practice, you know what to do and what you are looking for in the exercises.

A Master piece !!
It is a master piece for understanding the underline concepts of this marvelous dance ... Read more

Book Description

Complete with video and animated sequences!

The set of sequences "The Matrix" is considered the ultimate key for success in the tango world. Specifically design to unconsciously accelerate your learning potential to maximum speed. Get advantage of this amazing learning tool.

Want to develop your tango skills in a fun and accelerated way?Let Tango Discovery assist you in dancing with ease.

Tango Discovery has prepared the most extensive series available for today's tango dancer and tango instructor.More information is available online

Minimum Requeriments / Requerimientos Mínimos PC: Pentium with 100Mhz processor and 32 MB of RAM/ Monitor SVGA / CD-Rom 16X / Windows 95(r) or better / Microsoft(r) Internet Explorerr4 or better, or Netscape Navigator4 or better / Quicktime(r) 4 or better. Macintosh: Power Mac 100 Mhz processor 32MB of RAM / CD-Rom 16X / Mac OS 8.1 or better / Microsoft(r) Internet Explorer4 or better, Netscape Navigator4 or better / Quicktime 4 or better. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The Tango Discovery Series is great!
It's difficult to imagine a more exhaustive work about tango. The Tango Discovery Series is great! ... Read more

Book Description

Called the "Anthony Robbins of dance," Bobby Boling has a unique way of inspiring and motivating dancers by sharing stories of adversity and how he and other dancers overcame the obstacles of professional dance. This inspiring book offers tips, tricks, experience, wisdom and personal stories with advice on exercise and health.A Dancer's Manual teaches young dancers how to take class more effectively, how to avoid and treat injuries and how to perform and rehearse more effectively. Professionals will learn how to audition and how to use exercise and weights to enhance their ability. Bobby Boling also offers advice to young dancers and old on alternative careers in the industry if they can no longer dance.A Dancer's Manual will appeal to any young person interested in dance, adults and teachers of studios and parents of dancers interested in helping to guide young people. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A must have for dancers of any level......
This is the most comprehensive, educational, practical, inspirational and motivational book I have ever found. It is full of quotes that can be applied to everyday life as well as the world of dance. Bobby Boling unlocks the mysteries that seem to be a part of the dancers world. He takes you through auditions and classes as well as other areas, and tells you exactly what you can expect. I am a dance teacher myself, I have purchased many copies to be shared among my students. They too, have found it encouraging and inspirational. It is so refreshing to have a once professional, turned teacher, dancer, share the story of how it works in a very easy to read and interesting book. He speaks from the heart and tells you straight up how it is. So many times I have picked up a book on dance to try and learn more about the opportunities out there and how to make it, only to put it down feeling intimidated and hopeless. A Dancer's Manual is truly a first.I only wish the inspiration had been there for me when it was my time on Broadway! Thank you Bobby Boling for taking the time to write such a fantastic book, I am grateful that I have this to share with my students.If you want to dance professionally or just dance like a professional,and be the best that you can be then this is the book for you.There are dozens of useful tips that he reveals.I have applied many of the techniques with my students and they look and perform better than ever. They are once great dancers turned performers, because of the techniques he lists. sincerely ... Read more

Book Description

In his inspirational book, Three Minutes of Intimacy: Dance Your Way to a Sensational Social Life, Craig Marcott provides a compelling argument for joining him on the dance floor.Sometimes considered the most intimate three minutes outside the bedroom, social dancing really is the ultimate connection.It offers an introduction to another person which is extraordinary in terms of physical intimacy.Marcott says, "Social dancing may be the new millennium's answer to the bar scene--a perfect opportunity to meet people and begin a relationship.It is only three minutes on the dance flor, but knowing how to partner dance can mean the difference between a boring social life and a successful one. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

It's really that easy to make friends on the dance floor!
This book so accurately tells how much good can come in your life by simply joining a social partner dance class. Marcott explains, along with quotes from other dancers, how having the opportunity to feel music through the moving touch of another person, your dance partner of the opposite sex, is just simply a happy tingling sensation that makes your whole being smile. And really men, there are sooo many women who want to dance, that if you learn well, it's likely many women will want to dance with you. Remember, usually there are more women than men at most dances, in any style (i.e. ballroom, swing, latin, tango, country, contra) so who gets to dance every song if they want??? What a great way to be intimate with other people, one on one, without it being more than a dance if you don't want!!Marcott also has a good long list of complete resouces for guidance. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Save your money- This book is awful.
This book is just terrible. I bought it as a reference and to so that I wouldn't have to write down everything from dance class. But upon reading it I find almost every dance is presented in ways I have never been taught or seen practiced in any of the clubs here in San Antonio. I think maybe the Salsa step was the same and some the rumba but all the other dances just look wrong. Also the dance frames shown are the type of holds I have been taught as wrong. ( hand on the poor girls kidney instead of higher up.) In terms of the step being taught the diagrams and descriptions are not clear and many times they will use a term like Ball-Flat without defining the term anywhere in the book.

Overall a very poor effort- I wish I had not spent the money on it. ... Read more

Book Description

You either love it or hate it.But one thing's for sure: rumors of its death are premature.This fast paced yet in-depth look at one of the most outrageous eras in musical -- and cultural -- history discusses the fashion and the freaks, the music-makers and the celebrators, to uncover why disco was so revered and reviled.In its early days, disco was dismissed by the public as producers' music made by studio musicians.But this amalgam of African-American rhythm and blues, soul, and funk soon caught fire, bringing together gay and straight, black and white, young and old in a way no other popular music has before or since -- a phenomenon that is still reverberating through the culture.

As it takes you from the history of dance halls to the rise of impossible-to-get-into clubs; from the reigning queens (Gloria Gaynor, Grace Jones, and Donna Summer among them) to the wanna-bes (including Dolly Parton, Frank Sinatra, and even Ethel Merman!); from the political mayhem of the Vietnam era to the party-all-night eighties, Hot Stuff will make you want to dust off those platform shoes, dig out your mirrored ball, and shake your booty all night long.

Reviews (10)

good but not great
For those who did not like this book, there is a better one. The one I would recommend is "Last Night A DJ Saved My Life: The History Of Disc Jockey." Although that book discusses other dance music such as house and techno, it does a better job explaining about disco. That book talks more in-depth details including the Stonewall Inn riot in New York and how the DJ David Mancusso rewrote the rules of the DJ than "Hot Stuff" did. Also, "Last..." wrote more details about the early disco clubs and what those clubs did that laid the foundation of the late '70s disco mainstream than "Hot Stuff" did.

If you don't like either book, then the liner notes of the Disco Box and the Disco Years (vol. 1-7) do a great job although emphasis is on the songs itself and not too much history.

In addition, I feel that "Hot Stuff" should have provided a more exhaustive discography than it did by providing Billboard chart positions and listing rare songs that are hard to find and where to find them. For example, does anyone know if The Ritchie Family "Brazil" album is available on CD? This book could have provided the answer.

This "Hot Stuff" is lukewarm.
Having written an excellent book about AIDS (Victory Deferred), I expected more from John-Manuel Andriote. Instead, Andriote's history of disco is too brief and incomplete. I wanted to read more about the culture of disco, especially as it relates to those of us, like Andriote, grew up gay in the 1970's. Still, any history of disco is better than nothing to this dyed-in-the-wool disco fan and, within its limitations, Hot Stuff is OK.

what the...
I did not know that authors were allowed to review their work? I agree that Mr Andriote showed extreme poor taste in posting such a glowing review of his work ... especially when you consider that the book, was a rehashing of everything we have heard before.. nothing new, nothing informative ... and certainly nothing entertaining.. Sorry Mr Andriote you were way off base on this one

What Extremely Bad Taste
for the author to write his own (surprise!) five star review below. For that reason alone, this book merits a one star rating. This is only reinforced by an actual perusal of its pages.

Good Retro Fun
I certainly enjoyed this brief, fun trip down memory lane. Mr. Andriote successfully evokes the essence of an era in a wonderful, light and fun way. Hot Stuff offers a lucid explanation of the confluence of factors that caused disco music to begin, and then explode into the mainstream. He is at his best when evoking the energy of this era and the "disco scene". As you turn the pages, you too will re-live the era and if only for a brief moment, you will lose 4 inches from your waist, regain the hair you have lost and fit into those bell-bottom jeans one more time. Thank you John-Manuel for the trip down memory lane. ... Read more