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

The Viewpoints is a technique of improvisation that grew out of the postmodern dance world. It was first articulated by choreographer Mary Overlie, who broke down the two dominant issues performers deal with-space and time-into six categories. Since that time, directors Anne Bogart and Tina Landau have expanded her notions and adapted them for actors to function together spontaneously and intuitively and to generate bold, theatrical work.

The Viewpoints are a set of names given to certain principles of movement through time and space-they constitute a language for talking about what happens on stage. Coupling this with Composition, which is the practice of selecting and arranging the separate components of theatrical language into a cohesive work of art, provides theatre artists with an important new tool for creating and understanding their art form.

Primarily intended for the many theatre artists who, in the last several years, have become intrigued with Viewpoints yet have had no single source to refer to in their investigations. It can also be used by anyone with a general interest in collaboration and the creative process, whether in art, business or daily life.

Anne Bogart is Artistic Director of the SITI Company, which she founded with Japanese director Tadashi Suzuki in 1992. She is the recipient of two OBIE Awards and a Bessie Award, and is an associate professor at Columbia University. Her recent works include Alice's Adventures; Bobrauschenbergamerica; Small Lives, Big Dreams; Marathon Dancing; and The Baltimore Waltz.

Tina Landau, noted director and playwright, whose original work includes Space (Time magazine 10 Best), Dream True (with composer Ricky Ian Gordon) and Floyd Collins (with composer Adam Guettel), which received the Lucille Lortel Award for Best Musical, an OBIE Award and seven Drama Desk nominations. She has been an ensemble member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company since 1997.

Book Description

Born in the slums of Buenos Aires in the last decades of the nineteenth century, the tango--the most erotic, most passionate, most melancholy of dances--has remained spectacularly alive for more than a hundred years. Today it is the focus of a new cult, casting its spell throughout the Americas, Europe, the Pacific basin, and Japan.What is the secret of the tango's appeal? In Tango!, four experts from Europe, North America, and Latin America explore its fascinating history from the earliest beginnings to the present. Historian Simon Collier traces the tango's roots in Argentina and charts its rise from the brothels of Buenos Aires to become the quintessential expression of Argentine popular culture. The writer Artemis Cooper discusses the amazing tango craze of the 1910s in Europe and North America, while anthropologist Maria Susana Azzi looks at the tango's peak years in Argentina, the period from 1920 to 1950. Finally, Richard Martin, Curator at the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, charts the international boom in the tango's popularity in recent times. He looks, too, at the relationship of woman to man and man to woman in the tango. To match the spectacle of the tango, the book is illustrated with more than 250 photographs and drawings in color and black and white. Special features are built around the brilliant color photography of Ken Haas, recognized worldwide for his fidelity to the spirit of the dance. And as an evocative reminder of the rhythms of the dance, some of the most celebrated tango songs are discussed and quoted. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Good!
Good but not great. The book follows all the story of tango but there is something missing....many of the pictures are unfortunately 2-paged and cannot be appreciated (plus I couldnt find any passion in any but 2 of them) although the book seems to getting better as you go towards the end. The edition is of course luxury but i can't say i was amazed. Anyhow a good choice for an absolute beginner to tango but I would suggest Horacio's Salas "the tango" in every case.

Tango is more than music and dance.
Until I read "¡Tango!", most of what I knew from tango was what was told by instructors, including Daniel Trenner, Brooke Burdett, half a dozen Argentine nationals, an equal number of Canadians, and a Belgian. It was exciting to get all the information I needed in one place. Tango is more than just music and dance. It is a cultural phenomenon that began in the barrios and bordellos of Buenos Aires and Montevideo, and spread throughout the world. At the base of this cultural phenomenon is the relationship between a man and a woman. Tango is not just an American or South American phenomenon. It has spread throughout the world, and is popular in such diverse countries as Finland and Turkey, as well as those areas where it evolved.

The text of the book is outstanding and well documented. I was pleased with the choice of artwork, old and contemporary photographs, and page layout. It gave me a great understanding of the tango as a cultural phenomenon. There is an excellent bibliography and the text is referenced with footnotes for those who wish to go to some original sources. I am one of those people who are always looking for recommendations for music, and I was pleased to see a two-page listing of tangos, which are available on compact disc. For those who travel, there is a listing of international tango centers. It is an incomplete list, but it would be helpful for those who travel a lot for business or pleasure.

If you like tango, this would be a good book to start your collection. Then you can proceed with "Le Grand Tango: The Life and Music of Astor Piazzola."

A Must for Every "Tango Household"
For a person just discovering the Argentine tango (or who wants to), this is an interesting, beautiful, coffee table book. It's filled with gorgeous illustrations and photographs, as well as poetry, lyrics and fun, historical tidbits about the music & history. It rambles, but that just makes it more fun to open it up and start reading from anywhere. It's been the kind of book that has made even my non-tango friends interested in the dance and cultures behind it. ... Read more

Book Description

Ballet dancers have the strongest, most beautiful, probably the most envied bodies in the world. How do they stay slender and willowy while maintaining the extraordinary energy it takes to perform night after night? Can a nondancer or an amateur attain a dancer's figure and a dancer's vitality? And keep it?

Here, in The Dancers' Body Book, the legendary ballerina Allegra Kent discloses the health, weight-watching, and relaxation secrets of some of the world's greatest ballet dancers -- from Suzanne Farrell and Fernando Bujones to Darci Kistler and Madame Alexandra Danilova. Combining them with two well-balanced diets -- one to lose weight by and one to live by -- and an exercise regimen that can be tailored to the individual, she provides a fabulous fitness program for everyone who longs to be slimmer, healthier, and more energetic.

Fourteen varied menus incorporate delicious recipes from the dancers themselves (such as Jacques D'Amboise's Wonderful Dinner Salad and Dierdre Carberry's Almond Meringue Kisses), along with calorie guides and advice on how to create additional menus using your own favorite dishes. Helpful discussions on sports and exercise systems -- ranging from jogging and swimming to the sophisticated "Pilates" workout -- are also included, and in a special chapter entitled "A Healthy Outlook," the dancers talk candidly on such issues as smoking, anorexia, vitamins, doctors, massage, junk foods, fad diets, and injuries.

Dancers take meticulous care of all their equipment because training and performance depend on it. Of course, the most essential piece of equipment, the body, needs the most care of all, and that is what this book is about: how to take care of the world's greatest machine.

Allegra Kent joined the New York City Ballet at the age of fifteen and was a principal dancer with the company for thirty years, during which time she created a number of starring roles in ballets by Balanchine and Robbins. The mother of two daughters and a son, she is also the author of Allegra Kent's Water Beauty Book.

Reviews (11)

an honest diet guide for ballet dancer's
This book is really only meant for dancers, and only for professional (or aspiring professional) dancers at that. Ms. Kent is up-front about a dancer's awkward situation: a ballet dancer must stay strong and energetic while maintaining an especially lean figure. And that's exactly what makes this book wonderful. While most fat-loss books address the needs of someone who is medically overweight and needs to slim down, this book focuses on dancers who are already thin to begin with, but need to slim down further.
I find Dancer's Body Book to be both motivating and honest. You get to hear the dieting struggles and successes of those who have made it to the top (NYCB and ABT company dancers,), which is quite inspirational. Plus, you learn exactly how these professionals manage to maintain their extraordinary bodies. A great portion of the text is dedicated to the "philosophy" of a dancer's diet, which I found very interesting and informative.
This book does not encourage unhealthy behavior of any sort. It acknowledges the fact that watching what you eat is a sacrifice inherent to ballet, but presents a healthy way of achieving and maintaining the proper figure. A 1,200-calorie diet (which is regarded as a healthy weight-loss intake for females) and a 1,600-calorie maintenance diet are provided. These sample meal plans along with the "seven diet sins" (snacking, eating junk food, undereating and bad nutrition, not getting enough rest, inactivity, not knowing your own limits, and neglecting your equipment) are excellent.
The bottom line is that a dancer must know the body and treat it well.
PS: I was recommended this book at a nutrition seminar that was offered at my pre-professional ballet school. As someone who has wasted a year of training due to anorexia and regrets it terribly, I found that my philosophy agreed 100% with Ms. Kent's: an eating disorder is completely counter-productive to the art of ballet.

read this book with caution
I have read this book several times, and as a dancer, it actually encourages me NOT to follow the outrageous diet plans of the dancers featured in the book. Admittedly, i can relate to the desperate measures that these people will take to lose weight perhaps temporarily, for a certain ballet or an important audition. However, these are not measures that I am proud of, and frankly I find it disturbing that Ms. Kent feels free to encourage extreme behavior, especially in young people (and ESPECIALLY young dancers!) The active lifestyle of a dancer needs to be supplemented by proper nutrition; the mere mention of Susan Jaffe's summer of drinking "a lot of iced tea" to help acquire her job with American Ballet Theatre is dangerous information for aspiring, developing young girls to have their hands on. We can only hope that anyone reading this book for the first time will take it with a grain of salt, considering it was written nearly twenty years ago.

No!!!
I am a dancer and all I have to say for this book is NO!!! This book is basically telling people that you have to starve yourself to be a dancer or to look like one. And also it's giving the message that all dancers starve themselves as well!!! This is not going to accomplish anything except making yourself sick! Dancers *at least those who I know* stay in such great shape by devoting countless hours to dancing and practicing, and to eating healthy *not starving ourselves*...All in all I thought this was awful...it's promoting eating disorders and disgracing healthy dancers everywhere.

a dancer
DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK. this book promotes eating disorders, plain and simple. i'm a dancer, and i have always been thin, but the "suggestions" this book gives are absurd. dancers are very conscious of their bodies, compare themselves to other dancers and hold themselves up to high standards. this book pretty much says that a dancer who is 5'3" should be 94 pounds. this is so messed up. the book suggests a diet of 1200 calories a day. look at the titles: "why a dancer should diet: you can't hide anything in tights" and "the chain around the refrigerator." it shows a dancer ready to "feast" on garden products. besides that, this book was written in 1984. DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK.

Good for dancers with some knowledge of nutrition
This is a good book that gives a young dancer an idea of how to keep their weight in check for their art. I was a professional ballet dancer (recently retired) and found this book to be very helpful in my career. It was published for the first time before there was the extensive research done on dancers, weight management and the 'healthy' ways to go about controlling weight. If the serious dancer wants to get and keep dance jobs, they have to know that their art demands they maintain a lower weight than the average person. Hopefully by the time they get to the point where they are looking for a book like this they have figured that out. It would be a good idea to read other books on dancers and diet that are newer, and use the information in this book along with the newer information to make sure that they are getting all the necessary calories, etc. to sustain their bodies for the training. No book should replace the advice and supervision of a doctor or nutritionist, but this book is a good guide and has really good recipes in it. ... Read more

Book Description

Born to save tap

Fuh-duh-BAP! Fuh-duh-duh-BAP! A new language, a new sound. Savion Glover has redefined tap dancing, and it can never be the same again. He speaks to the world with a power and ease that has stunned and captivated millions. This exciting biography captures that essence--often in Glover's own voice--and treats readers to an inside look at his work while also providing a brief yet compelling history of tap dancing. Reverberating with the rhythm of a unique musical language, the book includes more than 50 photographs and features an eye-catching two-color design.

"He's the greatest tap dancer to ever lace up a pair of Capezios or any other tap shoes."-- Gregory Hines in the Foreword to Savion: My Life in Tap

2001 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA)

"He's the greatest tap dancer to ever lace up a pair of Capezios or any other tap shoes."--Gregory Hines in the Foreword to Savion: My Life in Tap ... Read more

Reviews (6)

For all you tappers out there
Hello to all those tappers out there - I love all of you - Including you Savion. My name is Vaughan and I am actually Australian. My mother taught me how to tap ever since I could stand on two feet. Now, I'm 19 years old. And I'm a professional tap dancing teacher in Japan. Let me just say that I could relate a lot with what Savion was talking about. His views on tap and the way he wants it to go.

It's a fun book to read - with some great action tap shots of Savion throughout his life. The layout is very original, and very creative - it was nice to take my mind off my uni degree for a couple of hours and learn about this extremely successful tap dancer. Someone who I didn't know too much about, but now somehow believe that I've known him all my life.

It's a great art - Tap Dancing. And I wish there were people who could indulge themselves in a couple of professional / guest classes. I go around all of Japan teaching in my holidays, and I try to get as many people involved. Maybe because not many people do it, thats what makes it so unique. Thanks Savion - for following your dreams and publishing this book. It was a great read.

Your fellow Tap Dancer... Vaughan

Best book I've read for a long time
I couldn't put this book down. As a tapper, who is into hoofing and rythm tap, this book was amazing. It explains not only Savin's life and his career but how he uses his shoes to do what he does. This book brings an element of percusion into the dance world that needs to be more widely used.

His Voice Is Finally Heard
We've been hearing his wonderful rhythms for years, now we finally get to hear his voice. What a true inspiration! This book just makes you want to jump up and start moving your feet. Believe me, this book is not just for children. I used it as required reading for my advanced tap class at the local college.

Keep Rockin Savion!
Great design, photos, behind the scenes of one of the greatesttap dancers, Savion Glover! All the info on Savion in one quick read- great for all ages.

Way to Go Savion!
Thank you sir for sharing your wonderful inner world of rhythm with the world! You are an inspiration to all of us who make a living lacing up those tap shoes everyday. Your loving and pricelesss contribution to this wonderful artform are greatly appreciated and honored. ... Read more

Book Description

Tchaikovsky's Ballets combines a detailed and thorough analysis of the music of Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and Nutcracker with descriptions of the first productions of these works in Imperial Russia.A background chapter on the ballet audience, the collaboration of composer and balletmaster, and Moscow of the 1860's leads into an account of the first production of Swan Lake in 1877.A discussion of theater reforms initiated by the Director of the Imperial Theaters prepares the reader for a study of the still-famous 1890 St. Petersburg production of Sleeping Beauty.Wiley then explains how the Nutcracker, produced just two years after Sleeping Beauty,was seen in a much less favorable light than it is now. Separate chapters are devoted to the music of each ballet and translations of published libretti, choreographer's instructions to the composer, and the balletmaster's plans for Sleeping Beauty and the Nutcracker are reproduced in appendices. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

A Useful Reference Book
This very complete volume is a lovely gift book as well as a useful reference book. The only weakness is the lack of emphasis on arm positions when doing the steps although they are illustrated in the photographs. I believe dancers who have experienced the following will find it useful too: When I was a student of ballet, I was frustrated by the subtle differences in the standards of different teachers. Sometimes I wondered, "So how EXACTLY am I supposed to do this?" I did not enjoy being corrected for what a prior instructor had taught me and pronounced well-executed. This book would have clarified things for me at the time. Now that I practice alone, I find this book invaluable. Also, I support Christine's review dated May 4, 2001.

Great little reference book
"Basic Ballet" by Joyce MaaKie is a great (no-nonsense) reference book for the ballet enthusiast, regardless of age. It explains the positions throughly and with lots of photos. The only thing that would make it better would be to increase the size of the pictures and make it a wire-bound book so it stays open when performing the techniques.

A very nice book; I would want to know more about it.
This book, which has 66 black and white photographs as illustrations, usually two, three or four on a page and a different number of them, occasionally including one only, on the opposite page, facing, should be helpful to all those who are interested in the ballet, whether children, young people, or adults, whether because they might like to study it, are studying it, or are just interested in learning more about it to increase their own knowledge and enjoyment of it as interested parties at live performances, etc. , for example. It is a nice place to start, and the photographs are very helpful. Basic Ballet would also make a very nice present for a young person who is interested.

Basic Ballet defines 120 pages of ballet steps beautifully.
For ballet students, instructors, and performers: Basic Ballet by Joyce Mackie is a must for the studio. The ballet steps are carfully defined and easy to follow through the step by step illistrations. Many of the defined steps are basic, but a good number of them are intermediate to advanced in ballet training. If you're serious about ballet, you want this book

Outstanding Beginner's Book
Give it a 10 for its target audience of beginners. But it needs a few more intermediate level techniques to rate an unequivical 10 ... Read more

Reviews (2)

REVIEWS OF "THE STORY OF IRISH DANCE"
" This work not only fills a vacuum for traditional music afficionados but is a spell-binding read" - SUNDAY TRIBUNE (Dublin)

"THE STORY OF IRISH DANCE is a serious study which succeeds in being both entertaining and stimulating." - IRISH NEWS (Belfast)

"THE STORY OF IRISH DANCE is of interest to the general reader and as a source for scholars of Irish dance, dance anthropology, folklore and cultural studies" - IRISH TIMES (Dublin)

" .. a remarkable collection of anecdotes and well-researched background... a fascinating account." - IRISH INDEPENDENT (Dublin)

"THE STORY OF IRISH DANCE is a catalogue of extrordinary anecdotes, meticulous research and the rehearsal of acrimonious controversies whose effects linger on today." - THE EXAMMINER (Cork)

"Helen Brennan has written a fascinating account." - R.T.É. GUIDE (Dublin)

"THE STORY OF IRISH DANCE really is a story to be read by anyone with an interest in any form of dance .." - DANCE EXPRESSION (U.K.)

"THE STORY OF IRISH DANCE is a must, not only for Irish dance fans, but also for anyone interested in Ireland's wonderful past. Helen brings history to life." - IRISH DANCING MAGAZINE

"This book not only weaves a social tapestry around the dance but is also a reminder not to lose sight of the basics. It is a 'must' for anyone involved or interested in Irish dancing." - SET DANCING NEWS (Ireland)

Wonderful Readable Story of Irish Dance
My mother bought me this book last spring when my parents visited Ireland. The author was kind enough to autograph it for me. That alone was enough to make me want to read this book, but once I started, I couldn't put the book down. Ms. Brennan tells the story of Irish Dance with an obvious love of the subject and a gift for storytelling. She introduces us to famous dancers of the recent past and tells the story of dance in different areas of the country. I found myself enjoying this book more than I ever expected, and learned a great deal in the process. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Very Good Book
This book is great! It has descriptions of costumes of dances which will help me with my dance ceremonies. THIS BOOK IS GREAT! ... Read more

Book Description

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is among the premier modern dance companies in the world. One of the hallmarks of an Ailey-trained dancer is a supremely versatile, strong, beautifully toned body-the result of deep immersion in an array of dance and movement techniques. Now there's a dynamic exercise book that brings those benefits home.

Alvin Ailey Dance Moves! draws from the many disciplines taught at The Ailey School-from classical ballet to West African and Indian dance to yoga. Created for people of all abilities, the program helps to improve posture and increase strength, stamina, flexibility, and muscle tone, relieve aches and pains, and support relaxation and well-being.

Featuring leading dancers from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II, and students from The Ailey School in stunning color photographs paired with lucid, step-by-step instructions, the program is easy to learn and easy to stick with. Alvin Ailey Dance Moves! is for anyone who loves dance, and for everyone who is committed to personal health and wellness. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Modern dance-inspired exercises for your workout
This book is intended to give the reader an idea of the work that Alvin Ailey dancers and students go through to prepare for the style of dance they perform. It is not going to teach you how to be an Alvin Ailey dancer (sadly).

According to the brief history and description of the Alvin Ailey style, the company borrows from a diverse range of techniques, everything from ballet, jazz, modern (specifically the work of Lester Horton, Katherine Dunham and Martha Graham), to African, Caribbean, Indian and West African traditional dance. In addition to studying movements from those techniques, Alvin Ailey dancers also use movements borrowed from yoga and what is referred to here as "body conditioning". Again, you're not going to learn any of those styles of dance here, but the influences on the exercises are apparent.

The book is divided into Warm-Ups, Posture and Alignment, Stretch, Strength, Balance and Coordination, and Relaxation and Rejuvenation. The full program is said to take 60 to 90 minutes, but options for shorter programs (20 to 30, as well as 7 to 10) are also offered.

What I enjoy the most about this book is the emphasis on a loosening of the spine combined with the need to constantly stretch. Some of the stretches, while nothing revolutionary, are a nice twist on some traditional yoga postures, and I've started using some of the warmups before I begin my Pilates practice.

Much of the Strength section will be familiar to those who have been exposed to Pilates and ballet, and the Balance and Coordination session borrows heavily from dance and yoga. They lost me a little bit on the cool down, where they have one move where you might end up literally running around your room (how is this cooling?) but otherwise I liked almost all of the exercises in this section.

The photographs were very warm and clear- it was very easy to see what the dancers/models were doing, and the setting (a white living room/studio) looked like a nice place to workout (that setting seems to be the trend these days). The dancers themselves, while of course thin, trim and flexible, seemed to have more attainable bodies than those featured in many other dance books. It was also nice to see a very ethnically diverse group.

This is not an overly strenuous, straining workout, and you would probably want to supplement some other work for the upper body (do dancers really only use pushups to develop their arms?). However, it is a relaxing workout with an emphasis on alignment and spinal articulation. A nice compliment to yoga and Pilates workouts. ... Read more

Book Description

Style File is a compact dictionary of the specialty terms associated with Middle Eastern dance costuming. This concise visual guide is an invaluable reference tool for dance students, teachers, and belly dance costume designers. Over fifty beautifully illustrated original drawings are supported by easy to understand text that identifies the garments and accessories unique to our dance form. Covering high-glamour bedlah to earthy folkloric, tribal fusion to historical reproductions, each style is broken into its component parts. From assuit to zardozi, this handy book is a must for the reference library of Middle Eastern belly dancers who want to push past the basic cabaret costume. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great little resource; mix and match inspiration!
At only about 40 pages long, this book isn't going to take up too much space on your shelves! It is, however, a nifty little compendium of different belly dance 'looks', grouped according to basic classifications (bedlah, beladi dress, tribal and so on) and illustrated with clear, simple line drawings. There is also a good quantity of background information in these pages (though little that an experienced dancer is likely to find new!) This is a great little book to thumb through for inspiration, and I'll be coming back to it again and again. There's nothing particularly 'new' or innovative in it, but there doesn't need to be.

It is important to note that this is not a book on how to make costumes, though it does give a few ideas on what can be used or adapted for some components. AS the title suggests, this provides you with a 'visual vocabulary' - a selection of style fundamentals from which you will be able to build design ideas of your own. Even if you're not into the 'mix and match' design, even just photocopying the line drawings and experimenting with different colour combinations will lead to a wealth of design ideas... ... Read more

Book Description

Taking a fresh and innovative approach to dance history, Dancing Women: Female Bodies on Stage examines Western dance -- from the Romantic ballet to modern dance -- from a feminist perspective. Renowned critic and historian Sally Banes brings nuance and complexity to a wide range of representations of gender, departing from the common positions that stress either the victimization or celebration of women.

Combining close readings of performances with analysis of the sociopolitical and cultural context of specific dances, Banes opens up dynamic new ways of seeing the female body on stage. She untangles various strands of performance, including choreographic structure and style and gaps between plot and performance.

Sally Banes is Marian Winter Professor of Theater History and Dance Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Women Breaking Barriers
Dancing Women: Female Bodies on Stage is an exceptional creation that explores women in dance. Banes gives in-depth historical and social reference for the dances in this book. This context allows the reader to more fully understand the characters on stage and the women off stage. She shows us the significance of the ever-changing "marriage plot" and how it affected choreography and influenced women to break through the social barriers in their lives. It is very educational and inspiring to read about women changing the course of art in Europe and America during the 19th and 20th centuries. I recommend Dancing Women: Female Bodies on Stage to anyone interested in dance history and the woman's rising power in the arts. ... Read more

Book Description

Borrowing from contemporary semiotics and post- structuralistcriticism, Foster outlines four models for representation in dance whichareillustrated through an analysis of the works of contemporarychoreographers andthrough historical examples beginning with court ballets of theRenaissance. ... Read more

Amazon.com

When graphic designer Paul Colin published a limited edition of lithographs he'd made of dancer Josephine Baker and her revue in Paris in 1927, the French fascination with American jazz musicians and dancers was at its peak--and the 500 hand-colored copies quickly sold out. The 45 lithographs collected under the title Le Tumulte Noir (the book's notes list uproar, frenzy, sensation, brouhaha, and craze among the possible translations for the word tumulte) include a dynamic sketch of Baker in her famous banana skirt, a chalklike drawing of a jazz band in full swing, a feather-bedecked woman dancing in the rain, an interracial flapper couple kicking up their heels, and other images that capture the joie de vivre of the era. Henry Louis Gates Jr. introduces this edition of the lithographs with an essay that reminds readers of the haven African Americans found in France at a time when overt racism and bigotry were rampant in the United States. He then maps the wild success the new musical form jazz, and its beloved interpreter Baker, achieved there. Colin's lithographs are faithfully reproduced in the same size and vertical orientation of the original edition with just the three colors he employed, the original title page, and Baker's own handwritten forward to the work. ... Read more

Book Description

A fascinating exploration of how artistic talent emerges and develops in the lives of teenagers.

At an age when many kids flounder, what does it actually mean to pursue a passion? In Attitude!, Katharine Davis Fishman follows eight young dancers through a year of study at one of our nation's premier dance schools and reveals how, at The Ailey School, it's about "attitude"-a ballet term that dates back several hundred years, but also refers to that precious mettle we all need a little bit of to survive but best not exhibit too much of in order to succeed.

Drawing on the literature of adolescence, socialization, and the development of talent, Fishman discovers a very special brand of determination possessed by these dancers. Providing a poignant window into their worlds, she traces the intricate connection between fierce commitment and innate ability. It is during the adolescent years that young people's ideas about their place in the world begin to crystallize. How is the experience different for teenagers who have organized their lives around honing a performing talent?

Attitude! is for anyone interested in the world of dance, the psychology of talent, and the nature of adolescence in contemporary America. ... Read more