Fifty Contemporary Choreographers
Fifty Contemporary Choreographers is a unique and authoritative guide to the lives and work of prominent living contemporary choreographers; this third edition includes many new names in the field of choreography. Representing a wide range of dance genres and styles, each entry locates the individual in the context of contemporary dance and explores their impact. Those studied include: Kyle Abraham Germaine Acogny William Forsythe Marco Goeke Akram Khan Wayne McGregor Crystal Pite Frances Rings Hofesh Shechter Sasha Waltz With an updated introduction by Deborah Jowitt and further reading and references throughout, this text is an invaluable resource for all students and critics of dance and all those interested in the everchanging world and variety of contemporary choreography.
Fifty Contemporary Choreographers
Fifty Contemporary Choreographers is a unique and authoritative guide to the lives and work of prominent living contemporary choreographers; this third edition includes many new names in the field of choreography. Representing a wide range of dance genres and styles, each entry locates the individual in the context of contemporary dance and explores their impact. Those studied include: Kyle Abraham Germaine Acogny William Forsythe Marco Goeke Akram Khan Wayne McGregor Crystal Pite Frances Rings Hofesh Shechter Sasha Waltz With an updated introduction by Deborah Jowitt and further reading and references throughout, this text is an invaluable resource for all students and critics of dance and all those interested in the everchanging world and variety of contemporary choreography.
Jonathan Burrows
The first monograph on the work of British choreographer Jonathan Burrows, this book examines his artistic practice and poetics as articulated through his choreographic works, his writings and his contributions to current performance debates. It considers the contexts, principles and modalities of his choreography, from his early pieces in the 1980s to his latest collaborative projects, providing detailed analyses of his dances and reflecting on his unique choreomusical partnership with composer Matteo Fargion.Known for its emphasis on gesture and humour, and characterised by compositional clarity and rhythmical patterns, Burrows' artistic work takes the language of choreography to its limits and engages in a paradoxical, and hence transformative, relationship with dance's historical and normative structures. Exploring the ways in which Burrows and Fargion's poetics articulates movement, performative presence and the collaborative process in a 'minor' register, this study conceptualises the work as a politically compelling practice that destabilises major traditions from a minoritarian position.
Bailar la quietud
Hiciste tu primera clase de Contact Improvisaci籀n (C.I.) o un amigo te invit籀 al jam semanal y quedaste cautivado. O quiz獺, eres alguien que ha bailado e investigado durante muchos a簽os. 聶Qu矇 es lo que sigue? 聶Qu矇 m獺s hay por descubrir en tu danza? En 1972, Steve Paxton reuni籀 a un grupo de atletas y bailarines para investigar los principios de Contact Improvisaci籀n. Desde entonces, esta forma se ha convertido en un experimento colaborativo descentralizado y sin fronteras. Todos los que se unen aportan sus hallazgos y transformaciones a esta forma de danza, intr穩nsecamente inacabada. Bailar la quietud es un libro de referencia de ensayos acerca de Contact Improvisaci籀n, un tratado filos籀fico y una gu穩a pr獺ctica. Esta compilaci籀n de 30 a簽os de escritos tiene la intenci籀n de acompa簽ar y apoyar tu exploraci籀n mientras descubres nuevos patrones y din獺micas en tu danza. * Incluye cap穩tulos acerca de: Contact Improvisaci籀n y la escena L穩mites y sexualidadActivismo politicoBailar mientras envejeces Apuntes sobre la ense簽anza en C.I.Destrezas avanzadasYa sea que seas un improvisador que saborea las aguas delicadas de las sensaciones...o uno que se deleita en las acrobacias espont獺neas... o cualquiera de los inconmensurables mundos que hay entre uno y otro estilo, este libro es para ti. Lo que t繳 descubras enriquece las arcas de conocimiento que construimos juntos en esta forma de danza en permanente evoluci籀n. Te invito a que bailes la quietud de la danza.
The Dancing Body in Renaissance Choreography
Renaissance dance treatises claim that the dance is a language but do not explain how or what dancing communicates. Since the body is the instrument of this hypothetical language, The Dancing Body in Renaissance Choreography problematizes the absence of the dancing body in treatises in order to reconstruct it through a series of intertextual readings triggered by Thoinot Arbeau's definition of dance as a mute rhetoric in Orchesographie. This book shows that the oratorical model for Arbeau's definition of the dance is epideictic and that although one cannot equate dance and oratorical action, the ends of oratorical action are those of dance: persuasion through charm and emotion. The analysis of the rhetorical intertext opens the way to a sociological one. Through a reading of courtesy books as well as a chapter of Tuccaro's L'Art de Sauter et Voltiger en l'air it is shown that dance and social behavior were not discontinuous in the Renaissance. Instructions for the body can be divided into the categories of the pose and movement. They are examined as a model for the most important and widely practiced dance of the Renaissance: the basse danse. The characteristic motion resides in an opposition as well as an interpenetration of stillness and mobility. This is developed through a reading of fifteenth-century dance theorists' concept of misura and fantasmata. Stefano Guazzo's La Civil Conversazione is used as a textual interpretant to ascertain the strategy of movement and the pose in the interaction between dancer and spectator.
Tandem Dances
Tandem Dances: Choreographing Immersive Performance is the first book to propose dance and choreography as frames through which to examine immersive theatre, more broadly known as immersive performance. Indicative of a larger renaissance in storytelling during the digital age, immersive performance is influenced by emerging computer technologies, such as virtual reality and advances in video-gaming, as well as increased interest in new forms of experiential entertainment. The idea of tandemness -- suggesting motion that is achieved by two bodies working together and acting in conjunction with one another -- is critical throughout the book. Author Julia M. Ritter persuasively argues that practitioners of immersive productions deploy choreography as a structural mechanism to mobilize the bodies of cast and audience members to perform together. Furthermore, choreography is contextualized as an effective tool for facilitating audience participation towards immersion as an affect. Through a focus on Western dance histories, theories, and practices, Ritter's close choreographic analysis of immersive productions, along with unique insights from choreographers, directors, performers, and spectators, enlivens discourse across dramaturgy, kinesthesia, affect, and co-authorship. By foregrounding the choreographic in order to examine its specific impact on the evolution of immersive theater, Tandem Dances explores choreography as a discursive domain that is fundamentally related to creative practice, agendas of power and control, and concomitant issues of freedom and agency.
Finding Balanchine’s Lost Ballets
Ever since George Balanchine arrived on the American dance scene in 1933, his revolutionary, fleet-footed repertoire has been immortalized in the ballet canon. Yet most of the works he created in Russia as a budding choreographer have been lost to history--until now. In the first book to focus exclusively on Balanchine's Russian ballets, Elizabeth Kattner offers new insights into the artistic evolution of a legend through her reconstruction of his first group ballet, Funeral March.Drawing on more than a decade of research conducted in archives in the United States and Europe, Kattner synthesizes textual descriptions, photographs, musical scores, and the comparative study of other early Balanchine ballets in order to re-create this forgotten work. By interpreting and building upon these historical findings in the studio and in performance, this project enables dance history to be experienced kinesthetically. Addressing the controversy surrounding whether unrecorded dances should be reconstructed in the first place, Kattner meticulously describes her research methodologies, providing a valuable resource for other scholars seeking to revive history in this way.Finding Balanchine's Lost Ballets enriches our understanding of Balanchine's development as a choreographer through its ambitious, original approach to the subject. Kattner argues for the importance of dance reconstruction, when correctly approached, as a tool for reimagining the past and charting the future possibilities of dance history research.
Du mouvement ? la danse
"C'est l'矇lan qui fait tout", ai-je jadis lanc矇 du haut de mes quatre ans, proclamant une foi qui ne m'a jamais quitt矇e et qui sans doute propulse l'humanit矇 l'adh矇sion au mouvement, ? la vie. Pourtant la civilisation occidentale a longtemps 矇t矇 fascin矇e par l'immobilit矇, que la plupart des Anciens assimilaient ? l'矇ternit矇. Mais elle s'est lentement laiss矇e gagner par l'矇merveillement face ? un univers o羅 tout est en mouvement, en perp矇tuelle auto-organisation. De m礙me, ? son 矇chelle, l'individu humain s'auto-construit, stimul矇 in utero par le mouvement qui, apr癡s la naissance, se d矇veloppe en un langage de gestes et de vocalisations, premiers appels ? l'autre, premi癡re expression du d矇sir, premi癡re expression corporelle. La conscience, d癡s lors, se d矇veloppe en se d矇doublant. Elle se d矇ploie et s'矇l癡ve ? partir d'elle-m礙me comme une spirale ascendante. Et les partenaires de cette sorte de danse de la conscience sont le mouvement d'autrui, le mouvement des choses, le mouvement du monde. Lorsqu'il joue de cette musicalit矇 mobile pour elle-m礙me, pour le seul bonheur de cultiver ses liens ? l'environnement, ? l'autre et ? lui-m礙me, l'礙tre humain se fait danseur. Il peut alors, par imagination et par identification, 矇pouser tous les modes d'exister de la mati癡re, ? travers les r癡gnes, min矇ral, v矇g矇tal, animal. Haute 矇cole d'empathie et exutoire ? la violence, la danse plonge au plus profond des corps et aux tr矇fonds de la mati癡re. Elle incarne les trag矇dies et les espoirs de notre temps, de notre Terre tant aim矇e, mal aim矇e, malmen矇e. La joie de danser pousse sur le lourd terreau de l'existence. Sondant la gravit矇 de la vie, elle y puise sa force d'envol, sa jubilation. Jusqu'au grand 璽ge, le corps danseur, forge intime d'espace-temps, entretient sous la braise le foyer de ses flamboyances, qu'un souffle suffit ? raviver, ? projeter en 矇tincelle d'矇ternit矇.
Foundations of Dance
The Foundations of Dance: An Anthology provides readers with a carefully selected collection of articles that introduce them to various dance forms and their respective movements. The anthology features differentiating perspectives on ballet, jazz, and modern dance, as well as explorations about dance as ethnography, production, performance, legacy, and tradition.The various authors whose writings are included within the volume approach traditional dance subject matter from perspectives that incorporate dance as an expression of humanity, the relationship between choreography and elements of dance, the performing arts industry, spirituality and dance, LGBTQ traditions in dance, and the American dance scene. Additional readings underscore the importance of mentoring, the role of matriarchs, and the passing on of heritage within dance communities. Each article is supplemented with post-reading questions to inspire critical thought and reflection.Covering information value to individuals currently teaching or planning to teach dance classes, The Foundations of Dance is an ideal resource for courses in dance and the arts. It can also be used by dance instructors who own studios and work within their communities.
Floor Barre
Questo manuale sulla tecnica di Sbarra a Terra, creata da Alex d'Orsay e scritto da lei stessa, 癡 stato adottato come libro di testo dall'Accademia di Danza Teatro alla Scala per il Corso Insegnanti di Danza Accademica. E' dedicato ai danzatori professionisti, agli Insegnanti di Danza e a tutti gli amatori . Principali obbiettivi di questo metodo: postura correttamente allineata, allungamento della muscolatura, potenziamento dell' en dehors, sviluppo della percezione fisica dei movimenti, della concentrazione, della memoria muscolare del movimento. This handbook on the technique of floor-barre, conceived by Alex d'Orsay and written by herself, has been adopted as the official textbook at the Academy of Dancing Teatro alla Scala, Milan This work on the floor, conceived especially for dance teachers and professional dancers, can also be used by amateurs interested in improving any technique, be it classical, modern or contemporary dance. The aims of this method are: a perfect alignement, an improvement of the turnout, a postural awareness, the strengthening of all the core and back muscles
Look Before You Leap
Look Before You Leap guides parents towards helping their children to achieve their greatest success in dance. As we pull back the curtain on the dance industry, it has never been more important for parents and students to become as informed as possible to avoid the damage that is being done to children through the world-wide epidemics of extreme training, over-training, unqualified teachers and the global sexualisation of dance students. A safe and successful dance education can be achieved as parents discover what to look for and what to avoid when choosing a dance studio and ensuring the best, safe pathways to a happy, fulfilling and successful dance journey.From pre-school dance to full-time training, the easy to read "Look Before You Leap" brings information together from Dance Professionals, Dance Medicine/Science experts and the observations, opinions and advice through the extensive experience of the author. Whether a child learns dancing as a fun, recreational hobby or dreams of a professional career in dance or the performing arts, Look Before You Leap is a must read for all parents, families, students, teachers and the extended dance community.
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui
This book analyses the world-renowned Belgian choreographer's key approaches and dramaturgical strategies through selected case studies from his oeuvre between 2000 and 2010, from Rien de Rien to Babel(words). It investigates Cherkaoui's choreographic and dramaturgic interventions in debates on the nation, culture, religion and language, by emphasising the transcultural, transreligious and geopolitical dimensions of the dialogues and exchanges he explored during this initial decade. Engaged spectatorship refers to the ongoing thinking, talking, research and writing that the spectator is invited to do in order to fulfil the work's macro-dramaturgical potential to resist nationalism, populism and religious fundamentalism. The book meticulously explores Cherkaoui's rich, multi-layered theatrical imagery and aural landscapes to demonstrate the agile and ever-shifting interpretive acts the works elicit from their audiences. Offering a full-length analysis of Cherkaoui's work, the book is essential reading for students, researchers, practitioners and Cherkaoui fans.
Dessins sur la Danses de Vaslav Nijinsky
Like many artists of his generation, George Barbier was fascinated by the work of the dancer Vaslav Nijinsky, and in this book Barbier pays homage to the great dancer in the form of twelve fantastical colour designs which convey the impression Nijinsky produced in his dancing. Among the works illustrated are Sheherazade, Narcisse, Petrushka, L'Apr癡s-midi d'un faune, Carnaval, Spectre de la rose, Cl矇opatre, and Le Pavillon d'Armide.The plates are preceded by a short text in French by Francis de Miomandre.First printed in 1913, the book has never before been reprinted.
Ubuntu as Dance Pedagogy in Uganda
This book locates the philosophy of Ubuntu as the undergirding framework for indigenous dance pedagogies in local communities in Uganda. Through critical examination of the reflections and practices of selected local dance teachers, the volume reveals how issues of inclusion, belonging, and agency are negotiated through a creatively complex interplay between individuality and communality. The analysis frames pedagogies as sites where reflective thought and kinaesthetic practice converge to facilitate ever-evolving individual imagination and community innovations.
The Natural Body in Somatics Dance Training
From its beginnings as an alternative and dissident form of dance training in the 1960s, Somatics emerged at the end of the twentieth century as one of the most popular and widespread regimens used to educate dancers. It is now found in dance curricula worldwide, helping to shape the look and sensibilities of both dancers and choreographers and thereby influencing much of the dance we see onstage worldwide. One of the first books to examine Somatics in detail and to analyse how and what it teaches in the dance studio, The Natural Body in Somatics Dance Training considers how dancers discover and assimilate new ways of moving and also larger cultural values associated with those movements. The book traces the history of Somatics, and it also details how Somatics developed in different locales, engaging with local politics and dance histories so as to develop a distinctive pedagogy that nonetheless shared fundamental concepts with other national and regional contexts. In so doing it shows how dance training can inculcate an embodied politics by guiding and shaping the experience of bodily sensation, constructing forms of reflexive evaluation of bodily action, and summoning bodies into relationship with one another. Throughout, the author focuses on the concept of the natural body and the importance of a natural way of moving as central to the claims that Somatics makes concerning its efficacy and legitimacy.
The People’s Dance
This book presents an analysis of how the grassroots movement of Guangchang Wu or 'square dance' in China has become a national phenomenon. Through oral narratives offering rich descriptions of lived encounters, the experiences of those involved in leading, organizing, teaching and learning Guangchang Wu are revealed. Through these narratives, this book serves to understand the leadership practices occurring and how this dance practice is deeply rooted in the complexities of China's rapid economic development, acceleration of urbanisation, and the desire for a healthier and more communal lifestyle.
Listening to CountryIndigenous Intercultural Dance and Dramaturgy
Takes a trans-disciplinary approach, drawing on sound theory, art history, indigenous studies, performance studies and dance studiesShows how contemporary indigenous dance makes visible a crisis of knowledge values in post-colonial environmentsThree parts cover: listening as devised choreographic practice; listening to cultural, historical and political contexts; and the identification of new cultural dramaturgies
Ballet in the Cold War
In 1959, the Bolshoi Ballet arrived in New York for its first ever performances in the United States. The tour was part of the Soviet-American cultural exchange, arranged by the governments of the US and USSR as part of their Cold War strategies. This book explores the first tours of the exchange, by the Bolshoi in 1959 and 1962, by American Ballet Theatre in 1960, and by New York City Ballet in 1962. The tours opened up space for genuine appreciation of foreign ballet. American fans lined up overnight to buy tickets to the Bolshoi, and Soviet audiences packed massive theaters to see American companies. Political leaders, including Khrushchev and Kennedy, met with the dancers. The audience reaction, screaming and crying, was overwhelming. But the tours also began a series of deep misunderstandings. American and Soviet audiences did not view ballet in the same way. Each group experienced the other's ballet through the lens of their own aesthetics. Americans loved Soviet dancers but believed that Soviet ballets were old-fashioned and vulgar. Soviet audiences and critics likewise appreciated American technique and innovation but saw American choreography as empty and dry. Drawing on both Russian- and English-language archival sources, this book demonstrates that the separation between Soviet and American ballet lies less in how the ballets look and sound, and more in the ways that Soviet and American viewers were trained to see and hear. It suggests new ways to understand both Cold War cultural diplomacy and twentieth-century ballet.
Dancing Through the Dissonance
This book explores the relationship between peacebuilding and dance, including insights dance provides on key debates around peace and conflict.It investigates the application, practice, and analysis of a dance-focused peacebuilding programme and tells the important story of young people who engage in dance for peacebuilding.
A History of Ballet in Russia (1613 - 1881)
This is a detailed history of ballet in Russia (with particular reference to St. Petersburg) from its origin to the third quarter of the 19th century. The groundwork of historical data is enlivened with notes on the different dancers, extracts from contemporary accounts of their appearances, the casts of important first performances, the stories of many of the ballets produced, and so on. We learn of the birth of interest in the Theatre early in the 17th century, during the reign of Tsar Alexis, of the Public Balls or Assemblies organised by Peter the Great, and of the establishment during the reign of the Empress Anne of a ballet company - recruited from the children of poor parents - directed by a French master called Land矇. With each new reign the company increases in size, importance and talent under the successive influence of famous ma簾tres de ballet such as Didelot, Perrot, St.-L矇on and Marius Petipa, and celebrated ballerine such as Marie Taglioni, Fanny Elssler, Carlotta Grisi, Fanny Cerrito, Caroline Rosati, Amalia Ferraris, Salvioni, Henriette d'Or and so forth. With such forces at work a line of illustrious Russian Stars is formed - Istomina, Kolosova, Zubova, Andreyanova, Petipa, Prikhunova, Bogdanova, Muravieva, Grantsova, Vazem, Sokolova and many others. The book is prefaced by a most interesting introduction by M. Andr矇 Levinson, whose reputation as an historian and critic of dancing is world-wide, which presents an admirable survey of the development of Ballet in Russia from the "age of Petipa" to the conquering of both the Old World and the New by that glorious company - composed of hand-picked artists from the Imperial Ballet - directed by Serge Diaghilev.
Broadsword and Quarter-Staff Without a Master
Broadsword and Quarter-Staff Without a Master - broadsword fencing and stick or quarter-staff play after the latest European practice is an unchanged, high-quality reprint of the original edition of 1862. Hansebooks is editor of the literature on different topic areas such as research and science, travel and expeditions, cooking and nutrition, medicine, and other genres. As a publisher we focus on the preservation of historical literature. Many works of historical writers and scientists are available today as antiques only. Hansebooks newly publishes these books and contributes to the preservation of literature which has become rare and historical knowledge for the future.
HowExpert Guide to Belly Dancing
HowExpert Guide to Belly Dancing is for all dance lovers, especially for those in love with belly dancing. It serves as a guiding tool to learn the dance from the basic movements. This guide is divided into eight main sections that teach the different aspects of the belly dancing, starting with the basic belly dance posture and then going through the belly dance movements of the lower and upper part of the body. Each section contains several sub-sections that guide you gradually towards the next step. At the end of the book, there is a review part highlighting the key moments that you have to incorporate. Besides sharing instructions for engaging the upper and lower parts of the body, this guide also gives you insight into the basic techniques on how to move on stage and how to manage your choreography. All techniques gained from the sections will not mean a thing if you do not connect them into a graceful dance. The key point of this book is to motivate and inspire you to learn, grow, and succeed in your belly dancing journey. Although some steps are easier and can be learned faster, others require more time and practice. However, no matter what the obstacles are, challenge yourself to become better with every new step. About the ExpertAneta Dimoska is a passionate dancer and dedicated learner. Her love for dancing began in the early years of her life. Ever since then, she has nurtured this passion and developed skills in many dances. Her favorites are belly dancing and Latin dances. She has affection towards the Arabic belly dancing style, but also towards the Egyptian style. As a graduate of a sociology degree, she is in love with the Middle East culture and tradition. Her interest in this civilization expands through the years following the challenges that these societies are facing. Understanding this unique culture has made her connection with belly dancing even stronger. HowExpert publishes quick 'how to' guides on all topics from A to Z by everyday experts.
Lavender & MariposasUn Ballet Futurista
Lavender sue簽a con ser una bailarina de ballet. Trabaja muy duro para formar parte de la Compa簽穩a de Ballet de la Naci籀n Mariposa. La Compa簽穩a de Ballet de la Naci籀n Mariposa es una presentaci籀n futurista cuando los planetas son dejados a su propia energ穩a viva. Las elixitinas son personas mariposas en busca de un refugio seguro porque su planeta Elixitina se vuelve inhabitable. Han viajado por el espacio para refugiarse en la Tierra durante una revoluci籀n el穩ptica. Son personas amables, inteligentes, trabajadoras y pac穩ficas. Sinti矇ndose amenazada por estas diferentes criaturas con alas hermosas y coloridas, una avispa celosa y cruel llamada Crushel intenta invadir y destruir su nuevo hogar. Pero una valiente avispa chica encuentra una manera de advertir a la naci籀n mariposa y las defiende del ataque con la ayuda de la gente ara簽a. Se restablece la paz y el equilibrio. Todos viven en armon穩a y felices para siempre. Lavender contin繳a so簽ando despierta, y su aventura justo acaba de empezar.
The Human Touch in the art of ballet
In its purest form art cannot be explained. But some of its most powerful works relate to personal experience, and are better appreciated with a touch of insight. The artistic director of A Moving Experience brings her understanding of ballet to these critical articles which freshly illuminate the classical repertoire and underline its relevance to today's world.
My Approach to Character Dance
Maria Fay was a renowned classical dancer and teacher who enjoyed a long and fruitful association with Royal Ballet School after her flight from Hungary at the time of the Hungarian uprising in 1956. This is Maria Fay's third and final book published shortly after her death in 2019 and covers the evolution of her approach to teaching character dance to classical ballet dancers. First written some years ago, but never published, it includes an entertaining narrative account, together with descriptions and analysis of exercises for seven different character dance styles: Hungarian Court, Polish, Hungarian Gypsy, Russian, Romanian, Georgian, and Hungarian Peasant. Her particular system has formed the foundation of classes taught in recent times at the Royal Ballet School by her former students Amanda Maxwell and Tania Fairbairn. This historical record of an important strand of work by the renowned Hungarian dancer, teacher, choreographer and coach will be of interest to the dance community worldwide.
Introduction to 22 Kinds of Dances
Anyone can learn to dance! This simple and logical system really works. Harold Bob Jones spent thousands of dollars and countless hours over more than six decades learning to dance in studios, clubs, organizations, college courses, and cruise ships with many different instructors, including world-champion dancers. After his experiences, he set out to find a faster, easier, more efficient, and more effective way to teach and learn how to do many different types of dances. Jones has tried out his method on hundreds of students in many countries. It was so effective, many of his students are now using the method to teach others themselves. About the Author Harold Bob Jones is a world traveler who has lived and worked in eight countries and visited 214! He has studied twelve languages and studied many kinds of dances on six continents and danced on all seven continents, including Antarctica! Jones has retired to his native Oklahoma, where he works part-time running a fitness center and will gladly teach dance to anyone who wants to learn.
The Compassion of JazzTheCompassion of JazzMy Incredible Life in Music & the Movement
Howling Near Heaven
For more than five decades, Twyla Tharp has been a phenomenon in American dance, a choreographer who not only broke the rules but refused to repeat her own successes. Tharp has made movies, television specials, and nearly one hundred riveting dance works. Her dance show Movin' Out ran on Broadway for three years and won Tharp a Tony award for Best Choreography. Howling Near Heaven is the only in-depth study of Twyla Tharp's unique, restless creativity. This second edition features a new forward that brings the account of Tharp's work up to date and discusses how dance and dance-making in the United States have changed in recent years. This is the story of a choreographer who refused to be pigeonholed and the dancers who accompanied her as she sped across the frontiers of dance.
Moving Lessons
Moving Lessons is an insightful and sophisticated look at the origins and influence of dance in American universities, focusing on Margaret H'Doubler (1889-1982), who established the first university courses and the first degree program in dance. Janice Ross shows how H'Doubler changed the way Americans thought not just about female physicality but also about higher education for women. In this second edition, Ross adds new details on H'Doubler's radical pedagogy--including her use of a skeleton as a teaching tool in the classroom--and reflections on recent developments in dance studies and education.
Salsa Chica
Once Solange began to dance salsa she did little else. She worked and she danced. Try as she may, she could not imagine a more desirable way to spend her time. She became a "Salsera" or a "Salsa Chica," a woman who rearranges her entire life to accommodate her need to dance as much as humanly possible. It was a big experiment at first. What would happen if she danced night after night? Would her body fall apart? Would she be able to function at work? Would her mom get mad? She just lost weight and toned her body without getting on a hamster torture device. She grew more comfortable in her skin, developed confidence, became friends with people from different cultures, learned about music, and fell in love with the "wrong guys," - Salsa Guys - who weren't that different from other "wrong guys" but these guys could dance. Like every other Salsa Chica she struggled with her passions, choices, and technique. In "Salsa Chica: How I Learned To Dance Salsa And Avoid Real Life," Solange recounts the journey of learning to dance salsa and how it transformed and maybe even saved her life.
Always a Dancer
This is the story of a young boy who wants to be a professional dancer. Surmounting the inevitable obstacles of parental rejection and the advice of guidance counselors, with stakes set against one starting training as late as seventeen, he ventures to New York City in hopes of dancing in West Side Story. Instead, he discovers his true love is Classical Ballet, not Broadway. In his first year with the Joffrey Ballet, he is drafted into the US Army. Changing from dance tights to M-16 rifles, he encounters one of the more remarkable periods of his young life. Miraculously avoiding assignment in Vietnam, he returns to the ballet career that then takes him to twenty-five countries on five continents. Along the way he meets and marries his favorite ballerina, Linda DeBona, and together, they dance the great classical repertoire on the world's stages, meeting and working with many of the great names in music and dance. Upon becoming a father and changing careers, he sees new opportunities. In his work as an insurance broker, he is able to give back to his former profession in the form of creating a disability insurance product for dancers: a first for the insurance industry and for the professional dance world. A new stage has been set, this time with the audience across the table. Finally, he finds his way back to dance by developing the health club industry's first adult ballet class. He is back in his element reminding one and all that he is first and Always a Dancer.
Always a Dancer
This is the story of a young boy who wants to be a professional dancer. Surmounting the inevitable obstacles of parental rejection and the advice of guidance counselors, with stakes set against one starting training as late as seventeen, he ventures to New York City in hopes of dancing in West Side Story. Instead, he discovers his true love is Classical Ballet, not Broadway. In his first year with the Joffrey Ballet, he is drafted into the US Army. Changing from dance tights to M-16 rifles, he encounters one of the more remarkable periods of his young life. Miraculously avoiding assignment in Vietnam, he returns to the ballet career that then takes him to twenty-five countries on five continents. Along the way he meets and marries his favorite ballerina, Linda DeBona, and together, they dance the great classical repertoire on the world's stages, meeting and working with many of the great names in music and dance. Upon becoming a father and changing careers, he sees new opportunities. In his work as an insurance broker, he is able to give back to his former profession in the form of creating a disability insurance product for dancers: a first for the insurance industry and for the professional dance world. A new stage has been set, this time with the audience across the table. Finally, he finds his way back to dance by developing the health club industry's first adult ballet class. He is back in his element reminding one and all that he is first and Always a Dancer.
Ballet for Dummies
Whether you want to participate in ballet or just watch it, the ballet experience can excite and inspire you. Ballet is among the most beautiful forms of expression ever devised: an exquisite mix of sight and sound, stunning, aesthetics, and awesome technique. Ballet For Dummies is for anyone who wants to enjoy all that the dance forms offers - as an onlooker who wants to get a leg up on the forms you're likely to see or as an exercise enthusiast who understands that the practice of ballet can help you gain: More strength Greater flexibility Better body alignment Confidence in movement Comfort through stress reduction Infinite grace - for life From covering the basics of classical ballet to sharing safe and sensible ways to try your hand (and toes) at moving through the actual dance steps, this expert reference shows you how to: Build your appreciation for ballet from the ground up. Choose the best practice space and equipment. Warm up to your leap into the movements. Locate musical options for each exercise. Look for certain lifts in a stage performance. Tell a story with gestures. Picture a day in the life of a professional ballet dancer. Identify best-loved classic and contemporary ballets. Speak the language of ballet. Today you can find a ballet company in almost every major city on earth. Many companies have their own ballet schools - some for training future professionals, and others for interested amateurs. As you fine-tune your classical ballet technique - or even if you just like to read about it - you'll become better equipped to fully appreciate the great choreography and many styles of the dance. Ballet For Dummies raises the curtain on a world of beauty, grace, poise, and possibility! P.S. If you think this book seems familiar, you're probably right. The Dummies team updated the cover and design to give the book a fresh feel, but the content is the same as the previous release of Ballet For Dummies (9780764525681).
Core Strength & Stability for Dancers
'Core Strength & Stability for Dancers' is the must-have reference for any dancer. With over 300 colour photos showing step-by-step exercises, correct technique, and explanations of what to look for with correct movement and technique. This reference guide is essential to give you the competitive advantage. It provides proven, practical exercises to help prevent injuries, improve stability in all areas of the body, strengthen the essential core musculature, and increase performance potential. It is a tool no dancer can be without. Core stability is explained, with detailed instruction on correct activation of the essential core stabilisers, including the pelvic floor. Hundreds of photos are depicted and explained. Strength and stability are the primary focus, and there is also a section on stretching and a brief introduction to cross training. While the material in this reference guide is targeted at dancers, many exercises can be transferred to other activities such as Pilates, yoga, rehab instructors, fitness instructors, and fitness enthusiasts. A variety of exercise tools are used, with an explanation on how to use them properly. Any dancer that wants to dance with minimal risk of injury and maximum potential needs this book. The demanding load on their body of day-in-and-day-out practice and performance requires core strength and stability. This book gives them the strength and stability edge.
Dance and Light
Dance and Light examines the interconnected relationship between movement and design, the fluid partnership that exists between the two disciplines, and the approaches that designers can take to enhance dance performances through lighting design. The book demystifies lighting for the dancer and helps designers understand how the dancer/choreographer thinks about their art form, providing insight into the choreographer's process and exploring how designers can make the most of their resources. The author shares anecdotes and ideas from an almost 50-year career as a lighting designer, along with practical examples and insights from colleagues, and stresses the importance of clear communication between designers, choreographers, and dancers. Attention is also given to the choreographer who wants to learn what light can do to help enhance their work on stage. Written in short, stand-alone chapters that allow readers to quickly navigate to areas of interest, Dance and Light is a valuable resource for lighting design classes wishing to add a section on dance lighting, as well as for choreography classes who want to better equip young artists for a significant collaborative partnership.
Historical Perspectives on Dance in Africa
Embedded within the dances of Africa are repositories of historical narratives, invaluable insights on the mindset of ancient and contemporary peoples, and revelations and budding hints of developing cultural phenomena. Such information greatly contributes to and facilitates deeper understanding of undeciphered African artifacts. It informs diverse disciplines, including African history, African studies, world history, among other fields. Uncovering previously unknown artifacts is futile if their meaning continues to be a mystery. Historical Perspectives on Dance in Africa introduces students, scholars, and the general public to previously under-researched African dances and their meanings, and the cultural history that gave birth to them.
Historical Perspectives on Dance in Africa
Embedded within the dances of Africa are repositories of historical narratives, invaluable insights on the mindset of ancient and contemporary peoples, and revelations and budding hints of developing cultural phenomena. Such information greatly contributes to and facilitates deeper understanding of undeciphered African artifacts. It informs diverse disciplines, including African history, African studies, world history, archaeology, cultural studies, performance studies, and dance history, among other fields. Uncovering previously unknown artifacts is futile if their meaning continues to be a mystery. Historical Perspectives on Dance in Africa introduces students, scholars, and the general public to previously under-researched African dances and their meanings, and the cultural history that gave birth to them.
Dictionary of Ballet Terms
Comprehensive yet conveniently sized for pocket or purse, A Dictionary of Ballet Terms will be a welcome companion at performances--whether in the orchestra or up in "seventh heaven"--and in every other situation involving the exquisite art of ballet. "The clearest, simplest, and least pretentious guide to classic dance vocabulary that has ever been produced."--Clive Barnes
Tap Dancing at a Glance
You can learn tap dancing easily! This fantastic book's thirty-nine lessons will guide you to mastering the steps you've seen on stage. Each lesson is illustrated through the use of posed photographs and includes rhythm notation to aid your practice. Will the help of these lessons and some determined practice you'll be tap dancing within a month or two. Originally published in 1930, we are republishing this vintage guide now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with its original artwork and text.
I Am Dance
Winner of the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, author and photographer Hal Banfield brings this photographic series to life in the pages of his debut book. Capturing the grace, beauty, and strength of black dancers in motion, I Am Dance: Words and Images of the Black Dancer shines a spotlight on dancers from the concert to the commercial world of dance, with intimate stories from dancers, in their own words, about the space they hold in the world of dance, what dance means to them primarily and what being a dancer of color represents to them, especially. I Am Dance is an encounter with dancers that will leave you with not just beautiful images to behold, but also shares with you a love and appreciation for the art of dance, with insight into the passion, heart and revelations of dancers of color.
Kathak
The book thoroughly examines the influence of Bharat Muni's Natyashastra, an ancient treatize of dramatic arts, on present-day KathakIt explores time and rhythm in Kathak in detail with examplesThe author is a professional Kathak dancer and has been studying and performing Kathak for the past 46 years. She brings her experience about the practical aspects of Kathak in this bookThe reader will be able to see how different aspects of Kathak are fused together to create a performanceKathak: The Dance of Storytellers explores the philosophical and practical aspects of Kathak dance - its origin, development, and techniques. Investigating this compelling dance style from cultural and historical perspectives, the book delves into the essential principles of Kathak, its schools and major artists, the format of Kathak performance, repertoire, Kathak music, predominant trends in training, and the system of practice through the lens of theory and application. A rare resource, the text is a comprehensive read for dancers, teachers, and Kathak lovers.Due to the increase of Kathak performances along with dance classes in the west, Kathak practitioners living outside India will immensely benefit from this book.
Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes
In the history of twentieth-century ballet, no company has had so profound and far-reaching an influence as the Ballets Russes. Under the direction of impresario extraordinaire Serge Diaghilev (1872-1929), the Ballets Russes radically transformed the nature of ballet--its subject matter, movement idiom, choreographic style, stage space, music, scenic design, costume, even the dancer's physical appearance. From 1909 to 1929, it nurtured some of the greatest choreographers in dance history--Fokine, Nijinsky, Massine, and Balanchine--and created such classics as Les Sylphides, Firebird, Petrouchka, L'Apr癡s-midi d'un Faune, Les Noces, and Apollo. Diaghilev brought together some of the leading artists of his time, including composers Stravinsky, Debussy, and Prokofiev; artists Picasso, Braque, and Matisse, and poets Hoffmansthal and Cocteau. Diaghilev's Ballets Russes is the most authoritative history of the company ever written and the first to examine it as a totality--its art, enterprise, and audience. Combining social and cultural history with illuminating discussions of dance, drama, music, art, economics, and public reception, Lynn Garafola paints an extraordinary portrait of the company that shaped ballet into what it is today.
Merce Cunningham
On the occasion of Merce Cunningham's centennial comes this handsome new edition of his classic and long-out-of-print artist's book Changes: Notes on Choreography, first published in 1968 by Dick Higgins' Something Else Press. The book presents a revealing exposition of Cunningham's compositional process by way of his working notebooks, containing in-progress notations of individual dances with extensive speculations about the choreographic and artistic problems he was facing. Illustrated with over 170 photographs and printed in color and black and white, the book was described by its original publisher as "the most comprehensive book on choreography to emerge from the new dance ... [which] will come to stand with Eisenstein's and Stanislavsky's classics on the artistic process." By the time these notebooks were published, Cunningham had already led the Merce Cunningham Dance Company for 15 years, and had collaborated with Cage and others on milestones such as Variations V (1966) and RainForest (1968), the latter with Andy Warhol, David Tudor and Jasper Johns. Along with his essay collection Dancing in Space and Time (1978), Changes is one of the most significant publications on Cunningham's enduring contributions to dance, which developed through collaboration with John Cage to incorporate formal innovation with regard to chance, silence and stillness.
Broadway, Balanchine, and Beyond
In this memoir of a roller-coaster career on the New York stage, former actor and dancer Bettijane Sills offers a highly personal look at the art and practice of George Balanchine, one of ballet's greatest choreographers, and the inner workings of his world-renowned company during its golden years. Sills recounts her years as a child actor in television and on Broadway, a career choice largely driven by her mother, and describes her transition into pursuing her true passion: dance. She was a student in Balanchine's School of American Ballet throughout her childhood and teen years, until her dream was achieved. She was invited to join New York City Ballet in 1961 as a member of the corps de ballet and worked her way up to the level of soloist. Winningly honest and intimate, Sills lets readers peek behind the curtains to see a world that most people have never experienced firsthand. She tells stories of taking classes with Balanchine, dancing in the original casts of some of his most iconic productions, working with a number of the company's most famous dancers, and participating in the company's first Soviet Union tour during the Cold War and Cuban Missile Crisis. She walks us through her years in New York City Ballet first as a member of the corps de ballet, then a soloist dancing some principal roles, finally as one of the "older" dancers teaching her roles to newcomers while being encouraged to retire. She reveals the unglamorous parts of tour life, jealousy among company members, and Balanchine's complex relationships with women. She talks about Balanchine's insistence on thinness in his dancers and her own struggles with dieting. Her fluctuations in weight influenced her roles and Balanchine's support for her--a cycle that contributed to the end of her dancing career. Now a professor of dance who has educated hundreds of students on Balanchine's style and legacy, Sills reflects on the highs and lows of a career indelibly influenced by fear of failure and fear of success--by the bright lights of theater and the man who shaped American ballet.
Ballet
Uncover the most mesmerizing moments in ballet history with this scintillating visual guide. Written with ballet legend Viviana Durante, this book will introduce you to the most famous performers and enthrall you with fascinating stories. Discover more than 70 celebrated dances, from The Nutcracker and Swan Lake to The Rite of Spring. Learn about renowned companies such as The Royal Ballet and the Bolshoi Ballet. Explore the lives of ballet dancers across the centuries, such as Margot Fonteyn, Carlos Acosta, and Darcey Bussell, and meet composers and choreographers, including the likes of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Matthew Bourne. Tracing the history of ballet all the way from its origins at court and the first institutes to the contemporary scene, this comprehensive yet accessible volume offers an unrivaled overview of this dance form. Rarely seen photographs covering key figures, pieces, and performances, alongside compelling facts about each dance - the sources they draw from, their production history, and their reception over time - make for a sumptuous visual treat and an essential gift for all dance and ballet enthusiasts.
Freedom's Dance
In this pivotal book, the captivating and kinetic images of noted photographer Eric Waters are paired with a collection of insightful essays by preeminent authors and cultural leaders to offer the first complete look at the Social, Aid and Pleasure Club (SAPC) parade culture in New Or-leans. Ranging from ideological approaches to the contributions of musicians, development of specific rituals by various clubs, and parade accessories such as elaborately decorated fans and sashes, Freedom's Dance provides an unparalleled photographic and textual overview of the SAPC Second Line, tracking its origins in African traditions and subsequent development in black New Orleans culture. Karen Celestan's vibrant narrative is supplemented with interviews of longtime culture-bearers such as Oliver "Squirk" Hunter, Lois Andrews (mother of Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews and James Andrews), Fred Johnson, Gregory Davis, and Lionel Batiste, while interdisciplinary essays by leading scholars detail the rituals, historic perspective, and purpose of the Second Line. Freedom's Dance defines this unique pub-lic-private phenomenon and captures every aspect of the Second Line, from SAPC members' rollicking introductions at their annual parade to a funeral procession on its way to the crypt. Visually dazzling and critically important, Freedom's Dance serves as both a celebration and a deep exploration of this understudied but immediately recognizable aspect of the African American tradition in the Big Easy.
Cook Up A Dance
This book is intended for teachers of dance improvisation. The authors share their method for using the history of music and visual arts to provide a wider context for the art of dance, and to explore themes that may be incorporated into dance improvisation. The book is organized as a cookbook. After an introduction explaining the premise, seven 'recipes' are included, linking compatible musical and visual artists to introduce themes that will inspire ideas about movement. Students will learn about artists as varied as Debussy, Duke Ellington, Monet and Georgia O'Keeffe, and will use what they learn to create movement together.
