Igor Stravinsky and George Balanchine, among the most influential artists of the 20th century, together created the music and movement for many ballet masterpieces. This is a study of one of the greatest artistic collaborations in history. Drawing on extensive research, Charles Joseph discusses the Stravinsky-Balanchine ballets against a rich contextual backdrop. He explores the background and psychology of the two men, the dynamics of their interactions, their personal and professional similari...
Both a refraction of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and a protest against Western values, butoh is a form of Japanese dance theater that emerged in the aftermath of World War II. Sondra Fraleigh chronicles the growth of this provocative art form from its mid-century founding under a sign of darkness to its assimilation in the twenty-first century as a poignant performance medium with philosophical and political implications. Through highly descriptive, thoughtful, and emotional prose, Fr...
Career Readiness and Preparation Criteria in Undergraduate Dance Degree Programs
by Kathleen E. Klein
In this book, Klein seeks to develop a rubric that can assist colleges, universities, and communities in providing stronger outcomes for students seeking a career path in dance. Beginning with an overview of the historical development of dance and dance education in the United States, this book closely examines the current cultural, educational, and political structures, functions, and mechanisms that influence prevailing public views of this art form in mainstream American life. These views fra...
Dancing Naturally
A renewed interest in nature, the ancient Greeks, and the freedom of the body was to transform dance and physical culture in the early twentieth century. The book discusses the creative individuals and developments in science and other art forms that shaped the evolution of modern dance in its international context.
Schrifttanz was one of the most interesting and important journals of the Expressionist dance movement in Germany in the 1920s and 30s. With the suppression of the movement during the Nazi period and the destruction of much relevant archive material during the subsequent war, Schrifttanz provides a unique opportunity for insight into the ideas and artists of the time. Here are presented, translated into English, selected articles from the journal by authors including Rudolf von Laban, Mary Wigma...
How did Caribbean rituals helped form new currents in the performing and visual arts of the United States? This book answers this question through an examination of the Caribbean-inspired dance creations of dancer/choreographer Katherine Dunham and the experimental films of avant-garde filmmaker Maya Deren.
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...
The Creation of iGiselle
Floating Bones charts the author’s journey into tensegrity, which begins in ballet and culminates in a model for addressing one’s body as a teacher. Tensegrity flips traditional biomechanical models such that instead of support coming from the bones, the bones float, and it is the muscles and other soft connective tissue that provide support for the moving body. Using the model of tensegretic experience, Roses-Thema connects somatics, cognition, rhetoric, and reflective practices detailing the...
Breaking the rules was what she liked best. That was her sport. Renegade, rebel, bad girl. Getting away with it. Pia Soto is the sexy and glamorous prima ballerina, the Brazilian bombshell who's shaking up the ballet world with her outrageous behaviour. She's wild and precocious, and she's a survivor. She's determined that no man will ever control her destiny. But ruthless financier Will Silk has Pia in his sights, and has other ideas ...Sophie O'Farrell is Pia's hapless, gawky assistant, the gi...
Experiencing the Art of Pas de Deux
by Jennifer C. Kronenberg and Carlos M. Guerra
Mastering the pas de deux—or “step of two”—requires more than just physical proficiency; it demands genuine commitment between dancers. Respect, patience, and etiquette matter just as much as technique. The best partners communicate effectively through breath, eye contact, and musical cues. In Experiencing the Art of Pas de Deux, professional dance couple Jennifer Kronenberg and Carlos Miguel Guerra demystify the physical, emotional, and artistic intricacies behind the art of two dancing as one....
This beautifully bound, slip-cased limited edition of Pure Dance has been specially produced for the Venice Biennale, where photographer Dieter Blum has been invited to show his exquisite work. This breathtaking package includes both the book Pure Dance and a 36-page exhibition catalogue. Blum succeeds in capturing the dymanic movement and magic of the classically trained dance artist. Each photograph is a distilled, evocative frozen fragment of an art form that by its nature is fleeting and eph...
Elements of Performance is based on Pauline Koner's course of the same name taught at the Juilliard School in New York. It discusses her theories of the primary and secondary elements of the art of performing. The primary elements are Emotion, Motivation, Focus and Dynamics and the secondary are those of the craft: stage props, hand props, cloth of different length and weight, Chinese ribbons, costumes and stage deportment. Pauline Koner is a dancer, choreogrpaher, teacher and writer. she was...
On Technique provides a fascinating look into the careers and teaching philosophies of eighteen of the world's most respected ballet masters, principals, and artistic directors. Author Dean Speer sat down with prominent ballet pedagogues and asked each a standard set of questions, including 'What do we mean when we say someone has beautiful technique?' and 'How did you become a dancer?'. Featuring such artists as Peter Boal (artistic director of the Pacific Northwest Ballet) and Bene Arnold (fir...
This book offers insights and guidelines for teaching the best students. Staying true to the Russian Academy of Ballet (St. Petersburg) pedagogy that he has taught for forty years, ""Advanced Principles in Teaching Classical Ballet"" is a continuation of the work John White began in his first book. Designed for teachers, company directors, and advanced dancers, the book explores the importance of disciplined dancing, choreography, acting, conditioning, and performance. White's writing style is a...
For centuries, ballet companies have been transporting audiences beyond their workaday worlds, one performance at a time. A layperson who sees a ballerina perform in Swan Lake may be thrilled or impressed - may imagine the hours of rehearsal that lie behind each performance or understand something about the demands made on a dancer - but many who appreciate ballet remain unacquainted with all the steps, parts, people, and money that must come together for a world-class company to complete a seas...
On Technique provides a fascinating look into the careers and teaching philosophies of eighteen of the world's most respected ballet masters, principals, and artistic directors. Author Dean Speer sat down with prominent ballet pedagogues and asked each a standard set of questions, including 'What do we mean when we say someone has beautiful technique?' and 'How did you become a dancer?'. Featuring such artists as Peter Boal (artistic director of the Pacific Northwest Ballet) and Bene Arnold (fir...
Sally Banes has been a pre-eminent critic and scholar of American contemporary dance, and ""Before, Between, Beyond"" spans more than thirty years of her prolific work. Beginning with her first published review and including previously unpublished papers, this collection presents some of her finest works on dance and other artistic forms. It concludes with her most recent research on George Balanchine's dancing elephants. In each piece, Banes' detailed eye and sensual prose strike a rare balance...
Perspectives on American Dance: The Twentieth Century
The editors of this anthology analyze a broad range of themes and dance styles in order to examine how dance has helped to shape American identity. This volume focuses on dance and its social, cultural, and political constructs. The first volume, The Twentieth Century, explores a variety of subjects: white businessmen in Prescott, Arizona who created a ""Smoki tribe"" that performed ""authentic"" Hopi dances for over seventy years; swing dancing by Japanese-American teens in World War II inter...
Dancing, Technical Encyclopaedia of the Theory and Practice of the Art of Dancing.
by Charles D'Albert