Dancers experience pain, joy, frustration, rapture, failure, applause, and are above the worldly concerns of food, money, and financial security. They live only to dance.Or do they?The reality is dancers of all ages, types, and skill levels often experience incredible physical and psychological stress and have traditionally bore their pain in stoic silence.In this much needed new book, Dance Magazine's Linda Hamilton offers dancers the same type of advice and understanding they have come to trus...
Instruments of Embodiment (Routledge Advances in Theatre & Performance Studies)
by Eric Mullis
Instruments of Embodiment draws on fashion theory and the philosophy of embodiment to investigate costuming in contemporary dance. It weaves together philosophical theory and artistic practice by closely analyzing acclaimed works by contemporary choreographers, considering interviews with costume designers, and engaging in practice-as-research. Topics discussed include the historical evolution of contemporary dance costuming, Merce Cunningham’s innovative collaborations with Robert Rauschenber...
Let's Dance - With Marge and Gower Champion as Told to Bob Thomas
by Bob Thomas
The Art of Dance Composition: Writing the Body is an introduction to modern dance composition, providing clear and structured approaches to designing and defining movement that demystify the creative process. The book introduces the concepts of creating authentic movement, processes for gathering and ordering compositional elements, and the ways in which theme, story, and design relate to bodies moving through space. It approaches the practice of composition from many avenues, including the use...
This show by show analysis of one of Broadway's preeminent American choreographers, the angular and jazzy Bob Fosse, is delivered by Fosse compatriot, dancer, and road choreographer Margery Beddow. With an introduction by Roy Scheider, and filled with photos, Bob Fosse's Broadway contains all the hits: from Sweet Charity to Damn Yankees, the Pajama Game, Pippin, Dancin', Chicago, and more!
Anatomy of Exercise and Movement for the Study of Dance, Pilates, Sports, and Yoga
by Jo Ann Staugaard-Jones
Awareness of movement potential,” says author Jo Ann Staugaard-Jones, “is key to a healthy body and injury prevention.” The Anatomy of Exercise & Movement shows readers how to gain that awareness by understanding the biomechanics of movement. In ten chapters, color-coded for easy reference, the author covers all of the major muscle and joint areas, including the spine; core region; shoulder; elbow; wrist and hand; and hip, knee, and ankle/foot joints. Most importantly, each chapter contains stre...
“For soundness, for clarity, for succinctness, this manual of basic ballet is the best there is anywhere.” –Edwin Denby, The Nation With a precision unparalleled in any other book of its kind, The Classic Ballet presents a lucid text, and nearly six hundred drawings describe and illustrate in minute detail the proper body position, balance point, movement, and attitude of each position and step in the basic classical repertory. As George Balanchine wrote in his preface: “There are no shortcut...
STREET DANCE: THE BEST MOVES is the perfect introduction to major street dance styles with easy-to-follow step-by-step photography. As well as learning the various types of street dance, including B-boy, Popping, Locking, Hip Hop and House - and the basic moves of each of these - you'll get tips on the best tracks to dance to, what clothes to wear to look the part, and be given expert advice from top dancers across the globe. . Throughout the book there are also embedded videos, showing the st...
Everything from early conceptual work through performance and touring are covered in this how-to book for dance management. Dancers will create a fictional company and follow it through a myriad of steps and complexities necessary for a successful production and troupe. After establishing a mission statement; holding auditions; and considering the specific needs of music, sound, lighting, costuming, and make up, the manual provides would-be dance directors with basic theater terminology and the...
Ideokinesis
by Andre Bernard, Wolfgang Steinmuller, and Ursula Stricker
Mabel Elsworth Todd pioneered ideokinesis in the 1920s. Her book, The Thinking Body, described new ways to use all the senses as well as inner feeling and imagination to retrain the body to move with ease and balance. The system became an invaluable tool for generations of dancers, actors, and performance artists, thanks largely to one of its most important teachers, André Bernard (1924-2003). This book presents an introduction to the practice as well as a lengthy interview with Bernard and two...
Costume in Motion is a guide to all stages of the collaboration process between costume designers and choreographers, documenting a wide range of approaches to the creation of a dance piece. Featuring interviews with a diverse selection of over 40 choreographers and designers, in-depth case studies of works by leading dance companies, and stunning original photography, the book explores the particular challenges and creative opportunities of designing for the body in motion. Filled with example...
A definitive book for students of dance and movement studies, Labanotation is now available in a fourth edition, the first complete revision of the text since 1977.Initiated by the movement genius Rudolf Laban, and refined through fifty years of work by teachers here and abroad, Labanotation, the first wholly successful system for recording hu
Ballroom Dancing
Now in its tenth edition, this classic and comprehensive handbook has been revised to bring it up to date in keeping with changes on the dance floor and in the rules of dance competitions. The Quickstep, Waltz, Foxtrot, and Tango are all illustrated and described in great detail.