For the first time, the choreographer of Michael Jackson, Madonna, Björk and many others reveals stage stories through his extraordinary journey.Vincent Paterson began his professional dancing career late in life. It would take an exceptional turn when he became one of the lead dancers in Michael Jackson's Beat It music video. Through hard work, he rises to the rank of choreographer and director for the world's greatest singers, but also for cinema and musical comedy.He tells with humility the fascinating universe of film sets, the rehearsal sessions where he had to orchestrate and synchronize dozens of dancers, life backstage where it is sometimes necessary to manage a few whims of the stars, his successes and his disappointments. It is a dive into the heart of the world of dance. Read more

Have you always wanted to take Ballet? Did you study as a child and dream of returning to class again? Ballet is a great exercise choice for Adults! The steps and combinations maintain strength and flexibility. The mindful focus of class promotes longevity and a better quality of life. The challenge improves concentration in everything you do!Ballet is both physical exercise and mental stress reliever! A Proven Combo!In Home at the Barre – Adult Ballet, you’ll discover:Benefits of Ballet training as an AdultSafe Practices to Prevent InjuryWhat to expect from a typical studio and classA Bonus – Special Concerns for Adult “First-Time” students!Inspiring Support, Practical Direction, and so much more!Home At the Barre - Adult Ballet, the fourth book in the Garage Ballet series, is a motivating guide for the Adult Ballet student. An experienced ballet instructor for over forty years, Dawn C Crouch can undoubtedly relate to being an adult. As a teacher who continues to take class herself, she wants every adult student to know what to expect and how to prepare for an adult ballet class comfortably and confidently.Join us! Buy Home At the Barre - Adult Ballet to get motivated, get moving, and have more fun today! Read more

According to Nietzsche, Western civilization since Socrates is based on the concept of man’s small reason instead of nature’s greater reason. In this framework there exists the belief that the physical body is essentially independent from the intangible mind · spirit · soul body.As a result of these theories for more than 2000 years the predominant ideologies and traditions that have arisen in the West have systematically marginalized and violated certain energies of the body and of nature that are considered to be anarchic and/or contradictory to a “spirit” that is incorruptible, rational, intelligible, immortal and incorporeal.In the first part of The Unloved Body we question and analyze this, the patriarchal and logo · centric legacy that we have inherited. We discover how our body · mind has been systematically manipulated to convert it into a passive receptor, an ideal and docile protagonist of the society and its dogmas, often incapacitating it of fulfilling its natural role of creator, transformer and generator of life.In the second part we look at the contemporary dance tradition, which appears for the first time inside the modern art revolution at the beginning of the 20th century, here for the first time inside the “official” culture there occurs an important revision and rupture with previously held conceptions of the body/mind and its role in art and life.I also refer to thirty years of personal experiences and experiments with the body in motion, especially my work in Caracas, Venezuela with Acción Colectiva (dance, physical theatre, video laboratory and company) during the period 1985 to 2000. Here we devised investigations and danceworks which enabled us to communicate from the historically disdained cauldron of emotional, instinctive and subconscious bodily impulses.Defying the traditional concepts of beauty and the body we consider that the body in motion is capable of communicating the intangible, essential and often occult impulses and energies of the universe, revealing in this way the unspeakable and enigmatic territories of the “soul.” Read more

This wide-ranging collection of essays explores various milestones and landmarks of American music, theatre, dance--and life in general. From Elvis Presley to Kabuki, from dance to destruction, Blank dissects how culture, society and politics have intersected--sometimes for the better, often not. The title essay, written after the events of October 7, 2023, looks back on a three-month residency in Ramallah in 2013 and how this insight and experience has shaped Blank's understanding of both art and conflict. Blank's long career as a working artist in multiple sectors lends this collection a unique authority and searing insight that is both refreshing and much needed. In addition, in an exclusive interview with her partner Ishmael Reed, Blank explains how a curious young Jewish woman from Pittsburgh developed into a committed and eloquent public intellectual. Read more

This handbook will teach you how to break down elaborate salsa combinations into individual components by name. This allows you to pick up new patterns more quickly. It also makes it easier to remember a pattern or combination you learned previously. This will help you to learn from other dancers. This handbook will help you identify common elements of crossbody salsa dance by name. When you have the vocabulary to describe the building blocks, you can understand what you see on the dance floor. You’ll be able to break down a combination into component patterns. You’ll be able to identify the positions that make up a pattern. Then you will then be able to compose new patterns of your own. Contents include: a comprehensive dictionary of salsa dance terminology, a compendium of 50 salsa dance positions, and an annotated curated list of 79 links to free online lessons from expert instructors. Salsa dance elements covered in this handbook include steps, handholds, turns, combs, arm and leg stylings, positions, patterns, and combinations. Handholds covered include left to right hold, right to left hold, parallel hold, handshake hold, reverse handshake hold, cross hold, and reverse cross hold. Turns covered include cross-body lead, reverse cross-body lead, single right turn, single left turn, inside turn, outside turn, and enchufa turn. Positions covered include apart positions, open position, closed position, half-open position, handshake hold, hammerlock, half Hammerlock, cross hold, reverse cross hold, neck loop, arm hook, cuddle, butterfly, sombrero, and wraps. Read more

Dive into the world of Bharatanatyam with our comprehensive study guide! Perfect for Bharatanatyam students in their first three years of learning, this book covers the essential curriculum for all accredited Diploma and Certificate examinations including Gandharva Mahavidyalaya and any Performing Arts University.You'll explore the concepts of Natya Shastra and Abhinaya Darpanam. Students will gain theoretical knowledge of other Indian classical dance forms as well through this book.Unleash your inner dancer, and let the magic of Bharatanatyam come to life through our study guide. Discover the rhythm, the stories, and the timeless grace that make this art form so extraordinary. Whether you're a budding artist or a seasoned performer, this book is your key to unlocking the secrets of Bharatanatyam.Join us on this journey, and together, let's dance to the heartbeats of tradition and beauty.Your stage awaits! Read more

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My First Book of Kathak Dance is part of an initiative to bring Kathak Classical dance to a wider audience. If you are curious about this art form or are a beginner student, this book contains ample information to pique your interest. The information presented in this book also supports the student who will appear for their 'Prarambhik' level exams.A noteworthy inclusion is the presentation of the first five hand gestures, as described in the Abhinaya Darpan text. Also for the first time ever, positions in Kathak and movements of Kathak have been included in a beginner's book.The book lays out the history of Kathak, and the nature of the dance form and includes a list of terminology used in Kathak teaching and Kathak repertoire. It also includes information on Teen Taal in Hindustani Music and features Kathak compositions each of Tihai and Todas. Read more

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This handbook contains 36 dance positions, 51 dance patterns, and 184 illustrations. Each position is illustrated from multiple angles. The author researched over 500 websites and online video lessons and curated the best 83 of them for beginner and intermediate students, providing a breakdown of common positions, holds, turns, and patterns. This handbook has 242 pages when printed in 8.5" x 11" format. Are you a beginner or intermediate level salsa dance enthusiast? Do you want to expand your repertoire of dance patterns? Do you already have some understanding of the fundamentals of salsa dance and are ready to level up? Have you started to accumulate a collection of dance steps, and are starting to forget some of what you learned? Would you like to have a way to break down elaborate combinations into individual patterns? Could you use a refresher course on use dance patterns that can be used to create a diverse variety of combinations? Would you like to have a study guide to help guide your learning? If you answer yes to any of these questions, then this handbook is for you. A salsa dance combination is comprised of two or more salsa dance patterns, each pattern covering two bars of music. Every salsa dance pattern begins and ends in a dance position. One can view the salsa dance pattern as the artful transition from a start position to an end position over eight beats of music. Because salsa dance is made up of combinations, and combinations are made up of patterns, one can view salsa dance as an aesthetically pleasing progression through a series of dance patterns over the course of a song. Expert salsa dancers know how to get into and out of myriad salsa dance positions in interesting ways. Those amazing dancers that you see on the dance floor seem to have an endless knowledge base of elaborate combinations. How can they memorize so many different combinations? The secret is that many of them tend to use a small collection of patterns. They know how to get into and out of a position. If they have a combination that begins with some particular start position, they also know an interesting way to get into that position. Each pattern they perform takes them from the start position to the end position. They know how to take that end position and turn it into a start position for the next pattern. They know how to mix and match patterns to create combinations that seem to be infinitely varied. This handbook will help you get there. If you are there already, and are looking for ideas on how to communicate your skills more effectively, this handbook will help you achieve that objective. This handbook supplements expert dance instruction. It is structured for quick reference. This handbook contains a compendium of basic positions and turns, a catalog of common salsa dance patterns, a collection of salsa pattern combinations composed of patterns defined here, and a guide to creating new pattern combinations of your own. It uses a novel dance choreography notation and verbal shorthand for succinctly codifying dance patterns. The patterns in this handbook can be used to create thousands of combinations. It is possible to combine these patterns into 227 combinations of length three without repeating any single pattern within any of those 227 combinations. The number of combinations that can be created without repeating a pattern is even greater for longer combinations: 471 combinations of length 4, 952 combinations of length 5, and 1,820 combinations of length 6. Twelve combinations are provided to show how to create combinations using the patterns in the handbook. This handbook is for salsa enthusiasts, instructors, and students. It can also benefit readers interested in ballroom dance and other partner dance styles. Read more

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 means that constructed approaching the body as a teacher. This study presents the argument for extending the models of thinking to include bodily thinking, by citing how the experiential perspective of tensegrity constructs physical evidence of the rhetorical concept, metis, where the body thinks as it moves. This book will be of great interest to students, scholars, and practitioners of dance, theater, and sociology. Read more

The foremost contemporary choreographer in the history of ballet, George Balanchine extended the art form into radical new paths that came to seem inevitable under his direction. He transformed movement and dance in classical and modern ballet, on the Broadway stage, and in the cinema.George Balanchine chronicles the life and achievements of this visionary artist from his early, almost accidental career in Russia, where his lifelong collaboration with Igor Stravinsky was forged, to his extraordinary accomplishments in America. The editor and writer Robert Gottlieb, one of the most knowledgeable dance critics in America, offers a superb and loving portrait of a genius who, though married many times to many ballerinas, remained truest to his greatest love, Terpischore, the Greek Muse of dance. Read more

Hardcover Edition KDPThis book offers a comprehensive toolbox of approachesto analysing and creating contemporarychoreography.Are you ready to deepen your understandingof the world of dance and the creativeprocess of choreography?In this book about choreography you will learnhow to develop dance and performance.In order for you to truly enjoy the process ofchoreography, I will offer you tools to help youenter into a creative flow.Because ultimately, that's what it's all about:getting into a free flowing joyful process with thedancers and having plenty of fun along the way,as you develop a solo, a duet or a group piece forthe stage or a film.You will learn how to expand your repertoire andhow to trigger in your dancers, identification andconnection with your theme.I will present various ways in which you candevelop and structure your work. Tools withwhich you can introduce tension, multiple facets,variety and powerful dynamics into your dances,allowing a dramaturgy to emerge.You will receive over 120 exercises to inspire youfor your rehearsals or classes.You can now preview the entire book online forfree or download a reading sample.Take a look.It will inspire you and your dancing and it willimprove your choreography.When it comes to choreography, manydancers are initially lost.Nevertheless, there are people who can'tdance and still develop great pieces.Maybe you're a gifted mover, but thatdoesn't mean that your material works in onepiece.Even if your movements are great andothers admire you for how you dance, it canhappen very quickly that the sensation of yourskills wears off very quickly and your movementsseem arbitrary. Especially if you have transferredthem to a group. And you ask yourself in such amoment: What am I doing wrong? My dancersare great, my movement material is innovative,but on stage it all seems interchangeable and it'sjust movement. And you think: This is allpointless.No, that's not it! It's about how you dealwith everything. How you connect the dancerswith your ideas and with your material. How youmanage that the dancers make your visions andyour movements theirs. How to get them thereto identify with what moves you. But even that isnot enough.You need to know more about howdramaturgy works in dance. How you build up anarc of suspense and what that has to do withspace and rhythm. How to create interestingcontrasts and how to deal with music andmovement.This book covers all of that. You can openit anywhere and get inspiration for the rehearsalor class and expand your thought space. But youcan also focus on certain topics such as musicand movement. You can delve deeper into thework of thematic development and structuringof access development.In total there are 120 studies andexercises that you do not have to do one to one.You can use the exercises as a suggestion anddevelop them further in order to get on withyour dancing and choreography. Read more

When considering the best dancers in Hollywood's history, some obvious names come to mind—Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, and Bill Robinson. Yet often overlooked is one of the most gifted and creative dancers of all time, Eleanor Powell. Powell's effervescent style, unmatched technical prowess in tap, and free-flowing musicality led MGM to build top-rate musicals around her unique talents, including Born to Dance (1936) with James Stewart and Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940) with Fred Astaire, in which she became known as the only female tap dancer capable of challenging him. In a male-dominated industry, her fierce drive for perfection, sometimes to her detriment, earned her a place as one of the most accomplished performers in vaudeville, Broadway, and film. Powell's grace, precision, and power established her as one of the greatest American dancers. In 1943, she married actor Glenn Ford and largely stepped away from the spotlight for the duration of their tumultuous marriage. After their divorce, Powell made a courageous comeback, successfully performing in Las Vegas and on the nightclub circuit. Cancer claimed her life at the age of sixty-nine.Eleanor Powell: Born to Dance by Paula Broussard and Lisa Royère is an all-encompassing work following the American dance legend from her premature birth and upbringing by a single parent in Springfield, Massachusetts, to her first Broadway performance at age fifteen, through her days as a blazing icon in the world of Hollywood, and finally, to her inspiring comeback. With access to rare documents, letters, and production files, as well as insights drawn from their own personal relationships with Powell, Broussard and Royère offer a thoroughly researched, comprehensive, and fascinating look at an incredibly talented and unforgettable woman. Read more

This is a 348-page print replica version of "Handbook of Salsa Dance Positions". This is a fixed format that can be better suited for viewing this image-heavy book on tablets and web desktop. This means that captions will not be orphaned from their corresponding image and all headers are positioned as the author intended. All body content is 16 point font size and headers are 18 to 24 point font size. That said, do be aware that text does not reflow or resize. This means that some text could be harder to read on smaller phone screen sizes for people who prefer larger font sizes, especially where the reader does not provide zoom. However, even readers that do not provide zoom typically provide for reading in landscape mode. So, this fixed format ebook should still be very readable on a smaller phone. What can this handbook do for you? This handbook will teach you how to break down elaborate salsa combinations into individual components by name. This allows you to pick up new patterns more quickly. It also makes it easier to remember a pattern or combination you learned previously. This will help you to learn from other dancers. This handbook will help you identify common elements of crossbody salsa dance by name. When you have the vocabulary to describe the building blocks, you can understand what you see on the dance floor. You’ll be able to break down a combination into component patterns. You’ll be able to identify the positions that make up a pattern. Then you will then be able to compose new patterns of your own. Contents include: a comprehensive dictionary of salsa dance terminology, a compendium of 50 salsa dance positions, and an annotated curated list of 79 links to free online lessons from expert instructors. Salsa dance elements covered in this handbook include steps, handholds, turns, combs, arm and leg stylings, positions, patterns, and combinations. Handholds covered include left to right hold, right to left hold, parallel hold, handshake hold, reverse handshake hold, cross hold, and reverse cross hold. Turns covered include cross-body lead, reverse cross-body lead, single right turn, single left turn, inside turn, outside turn, and enchufa turn. Positions covered include apart positions, open position, closed position, half-open position, handshake hold, hammerlock, half Hammerlock, cross hold, reverse cross hold, neck loop, arm hook, cuddle, butterfly, sombrero, and wraps. Read more

Choreography is the highly creative process of interpreting and coordinating movement, music and space in performance. By tracing different facets of development and exploring the essential artistic and practical skills of the choreographer, this book offers unique insights for apprentice dance makers. With key concepts and ideas expressed through an accessible writing style, the creative tasks and frameworks offered will develop new curiosity, understanding, skill and confidence. The chapters cover the key areas of engagement including what is a choreographer; getting started; improvisation and ideas; context, stage geometry and atmosphere; movement as dance in time and space; solo, duet, trio and group choreography and finally, structure and the 'choreographic eye'. This is an ideal companion for dancers and dance students wanting to express their ideas through choreography and develop their skills to effectively articulate them in performance. It is superbly illustrated with 143 practical colour and black & white photographs and diagrams. Kate Flatt has over forty years' experience as a choreographer, mentor and teacher. Read more

What is the legacy of Martha Graham and why does it endure?How and why did the philosophy and subsequent canon of Martha Graham flood out into an artistic diaspora that is still a wellspring of inspiration for contemporary artists?How do dancers that have never studied with, or worked under, Martha Graham maintain her vision?All of these questions, and many more, are considered in this fascinating book, authored by one of the Martha Graham Company's ex-principal dancers, which illuminates the ongoing significance of the Martha Graham Dance Company almost 100 years after it was founded. Through doing so, we are offered a study of the history of the Martha Graham Dance Company - the longest-standing modern dance company in America, its international diaspora and the current generation of dancers taking up the mantel. Drawing on extensive interviews conducted for the book, the company's story is told through the experiences, inspirations, motivations and words of performers from Graham's iconic artistic lineage. Read more

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Most dance production books are written from the perspective of a production manager or designer, focusing on the technical aspects of a traditional dance production.Producing Dance takes a unique path—one that includes the voice of the choreographer and dancer in the journey to performance.In doing so, the authors support the process of the entire creative team and cover all aspects of a production. They put those aspects in the context of real-world application, in sequence with other components, creating a toolbox for success for all involved. By the end of the book, readers will have discovered the many options available to them in the production setting and be able to choose the tool most needed at the time.Critical Guidance That Sets This Book ApartThrough its collaborative approach, Producing Dance goes beyond the performance, covering evaluation, reflection, and opportunities for growth. And it offers guidance in two critical areas that are not addressed in other dance production books: Creating dance performances in nontraditional spaces such as site-specific venues, dance and culture festivals, and audience-immersive experiencesSupporting the development of an artistic career through acquiring business skills such as fundraising, grant writing, and performing business analysesAncillariesProducing Dance comes with an instructor guide, a test bank, a PowerPoint presentation package, and HKPropel Access. Through HKPropel, students will find supplemental content and study aids: Application activities for each chapter, allowing students to practice the concepts discussed in the chapterReal-world examples with explanationsLinks to websites that further illustrate conceptsVirtual flash cards to help students study and retain key termsParts of the BookThe text is presented in four parts. Part I guides readers in balancing and integrating artistic ideas with logistical considerations to create a clear and unified vision. Part II explores the process of realizing that vision through a collaborative and creative process. In part III, the knowledge gained in the first two parts is put into action as performance takes center stage. In part IV, readers learn how to continue to grow beyond the performance through a variety of pathways that deepen understanding and open up future opportunities.Realizing VisionThe journey from an idea to a fully produced vision can be daunting. Producing Dance makes that journey not only doable but also enjoyable. It provides readers the understanding and tools they need to realize their vision, explore and develop their voice, and further their growth and career development.Note: A code for accessing HKPropel is included with this ebook. Read more

After high school, I was not sure about whether I should pursue dance or a technical subject. Awaiting clarity, I spent many months considering my options. While I was in the midst of this confusion, someone asked me, “What brings you closer to yourself?” I didn’t respond immediately, but in my mind the answer was clear. “Dance brings me closer to myself,” I thought. It was such an odd question, yet strangely it influenced a life decision. How can one be closer to or farther from oneself? I knew that dance would begin to reveal something to me at some point in time, but I wasn’t sure of what this thing would be. The act of dancing holds something within it that I wanted to discover. What if I could imbibe my life with the clarity of thought, precision, control and simultaneous surrender that I am able to wield as a performer? Wouldn’t life change inexplicably for the better? The applause bursts like rain clattering From a cloud too heavy to hold, My elation bathes me as sweat trickles Down my forehead a moment before It stings my eye to remind me to see, They applaud the dance, not me. If I were to fall prey, my dance entwined With only moments of applause to remind Of my days of yore. No never not. Dance is me and yet not at all... - Rukmini Vijayakumar Read more