Product Description
Three dancers who changed the face of Modern Dance and liberated dancers from ballet’s rigidity to glorify the human body as a scared vessel: Isadora Duncan, 1877-1927, Ruth St. Denis, 1879-1968, and Martha Graham, 1894-1991.From youth, each recognized an organic urge for ecstatic human expression. This book explores their pioneering approaches to spiritual choreography and reveals unkown aspects of their lives and work:

* each insisted upon her vision of dance as prayer

* each was a mystic

* each had a profound, personal devotion to the Virgin Mary

* each choreographed work in her honor

* each portrayed the Madonna in dance

* each felt herself to be a priestess of dance

* each worked to establish a school, where dance was the basis for an enlightened life

The book contains quotes about and interviews with these women, including rare materials, restoring the understanding of dance as religious expression and placing these women in their rightful places among spiritual philosophers. ... Read more

Product Description
This text provides necessary theory with an easy-to-read and understandable format that allows instructors to devote class time to dance. Please see Adams Racquetball Today for more information. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

This book
I was introduced to this book by my dance teacher who just so happens to be the author.I was studying, in fact, the basics of jass dance in order to furthur educate myself on the art.This book proved invaluable and was splendidly written and I highly recommend it. ... Read more

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Uses the format of a jazz dance class to introduce specific exercises, anatomical information, and standard jazz dance terminology. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great for teachers
This book is really good for beginning teachers. It covers almost all the basics and it even goes to advance. It has been very useful for different types of jazz techniques and classes.

Brilliant, Informative - a fine supplement!
This is really a brilliant book. It has everything you need to know about jazz from basic to advanced. No matter if you are a student, dancer or teacher.
A.Gaarden,dancer,teacher& choreographer ... Read more

Product Description
'The scar drew her whole face sideways and even inprofile, with the hideous thing turned away, her face was horribly lop-sided, skin, features and all, dragged away from the bone. She was abeautiful girl, a white and golden girl, like moonlight on daisies, amonth ago.'And yet the men still hover around her, more out of curiosity thanlust, and none more so than the wildly seductive, dangerous funny man,Honeybuzzard; lithe as a stick of liquorice, he is the demonic puppetmaster at the swirling centre of the tale.'In a modern day horror story gleaming with perfect 1960's detail, sheperforms a double act, conjuring up just the right amount of uneaseand perversion beneath the idiosyncratic business of relativelyordinary lives' THE TIMES ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

A look at London's Unsavory Characters
Angela Carter introduces the reader to a London that isn't talked about in the tourist guides.It is the London of detached working class men and women scruffing out a living.The book centers around two friends.Morris is married to Edna, but rarely goes home to her.His best friend, Honeybuzzard is an eccentric figure.Physically attractive but emotionally blunted, he sails through life, using everyone around him for his own purposes.Morris and Honeybuzzard haphazardly run an antique store, stocked by their forays into abandoned houses where they steal the items they sell.

Honeybuzzard has been away for several months.A promiscious woman who slept with both the men and most of their acquaintenances, was found raped and cut horribly about the face.Ghislaine has now returned to the neighborhood after getting out of the hospital, horribly disfigured.The rumour mill says that Honeybuzzard may have been the culprit, although the offical report blames a roving gang.

Honeybuzzard has also returned, with a new lover, Emily, in tow.The book follows the lives of these characters as they meet and fall apart and struggle into new configurations.

Shadow Dance is Angela Carter's first book, and it is my introduction to her writing.The writing is stark yet compelling, and her deft touch introduces characters that inhabit the mind long after the last page is read.This book is recommended for fiction readers.

HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PSYCHO
Soon after I started reading this novel and read the descriptions of the clothing being worn by the characters I started to wonder whether all of them were Liberace impersonators. I mean what with all the frilly shirts and outrageous jewelry, and then I had to remind myself that this was published in 1966, the prelude to the Summer of Love. It was Angela Carter's first novel, originally published with the title Honeybuzzard. She was only 26 years old at the time and that can explain many of the failings of the book.

As Shadow Dance opens, we are introduced to Morris, a part owner of a antique/junk store who spends most of his days looking through deserted houses. He encounters Ghislaine, a young and beautiful girl. Well, she's not beautiful anymore. She has a long scar on her face that looks like it has never healed where someone mutilated her with a knife. The official story was that a gang raped her and then marked her like that. In reality, the whole town believes that Morris' business partner and friend, who goes by the name of Honeybuzzard, actually did it and has gotten off scotfree because Ghilsaine still loves him.Coencidentally, Honeybuzzard arrives back in town with a new girlfriend in tow. Morris will have to face up to what his friend has done (if he really is his friend), deal with his worn down marriage, and decide if he can be his own man in the process.

I liked Carter's style in the book. She is a master of description and metaphor and is very sensual. You can visualize her writing very easily. The problem in this novel comes down to characterization, namely, that of Honeybuzzard. All of her characters are strongly written except him. Honeybuzzard comes off at one point as slightly gayish man lacking all morality to a preening and giggly girl to a brutal psycho. We're never able to quite believe the over the top nature of the character. At times I expect him to do a fat Elvis routine. Carter made the character androgynous to a fault. Whether this was intentional or not, I don't know. I could go on and on about the failure of this very important character which renders the book silly, goofy, and self-destructive but I won't. Carter was just starting here and very few first novels hit on all cylinders. It's worth reading for a fan of her work but a general audience would probably be wasting their time.

Beauty is in the Eye
This novel is a peripheral view of monsters. One monster being Honeybuzzard, the nasty showy boy who routs through abandoned buildings and takes girls for granted. And the other is the once beautiful girl who has been horribly disfigured and looms in the background of much of this novel as a threatening figure. We see this through Morris, the good-natured but morally corrupt man who tends to mix himself up in trouble. This book introduces a lot of the central themes Angela Carter works with in her later novels. What is truly poignant about it is its setting in the counties of England in a place Carter will depart from and never return in her worldly travels of fiction. Although all of her fiction is concerned with the ways in which women are perceived and treated by society, this novel is the most concerned with an awareness of the violence which accompanies the feminine. The monsters are, as always, really storybook characters, the big bad wolf chasing little red riding hood. But, again like always, under Carter's hand they are not so plastic as that. Each character is innocent and guilty, virtuous and corrupt, powerful and weak. It is because we hold within us these binaries that we are human and so sympathetically related to all the characters of the fairy tales because we have the capacity within us for extreme emotions.Honeybuzzard says: "I like - you know - to slip in and out of me. I would like to be somebody different every morning. Me and not me. I would like to have a cupboard bulging with all different bodies and faces and choose a fresh one every morning." The identities that people wear shift constantly and if we aren't attentive to the way in which they change we will be damaged. The mystery of this novel is not the morality of the terrible deformation of the woman, but whether she is truly beautiful or ugly.And, of course, she and we are both.

A different but impressive first novel
"Shadow Dance" is purportedly an atypical Angela Carter novel. It isn't about a make-believe world of magic and fantasy that's ruled by freaks and half humans but starkly rooted in the crumbling order of lowerclass society in an unnamed English town where bloody minded beatniks,thieves and loafers are the dominant human specimen. Carter's first novelis boldly contemporary, dealing with issues confronting a society that'sundergoing a radical change of values and throwing its inhabitants into aperpetual state of anomie, where the old sits uncomfortably alongside thenew. Hence, you have poor old Edna driving Morris bonkers with her residentmartyr act which only serves to unleash the lurking cruelty beneath thesubterranean of his mind. Contrast this withEmily's ruthless andsingleminded focus on the here and now. Honeybuzzard's criminal instinctsand his lack of moral centre is both frightening and damning in itsimplications for a society still finding its new equilibrium. Even Morris,Honeybuzzard's alter ego and quite the only character with any conscienceat all capitulates and abandons his quest for justice. "ShadowDance" is an impressive first novel by the celebrated Carter. Herheady and razor sharp facility with words lends that extra zing to thiscoming-of-age tale of cruelty. It won't be long before I tackle one of herlater works which promises to be different but equally entertaining.

Don't start here!
If you've never read anything by Angela Carter, don't start here. Shadow Dance is a decent read with some arresting and haunting images and situations, and it won a major book prize, but it's not "typicalCarter", and if it had been the first of her books I'd read, Iprobably wouldn't have been interested in reading any others. Like severalof her other early novels, it's basically a character study of the peoplesurrounding a disruptive personality. In this case, there are two terriblyvicious people (Honeybuzzard and Ghislaine, his victim), and a circle ofpub companions and their families in a depressed British city. It's toldthrough the eyes of Morris, Honeybuzzard's best friend and sometimesalter-ego, who is occasionally appalled by his companion's behaviour, can'tquite manage to be as terrible, and finds himself consumed with guilt whenhe tries. It's worth watching the sparks fly, but the novel is nothing moreor less than a beautifully-written soap opera.Carter did THAT better afew years later in "Love", which is mercilessly gorgeous andsharply nasty, and quite a bit shorter than "Shadow Dance". Herfans will absolutely and categorically want to read "ShadowDance", and it *is* worth the time, but if you're not a fan yet, pickup "Burning Your Boats: The Collected Short Stories" instead. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

A Beautiful Life!
It's wonderful to read about the life of this beautiful and talented artist. Amazing story!

An eye-opening look into dance through the decades and the life story of a talented professional
May O'Donnell: Modern Dance Pioneer is a biography of May O'Donnell (1906-2004), one of the Martha Graham Contemporary Dance Company's most successful soloists during its early days. O'Donnell's skill, self-confidence, and choreography technique enabled her to create her own roles in such well-known Graham works as "Appalachian Spring" and "Herodidade". She was the first American to create dances of musical abstraction, a prestigious teacher, and had an eventful sixty-year career. This true-life story of O'Donnell's extraordinary accomplishments is supplemented with black-and-white photographs, as well as the first available intermediate-class syllabus of O'Donnell's technique. An eye-opening look into dance through the decades and the life story of a talented professional.
... Read more

Product Description
To the hungry seeker of truth this book reveals a serious, biblically sound revelation of God's Purpose for creating dance, setting a high standard of holiness for the ministry of dance while promoting a much needed balance and order for dance in the Chu ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Very poor experience
I never received my package so my experience was poor. Afraid to order from this website again. I don't know who is at fault. The one I ordered from or if it's the one whom suppose to deliver my package. I would rate this item 5 if I were to read it. I only know what I read from being to read a few lines on here.

Dance
This book is about the dance that God desires to restore back to the church.Dance is a powerful tool of ministry in worship, warfare, and celebration.

The dance that God longs to see restored is one of spirit and truth, not flesh and soul.God's word instructs us to praise His name in the dance.

There is a personal dance study journal in the back of the book. ... Read more

Product Description
Contrasting the Christian and secular worldviews, Howard refreshes our minds with the illuminated view of Christianity as it imbued the world in times past—showing that we cannot live meaningful lives without this Christian understanding of things. An inspiring apology for Christianity, and a stirring critique of secularism. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Yes
Another lapidary excellence from Howard.Written in 1969, an incisive critique of the modern age and its attempted de-mystification of religion, of culture, and of the arts.Do read this one!

Brilliant!crushing arguments againstsecularism
First off, this is a beautifully written book. And that's saying something, today.

Next, Howard offers real insight into the blank heart of modern secularism. He points out that "The myth sovereign in the old age was that everything means everything. The myth sovereign in the new is that nothing MEANS anything" (p 12).

To those imbued with Christianity, the fact that there was night and day, life and death--in fact, everything we saw and thought and understood--was part of the fabric of God's creation and it was all charged with meaning.

Against this there is the tragically reduced world of secularism. The narrow, random, agnostic, pointless world we inhabit today.

It is apparent in everything we see. It is apparent in the art we look at, now so suddenly changed from a world of magic, meaning, realism, drama, and intellectual worth, to random scribbles. (Be sure to read Thomas Wolfe's "The Painted Word" on this subject.)

As Howard puts it, "Since the idea of things as images of anything--that is, as having any significant content--had ebbed with the old myth, the artist's concern came to be with form" (p 84)like Warhol and his ugly pointlessly ironic soup cans.

Our architecture is now, as one wag put it, the box the buildings came in.

Our film and our literature is all about angst. "Unlike Lancelot and Guinevere's situation...there is no conflict" (p 103).

Face it. We have lost everything.

Dense
Not at all what I had expected. I picked it up thinking that it was going to make a case for Christianity based upon accepted truths or facts. Instead, the book is an examination of the Christian "mindset" and the atheist "mindset." While he does make the Christian one look a lot more appealing, he does not make it look TRUE. Thus, the whole book is for naught.

Further, it wasn't even a fun read. It was dense: I had to work to figure out what his point was at various points (every single chapter). The book is difficult, not what I expected from a slim, 150 pager.

I may have these feelings because I've read Howard before and most of the points he makes here I already knew or agreed with after having read Evangelical is Not Enough. Perhaps if I had never even considered Christianity, this would be a good book. However, I did not enjoy it and found my head swimming and myself losing focus. To be honest, I'm pretty glad it's over.

Shall We Dance?
It is one thing to look upon the rotting corpse that is secularism today and critique its weaknesses. It is entirely another to take to pen when the victory of secularism over faith seemed almost complete and to announce to the world that the emperor had no clothes. Such was the case when Thomas Howard published his critique of secularism Chance or the Dance? in 1969. A lot has happened since then but the amazing thing in reading the book now is that it could have been written yesterday. In fact, if one does not notice the original publication date, you would probably think it was a recent writing. The reason is simple - Howard focuses on eternal truths and as such their veracity does not change with the winds of popular fashion.

Howard's views the weakness of the secular vision as hinging on the limitations it places upon what subject matter may be cosidered to contribute to our knwledge of the world. Secularism, with its restriction to the natural and its overconfidence in the impartiality of the scientific process, has not eliminated faith but exchanged God for an idol of our own choosing. The author, as an English professor, has a far different and more classical view of knowledge than that supplied by the "conventional wisdom" and explores this in a series of essays that return to a more varied fabric than that advocated by modernity.

For Howard, the dismissal of all strata of proposed knowledge beyond empirical data grossly misunderstands both natural and supernatural. By accepting only "facts" we have eliminated the search for purpose in the universe and reduced "the dance" (the interwoven fabric of existence) to "chance" (the purposeless interaction of matter). In relegating the mythical, poetic, and philosophical (in the classical sense) to the realm of the subjective, we have not only stripped the creation of its wonder but have muffled the call of God's image within each of us.

Even our most intimate moments have been impoverished by the fruit of modernity. Sexuality is meant to be a beautiful gift of the Creator and to be used in accordance with His purpose. But without purpose, it is something either to be relegated to a necessary bow to our barbaric past (as in Victorianism) or it is to be used for our own self-gratification (as promoted in the "sexual revolution"). Either view is a distortion of God's purpose for man and woman and each shows modernism's twin fascinations with the purely intellectual and the purely savage.

The views expressed in Chance or the Dance? are remarkably Catholic (in the general sense) and demonstrate the direction Howard was moving even at this phase of his Christian life. In a sense, the book has proven to be prophetic in that the things that may have seemed an overreaction at the time have over the decaded been shown to be on the mark. This is a memorable work that should be read by all serious Christians.

Another Gem
Thomas Howard never fails to get me thinking.He also quite often sends me to my dictionary or m-w.com.One of his biggest strengths is his ability to bring meaning to just about any subject.

He spends a whole chapter on poetry, bringing all of his skills as an English professor to bear in his analysis of this monumental work:

One foot up, one foot down,
That's the way to London Town.

I'm not kidding. His insights are actually incredible and if I taught any kind of literature, I would make this chapter required reading for my students. ... Read more

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Describes modern dance, including history and basic steps. ... Read more

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Blurring the conventional distinction between modern dance and ballet, African American dance, gymnastics and dancing as popular entertainment, Alien Bodies looks at the way the dance of the 1920s and 1930s mediated the experience of modernity. Through an examination of work by key dancers and choreographers including Josephine Baker, Jean Borlin, George Balanchine, Katherine Dunham, Martha Graham, and Doris Humphrey, Alien Bodies shows that during the jazz age dance became a privileged site for defining the lived experiences of modernity and contributed to the creation of new desires and identities. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Take a big juicy bite out of Alien Bodies
Ramsey Burt incorporates so much in this book that it can be overwhelming but I suggest grabbing onto what you think is the good stuff and delve into it. He combines the historical, anthropological and political happenings of the 1920s and 30s with dance so well that it's hard to image thinking of any of them as separate, in any part. I would suggest this book to any student of the dance that has had some 20th century dance history background,so that you can concentrate on the theory and discourse presented in the book.

potentially useful introduction to dance/modernism studies
The value of Burt's book lies in its wide-ranging scope: taking the issue of how early modern dance and the experience(s) of modernity articulated each other in early 20th century Europe and America, Burt focuses uponpressing questions of sexuality, identity, class, consumer culture, and soforth. Chapters on Josephine Baker and "primitivist" discoursesof the body, as well as rationalism, mass production and the chorus lineare engaging, if also open to debate.In this sense, the volume provides agood introduction to the "new critical studies" of dance, anapproach which is informed by recent developments in cultural studies.However, the book is also marred by a number of factual errors (example:Burt incorrectly claims that "In 1922, [...] Le Corbusier andJeanneret exhibited designs for La Ville Contemporaine"--unaware thatJeanneret and Le Corbusier are in fact the same person, and thatthe teamconsisted of Le Corbusier and Ozenfant) as well as editorial gaffes: namesare mispelled, articles cited incorrectly.These mistakes are not simplyslips or failures tocatch typos, but rather reflect the book's mainweakness, which is that it at once too wide-ranging and almost exclusivelydependent upon secondary sources, which suggests to me that Burt'sexpertise does not lie in historical research, but rather in broadsynthesis. As such, the book provides a useful introduction to a number ofdifferent phenomena in early modern dance, and offers some ways ofapproaching dance through the lens of critical studies of culture, but itsarguments remain open to challenge and revision. ... Read more

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The 1960s was a pivotal decade in dance, an era of intense experimentation and rich invention. In this volume an impressive range of dance critics and scholars examine the pioneering choreographers and companies of the era, such as Anna Halprin's West Coast experiments, the innovative Judson Dance Theater, avant-garde dance subcultures in New York, the work of Meredith Monk and Kenneth King, and parallel movements in Britain. The contributors include Janice Ross, Leslie Satin, Noël Carroll, Gus Solomons jr., Deborah Jowitt, Stephanie Jordan, Joan Acocella, and Sally Banes.

This book was writen with the assistance of Andrea Harris, and has a foreword by Mikhail Baryshnikov. ... Read more

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A unique blend of energy, expressiveness, individual interpretation, and physical conditioning, VOP is the hot style of jazz dance that's captivating dancers and audiences alike. Frank Hatchett—one of the most well-known, influential teachers and choreographers in the world—coined the term VOP while teaching his students how to accent a step and stylize a movement. Since that time, VOP has become synonymous with Hatchett's style of jazz dance.

Hatchett perfected his unique style while teaching stars such as Madonna, Brooke Shields, Naomi Campbell, Vanessa Williams, Olivia Newton-John, MTV's Downtown Julie Brown, Justine Bateman, and Savion Glover. All documented in this one-of-a-kind book, Frank Hatchett's Jazz Dance gives you a behind-the-scenes look at Frank Hatchett and his exciting style of dance, with an in-depth look at what VOP is and where it came from.

After you gain a basic understanding of the Hatchett style, it's time to lace up your jazz shoes. Warm-ups include rhythmic, center, floor, and isolation exercises that not only increase flexibility, strength, and control but also get you in the mood to move. Whether you're a beginner or a professional, you'll easily follow the step-by-step approach that's accompanied by 242 photographs demonstrating the proper movements and techniques.

Frank Hatchett's Jazz Dance is divided into four levels of difficulty, allowing you to easily progress through the stages of basic, beginner, advanced beginner, and intermediate/advanced. Hatchett hints accompany each step to address proper alignment, technique, common areas for improvement, and how to stylize the movement.

Once you've learned this unique approach, you can add your own artistic interpretation, creating jazz movements and combinations to make the style come alive. Then you will truly understand the innovation and spirit in this magnificent art form.

Customer Reviews (2)

Comprehensive Guide to Jazz Dance Methods
Frank Hatchett and Nancy Myers Gitlin have provided a thoroughly comprehensive guide to jazz dance.Whether enthusiastic novice or experienced jazz dancer, this book is a tremendous resource on the methodology of jazz dance.The unique expressive nature of Frank Hatchett's jazz style is captured and broken down, with detailed warm-ups and movements, truly helpful technique tips and anecdotes from the authors.The history of this unique style of jazz dance is documented, which is a great resource for those studying dance at the collegiate level.What I found particularly helpful is understanding the various elements of Frank's style, known as VOP, and becoming comfortable with now teaching this to my students.The book even has an introduction by one of Frank's star students---Brooke Shields!Nancy Myers Gitlin has done a great job collaborating with this dance legend to document this influential jazz dance style.I would recommend this book HIGHLY!

Frank Hatchett's Jazz Dance
This book is every dancers dream. It is wonderful and very touching. ... Read more

Product Description
The language of tap dancing is as rich and varied as that of any art, and different choreographers, teachers and performers often use totally different terms for exactly the same step. The various names of all steps and clear descriptions of them are collected for the first time in this reference work. The emphasis is on all variations of a name, from universally recognized terms to simple "pet" names that individual performers and choreographers have created, with extensive cross-references provided. Each of the steps is fully described, with appropriate counts, explanations and history. Many antique and unusual steps such as the Patting Juba, the Quack and the Swanee Shuffle are included. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

A fantastic breakdown of more tap steps than I ever dreamed existed!....
I found out about this book from a choreographer friend of mine - we were in a musical together, and she referred to this book for an easy time-step variation that the whole cast could do.I got a look at it, and knew I had to have a copy!If you have taken any tap, or worked along with a video, this is an excellent supplement!It's been a lot of fun figuring out assorted steps :)

The Tap Dance Dictionary, by Mark Knowles
EXCELLENT!I'm just beginning to tap again after 35 years of sitting on my biscuits, and this book is bringing to life all the dormant steps my feet are aching to percuss, but that my brain forgot.The steps are clearly defined and named, and it's easy to follow.The added history adds interest, as well.THANK YOU for this book!
bacongirl

disappointed
I never received the tap dance dictionary and I am still trying to track it down. I am very upset about this.

Thank You

Very thorough!
This book is a great asset for all tappers. It is filled with almost every version of every step known to tappers. I can sit for hours flipping through this book and trying new things. I also find the historicalinformation very interesting. As a dance teacher, this book is a must-have.I am sure it will continue to serve me well all throughout my career.

One of the few tap dictionaries left with clear definitions.
There aren't many TAP dictionaries out there, and out of the few I know of, this one is an asset to have by my side in my dance studio.It has clear definitions and explanations on how to perform the steps.It's got atouch of history for the curious, and has become a trusty companion.Ilike that it contains different terminology from places all around.Adefinite five star book! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great technical overview of modern dance
This book details the exercises and styling of modern dance using Labannotation. Laban notation is introduced in part 1 and is used throughout thebook to detail the positioning and placement of the body in variousexercises and movements. Stick figures are used to supplementthe notationin the beginning chapters of the book, but are later omitted as the readergains more experience in Laban notation. For those learning Laban notation,and for those interested in the more technical/mathematical aspects ofmodern dance, this book makes for sound reading. So much can be obtainedfrom reading this book, and for so little cost in purchasing. ... Read more

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"Poetics of Contemporary Dance" is a major reference work originally published in French. It's author, historian and critic Laurence Louppe, is renowned for her perception and insight. Drawing on the whole practical and theoretical heritage of modern dance and it's pre-cursors and including discussion of works up to and including the 1980s, Louppe brilliantly and eruditely reviews the main 'tools' of contemporary dance creation and thought: the body, weight, space, time, flow, breath, style and composition. She also weaves through her analysis a remarkable vision of the broader historical and philosophical concerns and challenges specific to this art and its defining values. Rather than taking an objective, cognitive approach to her role as observer and critic, Louppe writes from an intimate place of attention to all of the contemporary dancer's resources and practices: from the 'pre-movement' when stylistic values are born invisibly in bodies, to the moment and location of performance and the encounter with a public. Thus her writing aims at touching as much as informing the reader. "Poetics of Contemporary Dance" is both a call and a testament to contemporary dance literacy. ... Read more

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Readers can learn about such interesting after-school hobbies as dance, cheerleading, and band. Each book includes a history of the activity, along with tips for getting involved and improving on skills. ... Read more