Kategoria BISAC: Performing Arts >> Dance - Classical & Ballet

The purpose of this volume is to reveal as much information as possible on the nature of dance in Old Kingdom Egypt. This is achieved through the thorough examination of the primary evidence pertaining to dance in the old Kingdom, which comes to us in the form of pictures, letters, captions and titles. Scenes of dance abound in tomb decoration, in particular, but can also be found in solar temples attended by the living. Indeed, when a clear definition of what constituted dance in Ancient Egypt is reached, the number of pictorial examples relating to dance became so vast that it...

Akim Volynsky was a Russian literary critic, journalist, and art historian who became Saint Petersburg's liveliest and most prolific ballet critic in the early part of the twentieth century. This book, the first English edition of his provocative and influential writings, provides a striking look at life inside the world of Russian ballet at a crucial era in its history.

Stanley J. Rabinowitz selects and translates forty of Volynsky's articles--vivid, eyewitness accounts that sparkle with details about the careers and personalities of such dance luminaries as Anna Pavlova, Mikhail...

Marian Smith recaptures a rich period in French musical theater when ballet and opera were intimately connected. Focusing on the age of Giselle at the Paris Opera (from the 1830s through the 1840s), Smith offers an unprecedented look at the structural and thematic relationship between the two genres. She argues that a deeper understanding of both ballet and opera--and of nineteenth-century theater-going culture in general--may be gained by examining them within the same framework instead of following the usual practice of telling their histories separately. This handsomely...

Finally, a ballet pedagogy book for teachers of all training methods

"This book, although written with the ballet teacher in mind, is equally useful to the modern dance teacher. All teachers of concert dance should have it close at hand."--Eileen Cropley, Paul Taylor Dance Company

"An original concept and a work of great necessity in the field of training in ballet. This is the best book on ballet pedagogy I have encountered."--Rick McCullough, Florida State University

There are many different methods for teaching classical ballet--Bournonville, Vaganova, Cecchetti, and...

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, Fraleigh traces the transformative alchemy of this metaphoric dance form by studying the...

"Composing while Dancing: An Improviser's Companion" examines the world of improvisational dance and the varied approaches to this art form. By introducing the improvisational strategies of twenty-six top contemporary artists of movement improvisation, Melinda Buckwalter offers a practical primer to the dance form. Each chapter focuses on an important aspect of improvisation including spatial relations, the eyes, and the dancing image. Included are sample practices from the artists profiled, exercises for further research, and a glossary of terms. Buckwalter gathers history, methods,...

In examining ideokinesis and its application to the teaching and practice of dancing, Drid Williams introduces readers to the work of Dr. Lulu Sweigard (1895 1974), a pioneer of ideokinetic principles. Drawing on her experiences during private instructional sessions with Sweigard over a two-year span, Williams discusses methods using imagery for improving body posture and alignment for ease of movement. Central to Williams's own teaching methods is the application of Sweigard's principles and general anatomical instruction, including how she used visual imagery to help prevent bodily...

Rediscover one of the greatest dance writers of the twentieth century

"Aloff, herself a fine writer and critic, has plucked the best of Agnes de Mille, one of the most vivid writers in dance, and made a bouquet of them that is as pungent as de Mille s writing."--Alexandra Tomalonis, editor ofDance View

"De Mille can be witty, wise, irascible, poignant. As editor, Aloff delivers her subject to the reader in full regalia, and the result is a remarkably scintillating volume."--Nancy Goldner, author of Balanchine Variations

"From a lifetime of writings,...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER
For more than four hundred years, the art of ballet has stood at the center of Western civilization. Its traditions serve as a record of our past. Lavishly illustrated and beautifully told, Apollo's Angels--the first cultural history of ballet ever written--is a groundbreaking work. From ballet's origins in the Renaissance and the codification of its basic steps and positions under France's Louis XIV (himself an avid dancer), the art form wound its way through the courts of Europe, from Paris and Milan to Vienna and St. Petersburg. In the twentieth century,...