Dance Books - New Releases

The Astaires: Fred & Adele

Before "Fred and Ginger," there was "Fred and Adele," a show-business partnership and cultural sensation like no other. In this book, the first comprehensive study of the  two siblings theatrical career together, Kathleen Riley traces the Astaires' rise to fame from humble midwestern origins and early days as child performers. They became ambassadors of an art form they helped to revolutionize, adored by audiences, feted by royalty, and courted socially by elites everywhere they went.

Dancing Lessons: How I Found Passion and Potential on the Dance Floor and in Life

Cheryl Burke has been dancing since the age of four and competing since she was thirteen years old. Over several exciting seasons, she has captivated audiences of Dancing with the Stars with her incredible dance performances, Emmy-nominated choreography, high energy, and bright smile. In Dancing Lessons, she takes you from her childhood years into the world of competitive ballroom dancing and on to Dancing with the Stars.

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.

    
Ageing, Gender, Embodiment and Dance: Finding a Balance

This book explores the nexus between gender, ageing and culture in dancers practicing a variety of genres. It challenges existing cultural norms which equate ageing with bodily decline and draws on an interdisciplinary theoretical framework to explore alternatives for developing a culturally valued mature subjectivity through the practice of dance. 

In her tale of a dancer’s life in 1940s America, Underwood reveals both the rapture she felt in dancing and her refreshingly spunky approach to a career. Over the decade, this young woman–experiencing a wide range of performing styles and training techniques–matured and developed as an artist and a person. She provides an illuminating view of theater and dance during the war and the immediate postwar years.