"If dance itself is a way of making ideas both visual and visceral, Deborah Jowitt has discovered a literary voice in Time and the Dancing Image in which nineteenth- and twentieth-century thought, in its relation to theatrical dancing, becomes sensuous."--Sally Banes, Cornell University "The most vivid and immediately accessible serious dance book ever written. Anyone from a neophyte to an aficionado will be challenged, enlightened and delighted by Jowitt's clever juxtapositions."--Allen Robertson, Dance Editor, Time Out, London "In this brilliant book Deborah Jowitt has given us a fresh approach to dance history and criticism. Instead of seeing dance in the usual way--isolated in a windowless room, with mirrored walls--she looks to the society in which dance evolved. Using the ideas of contemporary artists and thinkers, she illuminates changing tastes--from the elegant, ethereal sylphs of the 1830s to the agonized characters in the dances today. For her reader, Ms. Jowitt opens both the eyes and the mind to the wonders of a many-faceted art."--Selma Jeanne Cohen, Editor, International Encyclopedia of Dance

"In July 1518 a terrifying and mysterious plague struck the medieval city of Strasbourg. Hundreds of men and women danced wildly, day after day, in the punishing summer heat. Their feet blistered and bled, and their limbs ached with fatigue, but they simply could not stop. Throughout August and early September more and more were seized by the same terrible compulsion." "By the time the epidemic subsided, heat and exhaustion had claimed an untold number of lives, leaving thousands bewildered and bereaved, and an enduring enigma for future generations." "This book explains why Strasbourg's dancing plague took place. In doing so, it leads us into a largely vanished world, evoking the sights, sounds, aromas, diseases and hardships, the fervent supernaturalism and the desperate hedonism of the late-medieval world." "At the same time, it offers insights into how people behave when driven beyond the limits of endurance. Not only a historical detective story, A Time to Dance, A Time to Die is also an exploration of the strangest capabilities of the human mind and the extremes to which fear and irrationality can lead us."--BOOK JACKET.

A New York Times Notable Book of the Year From a genuine hero of the American short story comes a luminous collection that reveals the seams of hurt, courage, and tenderness that run through the bedrock of contemporary American life. In these fourteen stories, Dubus depicts ordinary men and women confronting injury and loneliness, the lack of love and the terror of actually having it. Out of his characters' struggles and small failures--and their unexpected moments of redemption--Dubus creates fiction that bears comparison to the short story's greatest creators--Chekhov, Raymond Carver, Flannery O'Connor.

Sam and Jules - everyone knows that when you see one, the other can't be far behind. Best friends for more than half their lives, the two are practically inseparable. And in the summer before their last year of high school, Sam and Jules are certain that whatever the future brings - college or professional dance careers or both - they'll be ready for it, sharing the triumphs and facing the tears together. But nothing could have prepared them for Jules's sudden illness and the discovery of its cause - cancer. Sam tries to be a true friend, supporting Jules during the weeks of testing and doctors and treatments, but the horrifying pain and indignities that Jules suffers, and the feeling that she has lost control over her own life, force Jules to a place where even Sam cannot follow. Now both Jules and Sam must learn to accept the unacceptable - that Jules's cancer may not go away. How each, in her own way, comes to face the possibility of Jules's death, and learns to celebrate her life, makes for a searingly honest, unforgettable novel.

From Chaucer to Fitzgerald, writers have used dancing as a vital, if subtle, element in plot and character development. The ballroom, an important element of society in real life, was a backdrop to grand passions or pivotal encounters--ideal ground for commentary on the social milieu. This work presents 88 literary selections (from etiquette manuals, diaries, poems, plays, essays and novels) that together form a survey of social dance in England and America over a span of 500 years. They illustrate specific dances, social dance behavior or the intimate reactions of participants. One finds, for example, the ultimate downfalls of Flaubert's Emma Bovary, Hardy's Eustacia Vye, and Tolstoy's Anna Karenina are all foretold in pivotal dance scenes. Fully indexed.

This text gathers writings by and about the choreographer, Merce Cunningham, tracing his career from 1944-1992. For nearly 60 years he challenged and provoked audiences by stripping theatrical dance of its traditional narrative.

Dance is the art least susceptible to preservation since its embodied, kinaesthetic nature has proven difficult to capture in notation and even in still or moving images. However, frameworks have been established and guidance made available for keeping dances, performances, and choreographers’ legacies alive so that the dancers of today and tomorrow can experience and learn from the dances and dancers of the past. In this volume, a range of voices address the issue of dance preservation through memory, artistic choice, interpretation, imagery and notation, as well as looking at relevant archives, legal structures, documentation and artefacts. The intertwining of dance preservation and creativity is a core theme discussed throughout this text, pointing to the essential continuity of dance history and dance innovation. The demands of preservation stretch across time, geographies, institutions and interpersonal connections, and this book focuses on the fascinating web that supports the fragile yet urgent effort to sustain our dancing heritage. The articles in this book were originally published in the journal Dance Chronicle: Studies in Dance and the Related Arts.

Yvonne Wright attended a ballroom dancing class with her friend at the age of 11, where she became captivated with dance. Learning to dance led her to become a competitor where she later qualified as a ballroom dancing teacher which allowed her self-worth, self-confidence and social skills to grow. This unique book gives readers an insight into how popular music since the 1960s has affected how we dance. It also explores how dance impacts positively on our physical health and mental well-being and includes quotes from social dancers running through the narrative. It has information about the various styles of dance and details of organisations who can help you find an appropriate dance class near you. Dancing Through the Decades tells the fascinating story of how an extremely introverted, dyslexic, working-class girl with no self-esteem grew into a confident adult who not only ran her own dancing school for thirty years, but who also earned a Bachelor of Education, a Master of Business Administration and gained a National Professional Qualification for Headship. Yvonne became a confident public speaker who sat on a national advisory board for Special Educational Needs and is in the process of publishing a series of podcasts titled Dancing Through the Decade.

Chronicles the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre's journey from small modern dance company to one of the premier institutions of African-American culture. This book charts the troupe's rise to national and international renown, and contextualizes its progress within the civil rights, women's rights, and gay rights struggles of the late 20th century.

A warm and encouraging self-help book that draws inspiration and motivation from ballroom dancing. Precisely because the dance floor stands apart from the everyday world, allowing dancers to play, experiment and take on new roles, it also serves as a stage for human behavior. Antoinette Benevento, a former national ballroom dancing champion and co-owner of Fred Astaire Dance Studios, has been a student of that stage for 25 years. She has discovered that getting out on the dance floor is a powerful and empowering metaphor for living fully in all realms of life. Some of the tenets Antoinette Benevento lives, dances, and teaches by: -Persistence is a form of beauty -Give yourself permission to begin again--and again and again -If you're not willing to risk falling, you'll never learn to walk (or dance) -Desire is the energy that moves us forward in dance and in life -To dance well and to live fully, body and soul need to work together Building on the ballroom dancing craze that has swept the country, including the popularity of "Dancing with the Stars", this illuminating and highly readable book shows that what you learn on the dance floor can help you dance through life. ANTOINETTE BENEVENTO is co-owner of and National Training Director for the Fred Astaire Dance Studios and a former national ballroom dancing champion. EDWIN DOBB is a contributing editor of Harper's Magazine, and has written for numerous other national publications, including The New York Times Magazine, Vogue, and Discover.