Provides an introduction to the life and biography of Evelyn Cisneros, the famous Hispanic American ballet dancer.

Contains short biographies of three hundred Hispanic American women who have achieved national or international prominence in a variety of fields.

Describes the early life, training, and accomplishments of the Mexican American dancer who is the prima ballerina for the San Francisco Ballet.

Invite students of varying reading levels in grades 3–5 to enjoy 40 high-interest biographies using Hispanic American Achievers in grades 3-5. Each text is presented at two reading levels, and each version of the story includes a set of comprehension questions and a bonus activity. Comprehension skills include finding the main idea, reading for details, sequencing, using context clues, and drawing conclusions. This 128-page book has mixed-format questions, writing extensions, an assessment grid, and reproducible pages. It supports NCSS standards and aligns with state, national, and Canadian provincial standards.

Profiles more than 90 Hispanic Americans, both living and deceased, prominent in fields ranging from civil rights to athletics, politics to literature, entertainment to science, religion to the military. Includes Spanish founders and early leaders of Hispanic cultural movements in the United States and in Latin America.

Women have made a difference in every field imaginable, and they continue to do so today. Women's Lives in History introduces readers to dozens of these remarkable people. Women in Arts and Entertainmentfeatures groundbreaking figures in dance, visual art, filmmaking, television, and many other disciplines. Compelling text and vivid photographs bring these women to life. Features include essential facts, a timeline, a glossary, additional resources, source notes, and an index. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Essential Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.

Surveying the state of American ballet in a 1913 issue of McClure's Magazine, author Willa Cather reported that few girls expressed any interest in taking ballet class and that those who did were hard-pressed to find anything other than dingy studios and imperious teachers. One hundred years later, ballet is everywhere. There are ballet companies large and small across the United States; ballet is commonly featured in film, television, literature, and on social media; professional ballet dancers are spokespeople for all kinds of products; nail polish companies market colors like "Ballet Slippers" and "Prima Ballerina;" and, most importantly, millions of American children have taken ballet class. Beginning with the arrival of Russian dancers like Anna Pavlova, who first toured the United States on the eve of World War I, Ballet Class: An American History explores the growth of ballet from an ancillary part of nineteenth-century musical theater, opera, and vaudeville to the quintessential extracurricular activity it is today, pursued by countless children nationwide and an integral part of twentieth-century American childhood across borders of gender, class, race, and sexuality. A social history, Ballet Class takes a new approach to the very popular subject of ballet and helps ground an art form often perceived to be elite in the experiences of regular, everyday people who spent time in barre-lined studios across the United States. Drawing on a wide variety of materials, including children's books, memoirs by professional dancers and choreographers, pedagogy manuals, and dance periodicals, in addition to archival collections and oral histories, this pathbreaking study provides a deeply-researched national perspective on the history and significance of recreational ballet class in the United States and its influence on many facets of children's lives, including gender norms, consumerism, body image, children's literature, extracurricular activities, and popular culture.

Charles Fox has composed more than 100 motion picture and television scores, among them the themes of many iconic series, including Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Love, American Style, and Love Boat. Twice nominated for the Academy Award and a two-time Emmy winner, Fox has also written music for the concert hall and the ballet. Among the hundreds of songs he has written is the Grammy Award-winning "Killing Me Softly with His Song," a number one record in just about every country in the world, by two different artists: Roberta Flack in 1973 and the Fugees, 20 years later. In this memoir, Fox recounts his development as a musician, beginning with his formal music education in Paris. From letters he wrote home between 1959 and 1961, Fox recounts his studies under the tutelage of the most renowned music composition teacher of the 20th century, Nadia Boulanger, whose influence Fox carried throughout his entire professional career. Following his return to the states, Fox describes the cornerstone events of his musical and personal life. He reflects on the highlights of his career, working with some of the greatest names in entertainment, film, television, and records, including Jim Croce, Barry Manilow, Lena Horne, and Fred Astaire. Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004 and a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Composers & Lyricists, Fox's memoir is a compelling story of a musician and composer whose work continues to entertain and inspire listeners around the world.

Born in Colombia, South America, Horacio Cifuentes attended various dance academies in Spain, Poland and the United States. Among them, the prestigious American Balet Theatre School and the San Francisco Ballet School. Michael Smuin, director of the San Fransisco Ballet discovered Horacio and featured him in various key roles in the dance company, where he also worked with international choreographers such as Jiry Kylian, Robert North and Arthur Mitchell. Horacio was inspired by American bellydance pioneer Magana Baptiste to become an oriental dancer. Under her guidance he followed extensive studies into the mystical world of yoga, spiritual dance and belly dance. His story is full of fascinating anecdotes, humor, tragedy and brings with it a profound spiritual depth. Horacio Cifuentes resides in Berlin, Germany, where he co-directs a dance academy with his wife and dance partner, Beata Cifuentes.