Whether your style is Strictly Ballroom or you have just started to Come Dancing, discover how to master the six most popular ballroom dances with this fantastic guide. Step-by-step instructions will take you through the modern classics as well as the sexy Latin moves of the Rumba and Tango. With a specially recorded accompanying CD to ensure you keep in tempo and detachable dance step cards to help guide you round the dancefloor, you'll be certain to waltz your way to dancing perfection.

First Published in 2002. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Dreams are made and broken every year in the dazzling Empress Ballroom at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, England. Fierce competition, brutal politics, and stunning artistry are all on the program at the world's most prestigious competition, known to ballroom dance enthusiasts simply as "Blackpool." Sharon Savoy's lifelong love affair with dance manifested itself early on. At the tender age of 16 she left home to train under George Balanchine at the School of American Ballet in New York. An accomplished ballerina, her desire to dance more expressively and with a partner led her on the path that culminated on the competition ballroom circuit. There, her passion and artistry led her to become a four-time champion in exhibition style. But, as with all obsessions, her success came with a cost. In this spellbinding book, Savoy offers a backstage pass to a world where rhinestones and high heels accompany explosive athleticism and staggering talent. With emotionally absorbing and energy-packed prose, she provides an insider's close-up view of all the players who compose this glamorous world that is part dance, part sport, and part art.

Describes the history of ballroom dancing; presents photo-illustrated instructions for the waltz, foxtrot, tango, Viennese waltz, rumba, merengue, samba, cha-cha, mambo, East Coast swing, and hustle; discusses such topics as timing, rhythm, practice, and expectations; and includes an eleven-track audio CD.

Though he has made only five films in two decades—Strictly Ballroom, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, and the Oscar-nominated films Moulin Rouge!, Australia, and The Great Gatsby—Australian writer-director Baz Luhrmann is an internationally known brand name. His name has even entered the English language as a verb, as in “to Baz things up,” meaning “to decorate them with an exuberant flourish.” Celebrated by some, loathed by others, his work is underscored by what has been described as “an aesthetic of artifice” and is notable for both its glittering surfaces and recurring concerns. In this collection of interviews, Luhrmann discusses his methods and his motives, explaining what has been important to him and his collaborators from the start and how he has been able to maintain an independence from the studios that have backed his films. He also speaks about his other artistic endeavors, including stage productions of La Bohème and A Midsummer Night's Dream, and his wife and collaborative partner Catherine Martin, who has received two Academy Awards for her work with Luhrmann.

"The full script is presented here with stills from the film and commentary from reviewers and film producer Tristan Miall" -- Back cover.

The Advocate is a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) monthly newsmagazine. Established in 1967, it is the oldest continuing LGBT publication in the United States.

"Ballroom is the story of aging widow Bea Asher, who begins life anew at the Stardust Ballroom, an old-school dance palace in the Bronx. At the ballroom, Bea meets a middle-aged mailman named Al, and the two soon fall in love. Unfortunately, Al is trapped in an unhappy marriage, and he refuses to leave his wife. Bea's children and friends advise her against starting up a romance with a married man, but Bea - having found a new life and purpose - decides that “fifty percent” of someone you love is better than “all of anybody else.”--Publisher.

This is the first major book-length study of the work of Australian film-maker Baz Luhrmann, one of the most exciting and controversial personalities working in World Cinema today. Luhrmann's reputation as an innovator rests on the evidence of the three films known as the Red Curtain Trilogy: Strictly Ballroom (1992), William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet (1996) and Moulin Rouge! (2001), which together demonstrate the development of a highly distinctive style and brand. Pam Cook, who was given unprecedented access to the Luhrmann private archives, explores the genesis of the Red Curtain aesthetic, from Luhrmann's early experience in theatre and opera to his collaborative working methods and unique production set-up. Drawing on in-depth interviews with Luhrmann and his chief collaborator, designer Catherine Martin, she traces the roots of their work in an increasingly globalised Australian film culture, investigating the relationship of their company Bazmark to the Hollywood studio Twentieth Century-Fox, and the influences on their style and production methods. At the book's heart are substantial analyses of the spectacular Red Curtain films and the historical epic Australia (2008). This lively and original study of one of contemporary cinema's most fascinating figures will appeal to film scholars, cultural historians and Luhrmann enthusiasts alike.