Eight famous dancers -- Marie Taglioni, Carlotta Grisi, Fanny Elssler and Lola Montez among them -- depicted as beautifully costumed paper dolls, each with 3 additional costumes from their most famous roles.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, LOS ANGELES TIMES, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, AND PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 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, émigré dancers taught their art to a generation in the United States and in Western Europe, setting off a new and radical transformation of dance. Jennifer Homans, a historian, critic, and former professional ballerina, wields a knowledge of dance born of dedicated practice. Her admiration and love for the ballet, as Entertainment Weekly notes, brings “a dancer’s grace and sure-footed agility to the page.”
Sumptuous collection of historic prints from years 1830 to 1860. Taglioni, Elssler, Grisi, other stars by such artists as Chalon, Grevedon, Deveria, and more. Introduction, captions, bibliography.
All theater romances are tragedies. Ella Blythe knows this. Still, she cannot help but hope her own story may turn out different than most--and certainly different than the tragic story of the Ghost of Craven Street Theater. Yet as she struggles to maintain her tenuous place in the ever-shrinking ballet company, win the attentions of principal dancer Philippe, and avoid company flirt Jack, Ella cannot deny the uncanny feeling that her life is mirroring that of the dead ballerina. Is she dancing ever closer to the edge of her own tragic end? Or will the secrets that are about to come to light offer release from the past? Mystery and romance make the perfect dance partners in this evocative story from fan-favorite Joanna Davidson Politano.
Discovering Dance, Second Edition, is the premier introductory dance text for high school students. Whether they are new to dance or already have some experience, students will be able to grasp the foundational concepts of dance as they consider where dance movement comes from and why humans are compelled to move, and they will explore movement activities from the perspectives of a dancer, a choreographer, and an observer. The result is a well-rounded educational experience for students to build on, whether they want to further explore performance or choreography or otherwise factor dance into their college or career goals. Specifically designed to meet national and state dance education standards, Discovering Dance offers a ready-to-implement dance curriculum that is foundational and flexible. It fosters students’ discovery of dance through creating, performing, analyzing, understanding, responding to, connecting to, and evaluating dance and dance forms. The book is divided into four parts and 17 chapters. Part I focuses on the foundational concepts of dance and art processes, wellness, safety, dance elements, and composition. Part II delves into dance in society, including historical, social, traditional, and cultural dances. In part III, students explore dance on stage—including ballet, modern dance, jazz dance, tap, and hip-hop—and examine aspects of performance and production. Part IV rounds out the content by preparing students for dance in college or as a career and throughout life. The chapter content helps students discover dance genres; explore each genre through its history, artists, vocabulary, and significant works; apply dance concepts through movement and through written, oral, visual, technology, and multimedia assignments, thus deepening their knowledge and abilities; enhance learning by completing a portfolio assignment and review quiz for each chapter; and gain insight into dance artists, companies, and events through the Did You Know? and Spotlight elements. Learning objectives, vocabulary terms, and an essential question open each chapter. Throughout the chapters are four types of activities: Discover, Explore, Journal, and Research. The activities and assignments meet the needs of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners and help students explore dance through vocabulary, history, culture, creation, performance, and choreography. A comprehensive glossary further facilitates learning. The personal discovery process is greatly aided by technology—including video clips that demonstrate dance genres, forms, styles, and techniques as well as learning experiences that require taking photos and creating time lines, graphs, drawings, diagrams, or soundscapes.
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 Opéra (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 illustrated book ultimately provides a new portrait of the Opéra during a period long celebrated for its box-office successes in both genres. Smith begins by showing how gestures were encoded in the musical language that composers used in ballet and in opera. She moves on to a wide range of topics, including the relationship between the gestures of the singers and the movements of the dancers, and the distinction between dance that represents dancing (entertainment staged within the story of the opera) and dance that represents action. Smith maintains that ballet-pantomime and opera continued to rely on each other well into the nineteenth century, even as they thrived independently. The "divorce" between the two arts occurred little by little, and may be traced through unlikely sources: controversies in the press about the changing nature of ballet-pantomime music, shifting ideas about originality, complaints about the ridiculousness of pantomime, and a little-known rehearsal score for Giselle. ?
Beginning Ballet With HKPropel Access introduces students to the study of ballet as a performing art and provides instructional support in learning foundational ballet technique. It is ideal for students enrolled in a beginning ballet class at the college, university, or high school level. The book features more than 80 photos and concise descriptions covering basic foot and arm positions, barre exercises, and centre combinations. Beginning Ballet introduces students to the structure of a ballet class, including expectations, etiquette, and attire. Students also learn how to prepare for class, maintain proper nutrition and hydration, and avoid injury. This text outlines the unique history of ballet from its beginnings in the Renaissance to the 21st century and discusses the styles, aesthetics, artists, and significant works that have shaped ballet as a performing art. In addition, related online learning tools present more than 70 instructional video clips and 50 photos to help students learn and practice ballet. It also includes audio clips of ballet terms with pronunciation in French, assignments, and an interactive quiz covering ballet vocabulary, definitions, and translation to and from the French language. Ballet class provides the foundation for learning the dance form, and Beginning Ballet supports that learning through visual, verbal, and interactive instructional tools. Beginning Ballet text and online tools help bring the grace, artistry, and mental and physical benefits of ballet to students. Beginning Ballet is a part of Human Kinetics’ Interactive Dance Series. The series includes resources for ballet, modern, tap, jazz, musical theatre, and hip-hop dance that support introductory dance technique courses taught through dance, physical education, and fine arts departments. Each student-friendly text has related online learning tools including video clips of dance instruction, assignments, and activities. The Interactive Dance Series offers students a collection of guides to learning, performing, and viewing dance. A code for accessing HKPropel is included with this ebook.
Presents a look at the world of dance; an analysis of ballet movement, music, and history; a close-up look at popular ballets; and a host of performance tips.