9 Dance Books I Can’t Live Without

Today’s post is a result of my participation in Day Two of 31 Days to Build a Better Blog which is a program being hosted by Darren Rowse at his site Problogger. His blog on — well… blogging! — is one of the most comprehensive sites around. I have learned a lot by reading his posts. I appreciate the spirit of his teaching methods in a realm that sometimes feels dominated by pushy sales people. Therefore, I have no doubt that these 31 days will be well spent. Not all of his challenges will involve creating posts but hopefully you’ll notice the improvements, regardless!

The challenge today was to create a list post. I’ve done them before but usually my points or tips have lots of explanation. My challenge for myself was to try one that was more to-the-point! Wha-la!

1. Dance Imagery for Technique and Performance

I use this book all the time. There are so many great ideas and images to share with students in class and it is set up in a way that allows one to reference things quickly. Although, I do not own it, I understand that Franklin’s Dynamic Alignment Through Imagery, is excellent as well.

2. Dance Kinesiology

3. Creative Dance for All Ages: A Conceptual Approach

Another college textbook, this has proven an invaluable reference and guide for, not only teaching creative dance classes but, for working with children in general.

4. Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet

They’ve recently updated the look of this book but it still holds up as a great reference for ballet terminology.

5. The Pointe Book: Shoes, Training & Technique Second Edition

I have the first edition but, I’ve often shared information from this book with ballet and pointe students and parents. It’s a concise overview of history, training, shoe care, and more.

6. The Art of Making Dances

There are several quality choreography books out there. However, this guide is great for it’s simplicity. A helpful tool for dance crafters and those teach composition.

7. Ballet and Modern Dance: A Concise History

Another one that was a college text and that’s been around a while. It is great for developing a basic understanding of the dance history timeline and discovering major influences and players in theatrical dance.

8. Physics and the Art of Dance: Understanding Movement

Kenneth Laws’ presentation of dance as it relates to physics might change the way you dance or teach!

9. Choreography: A Basic Approach Using Improvisation

A bit more colorful than Humphrey’s book, with lots of solid, beginning improvisation and compositional techniques, this is one I’ve used and shared with students a lot.

@Twitter Pals

Today I posed the following question to some of the lovely folks that follow me on Twitter.

What is one dance book or reference you couldn’t live without?

Here are some of their replies.

@amej Valerie Preston-Dunlop’s Looking at Dances. Incredibly insightful, inspiring and beautifully written.

Dunlop’s book is not available at Amazon but you can read more about her and her works at her website. Click here.

@cpmomcat One dance reference I would want on hand: George Balanchine’s Complete Stories of the Great Ballets

This book has been through a few revisions over the years. The older versions may be a bit harder to obtain. 101 Stories of the Great Ballets seems to be a condensed version of the original. It claims to offer the most popular ballets, old and new. But of course, this final volume was written in 1975.

@love2d I gotta say Martha Graham’s Blood Memory was truly inspiring for me, and Psychology Of Dance really interesting and useful.

Blood Memory is Graham’s autobiography. Again, this is a collectible so you may want to check out your local or college library to see if they have a copy. Psychology of Dance is on my wishlist.

@love2d If I can add another one: Dancing – the all in one guide for dancers, teachers and parents. More interesting information.

Dancing: The Pleasure, Power, and Art of Movement, could be the book mentioned here. Or, it could be Dancing: The Indispensable Gude, also mentioned by @sarah_rose.

Thanks to all my twitter pals that took the time to offer their responses. If you are a Twitterer? Tweeter? Twit?, be sure to check out these birds of a feather. And, make sure you stop by and say hello @danceadvantage!

What are some dance books YOU can’t live without?

The content here at Dance Advantage is available free of charge, however maintaining the site is not. If you like the content here and would like to offer a bit of support, one way that you can do that is by purchasing one of my nine recommendations through the widget below. As an Amazon affiliate, I earn pennies on the dollar but every bit helps. I don’t want to hide links in the text – I want to give you the option! And I don’t want to recommend or try to “sell” you on something that I haven’t used myself. The books below are all in my home library.

Originally posted April 8, 2009

Nichelle Strzepek is the writer/editor of Dance Advantage. Equipped with little more than passion for movement education, she embraced her inner computer nerd and began this blog in 2008. She holds a BA in dance and is an instructor with over 16 years experience. Nichelle continues to perform as a contemporary dance artist, covers dance in the Houston area as a freelance writer and critic, and balances daily life as a full-time mom.

Nichelle has written 309 articles for Dance Advantage.