...
Show More
A really great textbook.
Ease Reading-Find Your Next Favorite Book
World of Art
Ballet and Modern Dance
...
Show More
Whether as performers or as spectators, more people enjoy dance today than ever before. Its extraordinary range extends from classical ballet and baroque court spectacles to avant-garde modern dance, tap, and ethnic dancing. Anyone with an interest in dance has felt the need for a guide to the art's rich history and complex present state. Susan Au's lucid text covers the entire spectrum of dance, vividly describing the great performers and performances of the past as well as exploring in detail the dance world of today. A generous selection of illustrations completes the picture, taking the reader from the palaces of the Medici to the lofts of Manhattan, from the dancing of Louis XIV to the experimental choreography of Twyla Tharp and Pina Bausch. A completely new final chapter documents the work of the chief dancers and choreographers from the 1980s to the present, covering offshoots of modern dance such as Tanztheater and Butoh, and recent developments such as performance art and site-specific choreography. The author discusses the upsurge in the popularity of dances of the past, among them ballroom dancing and the Argentine tango, and notes the revival of tap dancing as well as the successful adaptation of Irish stepdancing to the theater. In addition, she records the uses dance and dancers have made of recent technological advances, including cinedance and videodance, CD-ROMs, and the Internet. 145 illustrations and photographs (25 in color)
-
Genres
nonfictionartreference
224 pages, Paperback
First published October 1,1987
Readers also enjoyed
Community Reviews
Rating(4.1 / 5.0, 8 votes)
5 stars
3(38%)
4 stars
3(38%)
3 stars
2(25%)
2 stars
0(0%)
1 stars
0(0%)
8 reviews All reviews
...
Show More
An encyclopedic introduction to the history of ballet and modern dance. Au remains true to her historian role and presents the many events, works and developments of western dance from Louis XIV era to the present day in an organized, logical way. Unlike Jennifer Homans' highly subjective "Apollo's Angels," "Ballet and Modern Dance" is cautious and objective. Even though the last chapter on 1970s to the present day is very lacking (perhaps not her fault; it is difficult to comb through the last forty years and more so to predict what matters in the future), this is a worthwhile book for anyone interested in western dance history, 17th century onwards.
...
Show More
Detailed history with numerous names and titles and dates. One of the book's strengths is the presence of internal (within the ballet and dance world) and external (dance/ballet and its relation to the world outside) links showing the relevance of productions, choreographers and dancers. Compulsory reading for spectators trying to understand dance performances better Very wide scope.
...
Show More
A good overview of ballet and modern dance disciplines/art forms.
...
Show More
Solid info, easy to read, great pix of significant performances. The last two chapters, covering dance in the latter half of the 20th century, seem a bit scattered, with references to everything from Riverdance to Billy Elliot. I think a few more years and a third edition should lead to more perspective and better editing.
...
Show More
It was good... History book.
...
Show More
Why is it that academic writing is so completely devoid of personality? Objectivity? Hardly—everyone has their biases, and those biases ALWAYS make their way into the writing. There is this great thing now called literary nonfiction. It’s nonfiction with, gasp, personality! Incorporating some color (via character sketches, syntax, adjectives, metaphors, humor, etc.) keeps the reader engaged and makes the writing more effective. I’d also like to point out that academic writing more often than not is exclusive rather than inclusive and therefore fails to accomplish the goal of educating. OK, harangue over, but if you’re interested in this topic, particularly with how it pertains to art criticism, I recommend Dave Hickey’s “Air Guitar: Essays on Art and Democracy.”
So, clearly, this book was written in an academic style. Also not a mystery is the fact that I’m not crazy about that kind of writing. However, this book provided a decent overview of the history of ballet and modern dance in the West. Certain figures in the development of the art are mysteriously given more weight than others (to be fair, a lot of ground is covered in this book, so inevitably some things do not get the development they deserve). It succeeded in giving me the time line of how things unfolded, but it almost read like a list, so not particularly compelling. This project could have been more sophisticated.
So, clearly, this book was written in an academic style. Also not a mystery is the fact that I’m not crazy about that kind of writing. However, this book provided a decent overview of the history of ballet and modern dance in the West. Certain figures in the development of the art are mysteriously given more weight than others (to be fair, a lot of ground is covered in this book, so inevitably some things do not get the development they deserve). It succeeded in giving me the time line of how things unfolded, but it almost read like a list, so not particularly compelling. This project could have been more sophisticated.
...
Show More
An interesting if admittedly uneven account of the history of dance. There were parts of this book which flowed like water, other parts which felt brittle and dry. Still, this book does what it seeks to accomplish—give the reader a brief introduction to the history of dance.
I read the third edition which was expanded to talk about some 21st century movements. It felt kind of hurried and could have done with some more lively writing to lubricate the reading a bit.
I read the third edition which was expanded to talk about some 21st century movements. It felt kind of hurried and could have done with some more lively writing to lubricate the reading a bit.
Leave a Review