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Dancing in Chains: The Youth of William Dean Howells (The American Social Experience #15)
by Rodney D. Olsen"Dancing in Chains is far more than a sensitive biography (though it is surely that); it is also a model of psychologically informed social and cultural history. Olsen recognizes that psychic conflicts often play themselves out on a higher plane, that psychic and intellectual history are intertwined. He presents a wonderful nuanced picture of Howells."-Jackson Lears,Rutgers University In this insightful study of the childhood and youth of William Dean Howells, Dancing in Chains demonstrates how the turbulent social and cultural changes of the early nineteenth century shaped the young Howells's emotional and intellectual life. His early diaries, letters, poetry, fiction, and newspaper columns are used to illustrate Olsen's argument, which also in turn throws light on the dominant tensions in antebellum America. Accepting the emergent middle-class ethos of civilized morality, with its new conceptions of child rearing and gender spheres, Howells's parents urged him to achieve self-control and individual success while also teaching him to seek the good of others rather than his own glory. For Howells the conflicts coalesced at the time of his leaving home, an increasing common rite of passage for antebellum youth. Trying to affirm his sense of literary vocation, he tested his aspirations against the family's Swedenborgian religious convictions and the antislavery commitments of his village while experimenting with competing literary ideologies in the process of meeting the demands of the new mass reading audience. For Howells the resulting tensions eased toward the end of his youth but reappeared in his more mature works of fiction and social criticism in later years. Portraying the ordeal of coming of age during a momentous period of American history, Dancing in Chains is a fascinating study with a broad appeal to general readers as well as scholars.
Dancing in My Dreams: A Spiritual Biography of Tina Turner (Library of Religious Biography (LRB))
by Ralph H. CraigIf you don&’t know Tina Turner&’s spirituality, you don&’t know Tina. When Tina Turner reclaimed her throne as the Queen of Rock &‘n&’ Roll in the 1980s, she attributed her comeback to one thing: the wisdom and power she found in Buddhism. Her spiritual transformation is often overshadowed by the rags-to-riches arc of her life story. But in this groundbreaking biography, Ralph H. Craig III traces Tina&’s journey from the Black Baptist church to Buddhism and situates her at the vanguard of large-scale movements in religion and pop culture. Paying special attention to the diverse metaphysical beliefs that shaped her spiritual life, Craig untangles Tina&’s Soka Gakkai Buddhist foundation; her incorporation of New Age ideas popularized in &’60s counterculture; and her upbringing in a Black Baptist congregation, alongside the influences of her grandmothers&’ disciplinary and mystical sensibilities. Through critical engagement with Tina&’s personal life and public brand, Craig sheds light on how popular culture has been used as a vehicle for authentic religious teaching. Scholars and fans alike will find Dancing in My Dreams as enlightening as the iconic singer herself.
DANCING IN THE LIGHT
by Shirley MaclaineNow, at a turning point in her life, comes her most revealing and exciting book yet. Outspoken, controversial, talented, and perceptive Shirley MacLaine now takes us on an intimate and fascinating personal odyssey. In 1984 she won an Oscar, starred on Broadway, wrote the best-selling Out on a Limb -- and turned fifty years old. At this special time, in this special year, she was now ready to resume the spiritual journey she had begun in her early forties. In Dancing in the Light, Shirley MacLaine bares her innermost self and explores the lives, both past and present, which touched and affected her own. She sheds new light on her loves, her losses, her childhood, her passions, and her inner drives and ambitions. She asks poignant questions and finds surprising answers. She asks poignant questions and finds surprising answers. She challenges her beliefs and confronts her conflicts. Ultimately, she takes us with her through a life-altering experience that provides a stunning new vision of herself, her future... and the fate of our world.From the Paperback edition.
DANCING IN THE LIGHT
by Shirley MaclaineNow, at a turning point in her life, comes her most revealing and exciting book yet. Outspoken, controversial, talented, and perceptive Shirley MacLaine now takes us on an intimate and fascinating personal odyssey. In 1984 she won an Oscar, starred on Broadway, wrote the best-selling Out on a Limb -- and turned fifty years old. At this special time, in this special year, she was now ready to resume the spiritual journey she had begun in her early forties. In Dancing in the Light, Shirley MacLaine bares her innermost self and explores the lives, both past and present, which touched and affected her own. She sheds new light on her loves, her losses, her childhood, her passions, and her inner drives and ambitions. She asks poignant questions and finds surprising answers. She asks poignant questions and finds surprising answers. She challenges her beliefs and confronts her conflicts. Ultimately, she takes us with her through a life-altering experience that provides a stunning new vision of herself, her future... and the fate of our world.From the Paperback edition.
DANCING IN THE LIGHT
by Shirley MaclaineNow, at a turning point in her life, comes her most revealing and exciting book yet. Outspoken, controversial, talented, and perceptive Shirley MacLaine now takes us on an intimate and fascinating personal odyssey. In 1984 she won an Oscar, starred on Broadway, wrote the best-selling Out on a Limb -- and turned fifty years old. At this special time, in this special year, she was now ready to resume the spiritual journey she had begun in her early forties. In Dancing in the Light, Shirley MacLaine bares her innermost self and explores the lives, both past and present, which touched and affected her own. She sheds new light on her loves, her losses, her childhood, her passions, and her inner drives and ambitions. She asks poignant questions and finds surprising answers. She asks poignant questions and finds surprising answers. She challenges her beliefs and confronts her conflicts. Ultimately, she takes us with her through a life-altering experience that provides a stunning new vision of herself, her future... and the fate of our world.From the Paperback edition.
Dancing in the Mosque: An Afghan Mother's Letter to Her Son
by Homeira QaderiA People Book of the Week & a Kirkus Best Nonfiction of the YearAn exquisite and inspiring memoir about one mother’s unimaginable choice in the face of oppression and abuse in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.In the days before Homeira Qaderi gave birth to her son, Siawash, the road to the hospital in Kabul would often be barricaded because of the frequent suicide explosions. With the city and the military on edge, it was not uncommon for an armed soldier to point his gun at the pregnant woman’s bulging stomach, terrified that she was hiding a bomb. Frightened and in pain, she was once forced to make her way on foot. Propelled by the love she held for her soon-to-be-born child, Homeira walked through blood and wreckage to reach the hospital doors. But the joy of her beautiful son’s birth was soon overshadowed by other dangers that would threaten her life.No ordinary Afghan woman, Homeira refused to cower under the strictures of a misogynistic social order. Defying the law, she risked her freedom to teach children reading and writing and fought for women’s rights in her theocratic and patriarchal society.Devastating in its power, Dancing in the Mosque is a mother’s searing letter to a son she was forced to leave behind. In telling her story—and that of Afghan women—Homeira challenges you to reconsider the meaning of motherhood, sacrifice, and survival. Her story asks you to consider the lengths you would go to protect yourself, your family, and your dignity.
Dancing in the Mosque: An Afghan Mother's Letter to Her Son
by Homeira QaderiA People Book of the Week & a Kirkus Best Nonfiction of the YearAn exquisite and inspiring memoir about one mother’s unimaginable choice in the face of oppression and abuse in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.In the days before Homeira Qaderi gave birth to her son, Siawash, the road to the hospital in Kabul would often be barricaded because of the frequent suicide explosions. With the city and the military on edge, it was not uncommon for an armed soldier to point his gun at the pregnant woman’s bulging stomach, terrified that she was hiding a bomb. Frightened and in pain, she was once forced to make her way on foot. Propelled by the love she held for her soon-to-be-born child, Homeira walked through blood and wreckage to reach the hospital doors. But the joy of her beautiful son’s birth was soon overshadowed by other dangers that would threaten her life.No ordinary Afghan woman, Homeira refused to cower under the strictures of a misogynistic social order. Defying the law, she risked her freedom to teach children reading and writing and fought for women’s rights in her theocratic and patriarchal society.Devastating in its power, Dancing in the Mosque is a mother’s searing letter to a son she was forced to leave behind. In telling her story—and that of Afghan women—Homeira challenges you to reconsider the meaning of motherhood, sacrifice, and survival. Her story asks you to consider the lengths you would go to protect yourself, your family, and your dignity.
Dancing in the Narrows: A Mother-Daughter Odyssey Through Chronic Illness
by Anna PenenbergDancing in the Narrows chronicles a mother and daughter&’s multiyear journey through illness and trauma. At sixteen, Anna&’s youngest daughter, Dana, is stricken with a mysterious and debilitating condition, eventually diagnosed as Lyme disease. Desperate to find a cure, the two women are thrust into the established medical world, then far beyond. Full of adventure, humor, and blind faith, Dancing in the Narrows is an inspiring story of self-discovery as a single mother fights to save the life of her child.
Dancing in the Rain: My story of hope, courage and resilience
by Amy DowdenStrictly Come Dancing professional and breast cancer and Crohn's awareness advocate Amy Dowden shares her journey from growing up in the Welsh Valleys to dancing on the glittering stage of prime-time television. Through her debilitating illness as a teen and her recent chemotherapy treatment for stage 3 breast cancer, Amy's is a story of an unbreakable spirit with an irrepressible joy for life and dance; she is living proof that our darkest times do not define us. From her first dance lesson, Amy never wanted to be off the dance floor; when the music is on, nothing else matters, and it has been what has kept her going in the toughest of times. Despite facing the relentless challenges of undiagnosed Crohn's disease through her teens, Amy's love for dance remained unwavering. Her passion led her to win the British Championships with her partner and become the first Welsh professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing. However, Amy's journey took an unexpected turn when she discovered a lump in her breast just before her honeymoon. Despite undergoing a mastectomy and enduring gruelling chemotherapy, her journey was far from over. Complications arose, and she faced the harsh reality of reduced chances of having children. Yet, through it all, Amy's spirit remained unbroken, fuelled by her love for dance and the unwavering support of her family, friends and supporters.In Dancing in the Rain, Amy Dowden shares her poignant and deeply personal story, offering solace and inspiration to anyone navigating life's storms. With courage and vulnerability, she reminds us that no matter the challenge, the human spirit can prevail, and that even in the darkest of times, there is always hope.
Dancing in the Rain: My story of hope, courage and resilience
by Amy DowdenStrictly Come Dancing professional and breast cancer and Crohn's awareness advocate Amy Dowden shares her journey from growing up in the Welsh Valleys to dancing on the glittering stage of prime-time television. Through her debilitating illness as a teen and her recent chemotherapy treatment for stage 3 breast cancer, Amy's is a story of an unbreakable spirit with an irrepressible joy for life and dance; she is living proof that our darkest times do not define us. From her first dance lesson, Amy never wanted to be off the dance floor; when the music is on, nothing else matters, and it has been what has kept her going in the toughest of times. Despite facing the relentless challenges of undiagnosed Crohn's disease through her teens, Amy's love for dance remained unwavering. Her passion led her to win the British Championships with her partner and become the first Welsh professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing. However, Amy's journey took an unexpected turn when she discovered a lump in her breast just before her honeymoon. Despite undergoing a mastectomy and enduring gruelling chemotherapy, her journey was far from over. Complications arose, and she faced the harsh reality of reduced chances of having children. Yet, through it all, Amy's spirit remained unbroken, fuelled by her love for dance and the unwavering support of her family, friends and supporters.In Dancing in the Rain, Amy Dowden shares her poignant and deeply personal story, offering solace and inspiration to anyone navigating life's storms. With courage and vulnerability, she reminds us that no matter the challenge, the human spirit can prevail, and that even in the darkest of times, there is always hope.
Dancing in the Rain: My story of hope, courage and resilience
by Amy DowdenStrictly Come Dancing professional and breast cancer and Crohn's awareness advocate Amy Dowden shares her journey from growing up in the Welsh Valleys to dancing on the glittering stage of prime-time television. Through her debilitating illness as a teen and her recent chemotherapy treatment for stage 3 breast cancer, Amy's is a story of an unbreakable spirit with an irrepressible joy for life and dance; she is living proof that our darkest times do not define us. From her first dance lesson, Amy never wanted to be off the dance floor; when the music is on, nothing else matters, and it has been what has kept her going in the toughest of times. Despite facing the relentless challenges of undiagnosed Crohn's disease through her teens, Amy's love for dance remained unwavering. Her passion led her to win the British Championships with her partner and become the first Welsh professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing. However, Amy's journey took an unexpected turn when she discovered a lump in her breast just before her honeymoon. Despite undergoing a mastectomy and enduring gruelling chemotherapy, her journey was far from over. Complications arose, and she faced the harsh reality of reduced chances of having children. Yet, through it all, Amy's spirit remained unbroken, fuelled by her love for dance and the unwavering support of her family, friends and supporters.In Dancing in the Rain, Amy Dowden shares her poignant and deeply personal story, offering solace and inspiration to anyone navigating life's storms. With courage and vulnerability, she reminds us that no matter the challenge, the human spirit can prevail, and that even in the darkest of times, there is always hope.
Dancing in the Vortex: The Story of Ida Rubinstein (Choreography and Dance Studies Series #Vol. 20.)
by Vicki WoolfParis at the turn of the century - Art Nouveau, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec and the Folies Bergere. This was the atmosphere which nurtured the artistic development of the remarkable dancer and choreographer Ida Rubinstein.This long-awaited biography gives us a unique insight into the life of a remarkable woman, responsible for a fascinating chapter of our artistic heritage. She was a chameleon, a diva, who lived many lives, overcoming the anti-Semitism of her times to enchant and captivate the highest of societies.Untrained as a dancer, Ida Rubinstein's charisma attracted collaborators such as Debussy, Stravinsky, Ravel, Cocteau, Bakst, and Benois.
Dancing In The Wilderness
by Samanthia CassidyStep into this unforgettable narrative with Samanthia Cassidy as she comes of age in the Deep South as part of a dysfunctional family and a "holiness" cult with a pastor who handles snakes and takes indecent liberties with young girls. Your soul will be stirred and your heart warmed as you are drawn irresistibly into a unique time and place in Twentieth-Century Americana. As the author allows you to see through her eyes, you will feel her love and hatred . . . ecstasy and misery. . . passion and pain. And you will relish her boldness, courage, tenacity and triumph. In this vivid, unvarnished snapshot of provincial southern life, an intrepid young girl is faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges. Yet despite overwhelming assaults against her childhood trust and innocence, Samanthia's dauntless spirit, love of family and faith in God transcend every obstacle. You will become part of Samanthia's big family and experience life in their "Big House." And you will fall in love with this extraordinary girl who shares her beautiful secret of DANCING IN THE WILDERNESS.
Dancing into the Light: An Arab American Girlhood in the Middle East
by Kathryn Abdul-BakiSet against the backdrop of the early American presence in Iran under the Shah, and the burgeoning years of Kuwait&’s early oil boom, Dancing into the Light is Kathryn Abdul-Baki&’s memoir of growing up within both the expatriate Western communities and the larger Middle Eastern society of Kuwait and Jerusalem. Hers is a story of belonging to two vastly different cultures and finding her place within both, and the search to find the inherent harmony in worlds at odds with each other. She is already caught in both the joys of and the struggle to be both Arab and American, yet not fully either, when her young life of promise is disrupted by tragedy. But instead of derailing her life, her mother&’s death opens the door to deeper love and support from other places within Kathryn&’s family. Dancing into the Light is a story of love, loss, and renewal, and of overcoming devastating early trauma through music, dancing, and the love and devotion of strong American and Arab women.
Dancing Man: A Broadway Choreographer's Journey
by Bob AvianTony and Olivier Award–winning Bob Avian’s dazzling life story, Dancing Man: A Broadway Choreographer’s Journey, is a memoir in three acts. Act I reveals the origins of one of Broadway’s legendary choreographers who appeared onstage with stars like Barbra Streisand and Mary Martin all before he was thirty. Act II includes teaching Katharine Hepburn how to sing and dance in Coco and working with Stephen Sondheim and Michael Bennett while helping to choreograph the original productions of Company and Follies. During this time, Avian won a Tony Award as the cochoreographer of A Chorus Line and produced the spectacular Tony Award–winning Dreamgirls. For a triumphant third act, Avian choreographed Julie Andrews’s return to the New York stage, devised all of the musical staging for Miss Saigon and Sunset Boulevard, and directed A Chorus Line on Broadway. He worked with the biggest names on Broadway, including Andrew Lloyd Webber, Carol Burnett, Jennifer Holliday, Patti LuPone, Elaine Stritch, and Glenn Close. Candid, witty, sometimes shocking, and always entertaining, here at last is the ultimate up-close and personal insider’s view from a front row seat at the creation of the biggest, brightest, and best Broadway musicals of the past fifty years.
Dancing on Eggshells: Kitchen, ballroom & the messy inbetween
by John Whaite'We come for the glitter, but instead we get the grit, in stories told with insight, tenderness and joy.' - Russell T DaviesWith a foreword by Steph McGovern'I never thought I'd write a memoir. I never thought I'd do a lot of the things I have done in my thirty-four years, but life has a wonderful way of surprising us.'Well-known as the winner of the third series of The Great British Bake Off and runner up of Strictly Come Dancing with his same-sex dance partner Johannes Radebe, John Whaite's personal story is a complicated narrative of contradictions, highs and lows, told with tenderness, joy, insight and wit, but also unflinching honesty. A shy little boy from rural Lancashire, who was scared to sleep alone and danced a little 'too gay' at family weddings, he was also an unruly teen who shaved a checkerboard pattern into his hair and refused to conform. From childhood his life has revolved around food - his parents owned a fish and chip shop where John worked in the back peeling potatoes - but for long periods he has been haunted by bulimia and body dysmorphia and not a day goes by when he doesn't worry about what or how much he eats. He achieved TV fame but then seemingly wilfully chose to self-destruct, before finding the strength to pull back when he woke up in a car with half a kebab at his feet and chilli sauce on his shoes. Through it all, his essential optimism has meant that he has chosen to take every step back as a chance to reassess and begin again, finally arriving at the realisation that external validation and fulfilment is transient - a distraction from the sometimes painful pilgrimage we make as we gain wisdom from our experiences.
Dancing on Eggshells: Kitchen, ballroom & the messy inbetween
by John Whaite'We come for the glitter, but instead we get the grit, in stories told with insight, tenderness and joy.' - Russell T DaviesWith a foreword by Steph McGovern'I never thought I'd write a memoir. I never thought I'd do a lot of the things I have done in my thirty-four years, but life has a wonderful way of surprising us.'Well-known as the winner of the third series of The Great British Bake Off and runner up of Strictly Come Dancing with his same-sex dance partner Johannes Radebe, John Whaite's personal story is a complicated narrative of contradictions, highs and lows, told with tenderness, joy, insight and wit, but also unflinching honesty. A shy little boy from rural Lancashire, who was scared to sleep alone and danced a little 'too gay' at family weddings, he was also an unruly teen who shaved a checkerboard pattern into his hair and refused to conform. From childhood his life has revolved around food - his parents owned a fish and chip shop where John worked in the back peeling potatoes - but for long periods he has been haunted by bulimia and body dysmorphia and not a day goes by when he doesn't worry about what or how much he eats. He achieved TV fame but then seemingly wilfully chose to self-destruct, before finding the strength to pull back when he woke up in a car with half a kebab at his feet and chilli sauce on his shoes. Through it all, his essential optimism has meant that he has chosen to take every step back as a chance to reassess and begin again, finally arriving at the realisation that external validation and fulfilment is transient - a distraction from the sometimes painful pilgrimage we make as we gain wisdom from our experiences.
Dancing On My Grave
by Gelsey Kirkland Greg LawrenceThe shattering story of a dream which became a heartbreaking nightmare for one of America's most famous ballerinas, Gelsey Kirkland, who chronicles her brilliant start as a dancer with George Balanchine, her legendary partnership with Mikhail Baryshnikov, her agonizing descent into drugs, and her struggles to rise again.
Dancing on My Own: Essays on Art, Collectivity, and Joy
by Simon WuA The Millions and Hyperallergic Most Anticipated Book of 2024 | A Publishers Weekly Summer Reads Pick“Simon Wu manages to be both a shrewd critic and enthused aspirant of what passes for today’s cultural capital. . . . with a disarming lack of cynicism that is both keen and refreshing.” –Cathy Park Hong"A genius melding of art criticism, autobiography, personal essay, and travel writing. . . . Wu—an artist, curator, and writer—layers experiences like translucent curtains through which we see the landscape of a past in the present making its future." –Claudia RankineAn expansive and deeply personal essay collection which explores the aesthetics of class aspiration, the complications of creating art and fashion, and the limits of identity politics.In Robyn’s 2010 track Dancing on My Own, the Swedish pop-singer chronicles a night on the dance floor in the shadow of a former lover. She is bitter, angry, and at times desperate, and yet by the time the chorus arrives her frustration has melted away. She decides to dance on her own, and in this way, she transforms her solitude into a more complex joy. Taking inspiration from Robyn’s seminal track, emerging art critic and curator Simon Wu dances through the institutions of art, capitalism, and identity in these expertly researched, beautifully rendered essays. In “A Model Childhood” he catalogs the decades’ worth of clutter in his mother’s suburban garage and its meaning for himself and his family. In “For Everyone,” Wu explores the complicated sensation of the Telfar bag (often referred to as “the Brooklyn Birkin”) and asks whether fashion can truly be revolutionary in a capitalist system—if something can truly be “for everyone” without undercutting someone else. Throughout, Wu centers the sticky vulnerability of living in a body in a world where history is mapped into every choice we make, every party drug we take, and every person we kiss.Wu’s message is that to dance on your own is to move from critique into joy. To approach identity with the utmost sympathy for the kinds of belonging it might promise, and to look beyond it. For readers of Cathy Park Hong and Alexander Chee, Dancing on My Own is a deeply felt and ultimately triumphant anthem about the never-ending journey of discovering oneself, and introduces a brilliant new writer on the rise.
Dancing Out of Bali
by Richard Attenborough John Coast"It is Bali felt, understood, loved, communicated...Coast has a kind of word magic." --New York Herald TribuneThis book tells of a young Englishman, fresh out of a Japanese prison camp, and his Javanese wife, and how they leave Indonesia for the footlights of Broadway. This is a story of life, music, and dancing in Bali, with all the charm of the Balinese people. Dancing out of Bali is a truly remarkable personal adventure story for all readers, especially dance lovers.
Dancing Out of Bali
by John Coast Richard Attenborough"If you know where to look, you can still discover and recognize what it was that intoxicating John Coast fifty years ago." -Sir David AttenboroughThis book is one of the great classics about Bali, now with dozens of illustrations and photographs.Dancing out of Bali is a fascinating personal account of a young Englishman who settled in a small house in Bali in the midst of the political turmoil that griped post-war Indonesia. There, he immersed himself in Balinese culture and made ambitious plans to bring a troupe of Balinese dancers and musicians to Europe and America. The book relates John Coast's daring and remarkable adventure that took him from revolution in Indonesia to the footlights of London and Broadway. Within a few weeks, the troupe had captured the hearts of audiences. Here are photographs of Bali and stories of the performer's magic island and of the enchanting dancers, including the beautiful 12-year-old Ni Gusti Raka. She became a star overnight and delighted audiences everywhere during the troupe's triumphant tour.It is also a story of Balinese culture and life in Bali-following the devastating Japanese occupation-of music and dancing in Bali, of many of the island's great performing dancers and musicians,
Dancing Out of Bali
by John Coast Richard Attenborough"It is Bali felt, understood, loved, communicated...Coast has a kind of word magic." --New York Herald TribuneThis book tells of a young Englishman, fresh out of a Japanese prison camp, and his Javanese wife, and how they leave Indonesia for the footlights of Broadway. This is a story of life, music, and dancing in Bali, with all the charm of the Balinese people. Dancing out of Bali is a truly remarkable personal adventure story for all readers, especially dance lovers.
Dancing Past the Light: The Life of Tanaquil Le Clercq
by Orel ProtopopescuA world-famous ballerina’s dramatic life Dancing Past the Light cinematically illuminates the glamorous and moving life story of Tanaquil “Tanny” Le Clercq (1929‒2000), one of the most celebrated ballerinas of the twentieth century, describing her brilliant stage career, her struggle with polio, and her important work as a dance teacher, coach, photographer, and writer. Born in Paris, Le Clercq became a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet at age 19 and a role model for aspiring dancers everywhere. Orel Protopopescu recounts Le Clercq’s intense marriage to the company’s renowned choreographer George Balanchine, for whom Le Clercq was a muse, the prototype of the exquisite, long-limbed “Balanchine ballerina.” Enhanced with a wealth of previously unpublished photos, personal letters, and sketches by Balanchine, this book offers an intimate portrait of Le Clercq’s dancing life and her relationship to the man who was both her mentor and husband. It delves into her friendships with other dancers as well, including a longtime rival for her affections, choreographer Jerome Robbins. Le Clercq contracted polio while on tour in Europe at age 27 and would never dance again. This book offers a rare account of how Le Clercq grappled with a fate considered unimaginable for a ballerina and began to share her love of dance as a writer and dance teacher. It also highlights Le Clercq’s role in the struggles for racial equality and disability rights. Her art was her vehicle: she and Arthur Mitchell made history as the couple in New York City Ballet’s first interracial pas de deux at City Center in 1955 and later she taught from a wheelchair at his Dance Theatre of Harlem. With insights from interviews with her friends, students, and colleagues, Dancing Past the Light depicts the joys and the dark moments of Le Clercq’s dramatic life, celebrating her mighty legacy.
The Dancing Plague
by John WallerA gripping tale of one of history's most bizarre events, and what it reveals about the strange possibilities of human nature In the searing July heat of 1518, Frau Troffea stepped into the streets of Strasbourg and began to dance. Bathed in sweat, she continued to dance. Overcome with exhaustion, she stopped, and then resumed her solitary jig a few hours later. Over the next two months, roughly four hundred people succumbed to the same agonizing compulsion. At its peak, the epidemic claimed the lives of fifteen men, women, and children a day. Possibly 100 people danced to their deaths in one of the most bizarre and terrifying plagues in history. John Waller compellingly evokes the sights, sounds, and aromas; the diseases and hardships; the fervent supernaturalism and the desperate hedonism of the late medieval world. Based on new evidence, he explains why the plague occurred and how it came to an end. In doing so, he sheds light on the strangest capabilities of the human mind and on our own susceptibility to mass hysteria.
Dancing Star: The Story of Anna Pavlova
by Gladys MalvernIn this biographical novel, Gladys Malvern shares the incredible story of Anna Pavlova, one of the most revered and celebrated ballerinas of all time. Malvern presents Pavlova's life in enchanting prose, allowing the reader to experience Pavlova's inspirational first exposure to a performance of Sleeping Beauty, the origination of her defining dance The Dying Swan, her illustrious rise to fame as a prima ballerina, and her extensive world tours. You don't have to be a fan of the ballet to enjoy this captivating tale, available for the first time in ebook.