Reference Books

S

ShyDancer

New Member
Do any of you have a book or video/dvd for that matter, you would highly recommend reading for technique, pointers, general information?

I just bought one big name book and its not that great at all.
I have 3 excellent books by Neville Boyd which covers the 2 international styles as well as New Vogue..I have found these truly invaluable.
Another one which has some excellent info is Victor Silvesters book (Must leave it alone for a while ..I wearing out the pages!) I had never been able to understand the beat values until I read his book.

I also have a NV video by Les and Pat Thompson who were former champions that I would totally reccomend to anyone wanting to learn the NV dances..its not highly technical but it has more than enough for social dancing.
 
There were a couple recommendations in an older thread, ShyDancer. Darned if I remember what it was called, but I'll try to find it later today and post the link. :)
 
Here's that older thread. I hope there's some useful info here. :D

http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=1139

And here's a bookd recommended by Larinda. 8)
Larinda McRaven said:
One of my favorite places to learn from is a book called Physics and the Art of Dance by a physics professor and ballet teacher named Kenneth Laws. I have meet with him and his wife to discuss his books, (three books total, I have two, one is out of print now)

His (and his wifes) classical mechanics understanding combined with his dance experience is outstanding. When you start looking at the body from a classical mechanics/physics point of view and understand that we are simply a "body in space, bound to physical laws and principles, trying to rotate around another body in space" then understanding partnering is a breeze.

So when a dance student comes in and their brain is already thinking in this manner, understanding what they are to do with their body is a breeze. Actually performing and coordinating their body is another question, but as students thy are far ahead of the curve because they UNDERSTAND what is necessary.

Hala, feel free to contact Professor Laws, he works at Dickinson College. I am sure he can be an invaluable source of information. Anyone else that is up for a challenge could contact him also, or at least go get his two books that are still in print. The books have become required reading material for the majority of my students.
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