3 comments about The Art of Teaching Ballet: Ten Twentieth-Century Masters.

1. This is a wonderful addition to the literature on ballet. The auther makes her apologies in the beginning for not being able to include some noteworthiy teachers, but the ones she was able to cover are great. The information provided gives us valuable insight into the aesthetic principles of these great dancers and teachers. This should be useful to all dancers, whether they teach or not. Some very esoteric facts can be found here as well, such as why Balanchine likes the fingers and hands held the way he does and why many don't like it that way. I had taken some classes with a Mr. Schabel and discovered his claim to fame in these pages. The Great Jean Babilee is even discused. You might also get some good ideas for further reading in this book as I did.



2. Every ballet teacher must own this book. You will gain enormous insight into how 10 master teachers pass on the art of ballet to their students. You may not be drawn to the teaching styles of each teacher but you will learn something from everybody. Each chapter begins with a short essay in which Ms. Warren weaves what she learned from interviewing the master teachers about how they developed their method of teaching with specific accounts of what she observed in their classes. Each chapter concludes with "Classroom Quotes," the order of exercises in a technique class, and the pedagogical lineage of the master teacher. At the end of the book, Ms. Warren includes several exercises constructed by each of the master teachers. For non-teachers, this book will give you renewed appreciation for the work that goes into making a dancer.



3. Two years ago, we purchased this book for our son for his 16th birthday for several reasons. The major two were that his own ballet teacher -- Larry Long -- was one of the teachers written about in the book. Also, he had taken classes with the author one summer, loved her as a teacher, and continually referred to her previous book -- Classical Ballet Technique. After we purchased the book, he discovered that several teachers with whom he had either taken classes or about whom he had heard were also covered in the book. He enjoyed the book because of the biographies of each of the teachers and because of the descriptions of their techniques and classes. He assumes that if he ever teaches he will enjoy rereading the book to see the information from a different perspective. We, his parents, have enjoyed it because we have little knowledge of the world of ballet and it gave us more insight into it. Of course, our favorite chapter was the one about his teacher as we learned more of his background, many of the people we knew were mentioned, it gave us greater insight into his teaching style, and the pictures were great. However, the other chapters were very informative and helpful to parents of a serious ballet student. (Since we had no background in ballet, it helped us understand the field a little more.)

5 comments about subUrbia.

1. The script is a much better read if you've seen the performance, otherwise it's kind of hard to tell what's going on. For fans only.



2. This is an excellent play that explores the true grit behind being a youth in America. Touching on some of the things that effect teens today, Bogosian brought to life the true picture of the beatnik degenerate youth of today. A vivid picture of suburbian teenagers struggling with life. It was almost as if you'd taken a piece of my youth and written a screenplay surrounding it. My only negative is the word choice. Bogosian portrays the truth behind teenagers in America today, but overly typifies their language. The slang Bogosian uses wavears from accurate to grossly inaccurate. Overall high remarks for Bogosian.



3. i prefer bogosian's monologues to his plays. suburbia was good, but i preferred talk radio. a quick enjoyable read. if you are only going to read one of his books read "pounding nails into the floor with my forehead"



4. ...you have to read the book! SubUrbia is one of my favorite movies, and I thought I'd read it also. There are several parts in the book that didn't make it to the movie. Also, I finished it in two sittings, so it's not very time consuming.



5. This is one of the most powerful plays I've read (and performed in). Eric Bogosian has captured Gen. X and raised his middle finger to all those who question us. Tragic and beautiful! Skip the movie though. It didn't come close to the play.

5 comments about Glamour Addiction: Inside the American Ballroom Dance Industry.

1. I disagreed with some of the author's ideas, but I'm giving the book five stars anyway, because I enjoyed how thought-provoking it was. The part that I disagreed with particularly was in how much dance is an addiction. It's true, we dancers spend a lot of money and a lot of time on our hobby. In my case, if I have spare time and spare money, it's going into dance lessons and costumes. But I have a friend who is a golfer, and his spare time and money goes into golfing. Same with my bridge-playing friend, who travels to tournaments all over the world. And how about my mathematician friend who loves numbers so much that he went deeply into debt to get a PhD in mathematics? Today he loves his numbers so much that if it were a question of a hot date or an evening with his equations, I think the hot date would win out, but I can't be sure. Are these people addicted? Or is it more simply that in a capitalist economy, people have more spare time and more spare money than ever before, and they're going to spend these resources in the ways that give them the most pleasure?
   
   Anyway, I loved the book. It was thought-provoking as well as full of new information.



2. This was a great very current book. It had in it current dancers from "Dancing with the Stars" that has everyone now interested in ballroom dancing. It was great to konw the history and the current goings on in ball room



3. After going to a few DanceSport competitions in Australia and watching West Coast Swing competition on DVD I came to similar conclusions as the author of this book. While dance schools in Australia are not in my experience anywhere near as cynical and manipulative as those in the USA, Dancesport itself suffers from many of the same failings. Dancesport takes itself way too seriously. From the overdone fake tans to the grotesque caricatures of emotion ("face acting") to the hugely expensive costuming to the greased back hair and the parents whose egos are invested in their child winning, it is all a bit much. WCS seems to have more of a sense of humour, the costuming is more accessible and there is greater emphasis on actual dance skills in terms of partnering and musicality. And WCS competitors actually seem to genuinely enjoy dancing. So few Dancesport competitors seem to enjoy social dancing that you have to wonder why they bother dancing at all! Having said that, Dancesport does deliver some benefits: teenager competitors have a poise, style and standard of grooming and behavior that will benefit them in other areas of their lives, for example. My one criticism of this book would be its references to cultural theory (e.g. the discussion of 'the grotesque')which to me seems to be a vacuous ideology disguising its lack of any conceptual depth with fancy words. Ironically culture theory is open to many of the same criticisms as Dancesport: all hat and no cattle, as they say in Texas!



4. I was exited to find a book that would give me some insight into the world of ballroom dancing. While this book does that, to some extent, it's written more in the format of a college thesis, rather than an informational and entertaining book for the masses. The text is dense with obscure vocabulary, and reads as redundant in many places. I found myself skimming, rather than reading. And that, for me, is a disappointment.



5. I would go so far as to say prejudiced. As a devoted ballroom student for 10 years, I was happy to see any more-or-less mainstream book that treated ballroom dancing as something other than a fad, but only the glamorous cover photo of Jonathan Roberts and Anna Trebunskaya has lasting value for me. ... Evidently the author was so disillusioned by her experience as a professional ballroom dancer that she was unable to approach the subject with any objectivity. Her reliance on anecdotal "evidence" presented through composite characters is sloppy research; no broad studies or even surveys are presented. ... Numerous minor errors of fact and occasionally careless editing throughout, but the book's great flaw is that it looks - as apparently did the author during her dancing career - to ballroom dancing to provide, for its practitioners, all that is good in life - and then blames the sport for failing to do so. Those who go into ballroom dancing looking for a little glamour are, in my view, to be applauded; there is precious little glamour available to most of us in our daily lives. That in addition to being a popular social activity it is also a viable worldwide sport shows that a lot of people are indeed getting what they want out of dancing. The author should have talked to some of them.

5 comments about The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940..

1. When I was a theater major all of the best students used to pitch THE MUSICAL COMEDY MURDERS OF 1940 as an elective production, and finally I figured out why, it's because there are so many great parts to shine in. There's the wisecracking theater pro, very much like the guy Michael O'Shea plays in Barbara Stanwtck's LADY OF BURLESQUE, and there's Eddy McCuen, also a wise guy sort of young comic type like Danny Kaye. Straight boys love to play Eddy McCuen to show that they, too, can be flip and withering like William Powell playing Nick Charles in THE THIN MAN movies, and still invincibly heterosexual. For the girls, there is an even wider range of female parts, from the strange little German maid, --Helsa, Hilda, or Helga (for much of the fun is seeing how close Gernman names are to each other) to the millionaire owner of the Hudson Valley mansion in which our play is laid, and the Martha Raye comic lead, who winds up with the guy, if that isn't giving too much away.
   
   The jokes are laid on thick with a trowel, and none of them are very funny but when there's so many few audiences are able to tell. They'll laugh anyhow. The story takes place in a vast library in the mansion, filled with dusty books and secret passageways (the shelves revolve if you know which button to press), for this is a takeoff on CAT AND THE CANARY type plays, like John Ashbery's verse drama THE PHILOSOPHER which we would often use on the same set. In one semester, our set designer flew the coop to Provincetown, absconding with the funds for building the tall bookcases with the slowly revolving doors cut into them, so we got two freshman, thrilled to be in a play, posed as the doors, their all white overalls painted to look like rows of books, they were kept back to back throughout the entire play, and occasionally at crucial moments they were directed to spin about, shoulderblades constantly touching, silently and ominously, like a door opening into a dark hallway.
   
   It worked!
   
   Better than the play. The problem is that most of your audience will actually be able to guess the killer. And though they'll be in tears of laughter from the rapidfire "humor," they will still wind up feeling a little cheated because John Bishop is no Ira Levin or Peter Schaffer and sometimes, when he reaches for a joke, he just pulls down a groan.



2. i am a directing major at Stephen F Austin State University and i am directing a rendition of this show for a summer community theatre. it is very funny, a little risque, and lots of fun



3. THE MUSICAL COMEDY MURDERS OF 1940 is not the typical who-dunnit murder mystery. Sure the show starts off with someone getting killed in the first scene by an unknown murderer. However, as the guests arrive and the snow falls, the audience soon learns this isn't your average "party". No, this is supposedly an audition for a "backer", an "angel", a patron of the arts for a new show and the people involved include the director, producer, a few actors, a dancer, and a comedian. The mystery keeps you guessing for awhile who the real killer is, but there are several twists and lots of theatre jokes. With all that and a sidekick who turns out to be a hero, THE MUSICAL COMEDY MURDERS OF 1940 is a show not to be missed.



4. I had the oportunity to be in the Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 as Roger Hopewell for my high school's fall production. It is just hysterical! This light-hearted comedy takes place in Chappaqua, New York where a group of people get together to work on a new Broadway musical. As the actors, composer, director, producer, lyricist, hostess, and police collect clues more and more laughs come your way. This play is definitely worth reading as well as seeing.



5. With a murder in the first two pages and many more to come, one would expect the MUSICAL COMEDY MURDERS of 1940 by John Bishop's play to be a typical murder-mystery. But, Bishop has chosen place his murderer deep within the world of actors, directors and theatre producers. Which can only mean one thing...unstoppable egos and unrelenting laughs...and a mystery that's not half-bad, either!

5 comments about Special Make-Up Effects.

1. Was very helpful to the woman who is our make-up artist here at the theater. She was able to fashion some wonderful make-up for the Phantom in the Yestin/Kopit Phantom here this summer. Thanks for such quick service as well.



2. Being an horror-splatter movie geek and on the brink of making my own movies i purchased a few books in order to do fx myself.this book has detailed sections on many special fx plus the material u need to make them.its very easy to understand how everything works.it mentions classic movies.i was very glad to have made this purchase



3. i actually used this book to reference several special effects i did on a tarantino film. so yeah i would say its a great book if i'm willing to do that.



4. The book appears to be packed full of very useful technical information regarding make-up types and possible uses for such.Time and experience will tell if all the information is valid or even useful in a u.k market.Was disappointed at the lack of colour photos which made the book shoddy in appearance



5. THIS IS THE PERFECT BOOK FOR ANYONE WANTING TECHNICAL ADVICE ON THE SPECIAL MAKE-UP EFFECTS ART FORM. TRUST ME, READ THIS EDUCATIONAL BOOK AS SOON AS YOU CAN BECAUSE KNOLEDGE IS POWER.

No comments about Vaudeville Humor: The Collected Jokes, Routines, and Skits of Ed Lowry.

2 comments about From the Ballroom to Hell: Grace and Folly in Nineteenth-Century Dance.

1. Consists primarily of bits and snippits from Victorian American etiquette manuals. Some insights into high society life and how it changed through the course of the 19th century can be drawn, keeping in mind these were the suggested forms of behavior not necessarily what was actually done. There is plenty to read between the lines. Some sheet music in included along with some dance steps. There are also recipes for makeup and concoctions for cleaning. Fashion descriptions are fairly superficial, but adequate. Over all, I'm glad I bought it.



2. This book does indeed give the reeder a close look at the society and ettiquitte of this period. Since I was researching the Regency when I purchased it I was a little disapointed to find that it's focus is primarily the latter part of the nineteenth century (1830-1890), and is based primarily on American publications of ettiquitte manuals. I was delighted to discover a wealth of information about everything from dance steps to party preperation to elaborate flirting rituals that can be caried out with parasols and gloves. It certainly says everything Emily Post might have at that time as well as providing a vivid picture of society in a bygone era. A must have for anyone enamored of the Victorian era and usefull still though slightly less relavent for Regency fanatics.

1 comments about Jazz Dance Today (West's Physical Activities Series).

1. I was introduced to this book by my dance teacher who just so happens to be the author. I was studying, in fact, the basics of jass dance in order to furthur educate myself on the art. This book proved invaluable and was splendidly written and I highly recommend it.

5 comments about Stars in My Eyes.

1. This book showcases Bachardy drawings and his journal account of the sittings with. primarily, aging movie stars he admired as an adolescent in the late-1940s along with some later stars (Jack Nicholson, Charlotte Rampling, Mia Farrow, Maggie Smith), the official portrait of Jerry Brown for the California state capitol, and some other artists (Robert Mapplethorpe, Aaron Copland, Iris Murdoch, Julian Schnabel, James Merrill) and directors Vincente Minnelli and William Wyler. The responses of the subjects to the drawings are usually very interesting, with greater paranoia on the part of other visual artists than of the aging movie stars.

   The best stories are in the sittings with Ginger Rogers, Bette Davis, Jack Nicholson, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Louise Brooks. The accounts of those "stars" in whom I have no particular interest (Alice Faye, Ruby Keeler, Helmut Newton) contained insights (both from sitter and portraitist) and Bachardy's prose shows the admirable qualities of those whom I hoped would display them (Ingrid Bergman, Myrna Loy, Maggie Smith, Iris Murdoch, Louise Brooks, Henry Fonda, James Merrill, Barbara Stanwyck, Olivia de Havilland, Alec Guiness, Laurence Olivier). The only one whom he comes to despise in the course of the interactions of drawing a portrait is Joan Fontaine. He remains a fan of most and gives even the devil (Miss Fontaine) her due.

   The drawings are never flattering and the artist does not flatter himself either, but I find it interesting to read about a professional doing his or her job professionally. The reader gets a very good idea of what it is like to try to portray honestly movie stars and other cultural icons, as well as getting the portraits. Most of his subjects are interesting (not least in their insecurities) people and I look forward to the eventual publication of his diaries from half a century at the edges of Hollywood ) encountering a stream of writers, artists, and film stars.




2. This book showcases Bachardy drawings and his journal account of the sittings with. primarily, aging movie stars he admired as an adolescent in the late-1940s along with some later stars (Jack Nicholson, Charlotte Rampling, Mia Farrow, Maggie Smith), the official portrait of Jerry Brown for the California state capitol, and some other artists (Robert Mapplethorpe, Aaron Copland, Iris Murdoch, Julian Schnabel, James Merrill) and directors Vincente Minnelli and William Wyler. The responses of the subjects to the drawings are usually very interesting, with greater paranoia on the part of other visual artists than of the aging movie stars.

   The best stories are in the sittings with Ginger Rogers, Bette Davis, Jack Nicholson, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Louise Brooks. The accounts of those "stars" in whom I have no particular interest (Alice Faye, Ruby Keeler, Helmut Newton) contained insights (both from sitter and portraitist) and Bachardy's prose shows the admirable qualities of those whom I hoped would display them (Ingrid Bergman, Myrna Loy, Maggie Smith, Iris Murdoch, Louise Brooks, Henry Fonda, James Merrill, Barbara Stanwyck, Olivia de Havilland, Alec Guiness, Laurence Olivier). The only one whom he comes to despise in the course of the interactions of drawing a portrait is Joan Fontaine. He remains a fan of most and gives even the devil (Miss Fontaine) her due.

   The drawings are never flattering and the artist does not flatter himself either, but I find it interesting to read about a professional doing his or her job professionally. The reader gets a very good idea of what it is like to try to portray honestly movie stars and other cultural icons, as well as getting the portraits. Most of his subjects are interesting (not least in their insecurities) people and I look forward to the eventual publication of his diaries from half a century at the edges of Hollywood ) encountering a stream of writers, artists, and film stars.




3. Bachardy's skill as an artist is evident. The book demonstrates that with his recognizably stylish renderings of celebrities who have subjected themselves to a sitting. Most of his subjects must be very sorry they did! The portraits are never flattering although always interesting. The basis for the book is not the art, but Mr. Bachardy's tattle-tale telling of the circumstances of the sitting. He may visually nail his subjects with the portraits, but he crucifies them with the stories he tells. He may have stars in his eyes (accessible to him through his lifelong connection with Isherwood, of course), but he has poison in his pen and no love for his subjects in his heart.



4. Don Bachardy's stature as a gifted draughtsman continues to grow. And now with the current growing respect and exposure of his beloved Christopher Isherwood vis a vis the posthumous Diaries and the notes and essays recently published, Bachardy's gifts as a writer are keeping pace with his important drawings, documenting the art culture of the past century. This beautifully designed book shares the wholeness of his craft: not only do we see important drawings of important people, we also hear the secrets of the encounter that resulted in the drawings. Sitting for Don Bachardy is tough - a joy, but hard work. To read how his silent sessions are processed in his mind and subsequently in his notes written concurently with his drawings opens an important door, not only for understanding Bachardy's keen observations but for the entire genre of portrait making. This is a delightful read and visual excursion....and contains secrets about famous prople we all thought we knew well!



5. I have been familiar with the superb drawings of Don Bachardy for many years, but had no idea how well he wrote. Insightful, clear, and sometimes waspish, the various pieces accompanying the drawings deflate the pompous and offer an original and unique view of the famous made vulnerable. Reading this book is like dipping into a delicious box of chocolates.

4 comments about An Actor's Business: How to Market Yourself as an Actor No Matter Where You Live.

1. This book has a lot of information about several regional theatre communities, which I found really useful since I've only ever experienced one of them. I wish there had been some information on a couple other areas, but of course only so much information can be put into one book. Mr. Reilly also focuses on the television and film industry and even gives some information on writing for screen. "An Actor's Business" is also a very motivational book, with lots of preparational tools as far as marketing goes, but of course it's only helpful as far as you actually go out and do the activities he suggests. If you need a book that will provide you with the motivation to get up and go at 'em -- read this one!



2. An Actor's Business: How To Market Yourself As An Actor No Matter Where You Live by actor, director, writer, and acting instructor Andrew Reilly presents need-to-know information for aspiring actors, including drama school basics, how to find an agent, the value of unions, getting roles in community theater, acting on television and in commercials, getting parts in movies, and much more. Reilly's no-nonsense writing style offers simple truth in plain terms, as well as a wealth of contact information and descriptions of acting opportunities in 25 regions throughout America. Highly recommended for any aspiring professional actor.



3. An Actor's Business describes acting opportunities in 20 regions all over the United States, and devotes entire chapters to Hollywood and New York. Detailed resource lists give contact information for hundreds of agents and theaters. This guide to the business of acting is a must-have for every actor, no matter where you live. A must read



4. This book is truly a must for anyone hoping to make it as a WORKING ACTOR. Reilly doesn't give readers the runaround with hopes of their