Customer Reviews

Ballroom Dancing

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is still available. You can either contact the publisher (A & C Black, London), or go to Amazon-UK. This book is for serious International Standard dancers (American style is not covered). Six to eight basic figures are addressed for each of the four International Standard dances: fox trot, quick step, tango, and waltz. Each figure is minutely broken down into footwork, contra body movement, body sway, and amount of turn. My partner and I found Alex Moore's Ballroom Dancing to be an indispensable part of our practice routine. Please note, this is not a 'do it yourself' book. It will be most effective if used as part of a curriculum with an experienced teacher.

This book presents maneuvers that are very leadable. The lady
can follow the man without knowing in advance what he will do.
The very detailed technique is based on the bio-mechanical
necessities of good dancing. It has been the most respected
book on ballroom dancing worldwide for decades. It is useful
for teaching yourself without a teacher, if you are a serious
student. It covers international style, which has some figures
in common with American style. Where they diverge international
sticks to leadable figures, American to showy figures.

A new version of this book is actually available through the ISTD. It is a very helpful book, with thorough charts for all the standard dances. There is also a comparable book for Latin.

When buying this, I didn't realize that it was the 4th edition. The 10th edition is actually available at Amazon under this ISBN: 0-87830-153-4 . Anyone interested in ballroom dancing should really be buying the most recent edition.

This book was last (maybe still) available from A and C Black, Pub. Ltd., Howard Road, Eaton Socon, Huntingdon, Cambs, PE19 3EZ in England. They accept major credit cards and ship immediately. The book is the absolute best I've ever seen. Nothing on the market comes close. It is invaluable for serious ballroom dancers

Among the many manuals and manuscripts on international standard ballroom dance, so far, this one appears to offer the greatest value. If you are a casual American standard dancer, the book is a nice reference should you wish to compare and contrast International and US standards.

There are also some fine details regarding technique, CDMP, footwork, weight changes, in various figures that you might apply to your dance.

All ballroom dance instructors should have a copy of this dance resource. This book is to the ballroom dance teacher what the "little brown handbook" is to the english teacher.

I've found this to be a critical part of my ballroom education, both reinforcing the instruction I receive from my classes and prepping me to better receive instruction. I use this like I would a college textbook, reading the chapters on the dance I'm about to learn in class, taking the class, and then going back to re-read the chapters in the book. I've found that the nebulous terms used in instruction like Contra Body Movement, Body Flight, and dance lines/curves, are all explained in detail in this book, providing instruction in two different voices (the book and my dance teacher) to help me comprehend and apply these theories in my dancing better. I've actually noticed a drastic improvement in my dancing since studying this book.

I've also enjoyed learning the how to lead (I'm female and usually following) from this book, as learning the mens part helps me become a better follower when dancing with a variety of leads.

I would highly recommend this book as a supplement to a structured dance program. I don't think it would be easy to learn to dance with only the use of this book, but by combining it with the practical instruction of a qualified teacher, this book is an amazing resource.

As a professional teacher (Di Marsh) with my own studio in Tasmania (Heals & Souls Danceworld) , I can attest to its value as an excellent and informative publication for beginners, competition dancers and student professionals. All tuition is from the maestro himself, Alex Moore, and the book easily lives up to it's reputation as "the ballroom dancer's bible", with not only interesting information for everyone but diagrams to enhance the teaching. I highly recommend this product for all who have the slightest interest in ballroom.

This is a "how to" book, not a book to read (strictly) for pleasure. And not just A "how to" book; it's the bible (not just my opinion by a long way). I found Moore's explanation of "contrary body movement" (called "contra body movement," or sometimes simply "contra," in the United States) particularly helpful. He also points out right at the beginning that it's more important to understand why certain actions occur in dancing than it is to memorize the technical details. Another noteworthy feature of this book is that he devotes considerable attention in the first chapter to the walk. Suddenly, dance instructors are concentrating on the walk in the very first beginner class. But Moore anticipated them at least by a few years (this is the 2002 edition), and probably more than that. These insights into technique are a lot more important than teaching steps, which are not really that hard to learn (there are only a few ways the human body can move, and forward side close back side close doesn't require weeks of study and hard work to master). If you want to learn dance figures, a syllabus volume is the way to go--though Moore's descriptions of the patterns he does include are good. And Moore's book won't replace a good dance instructor (Moore isn't there to tell you "No, not that way, this way."). But this book can help quite a bit to clarify what your instructor says.

Please be aware that this particular offering is not the 10th Edition (the newest) of this title. This is a pre-historical edition (before my time, anyway) published in 1939. Even though the changes occurred between this edition and the later ones may not seem to be that significant, I am wondering why Amazon is offering this edition to the public who are interested in "modern" ballroom dancing (just can not resist the pun) instead of the more "modern" version of it.

I am giving it a three star for the obvious old feel of it.