The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ballroom Dancing [Paperback]

Jeffrey Allen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 5, 2006

In addition to the step-by-step photos, footwork illustrations, and instruction covering all the common ballroom dances, this new edition of the bestselling Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Ballroom Dancing includes a 90-minute instructional DVD featuring award-winning dancer and dance instructor Jeff Allen. It corresponds with the text seamlessly, giving readers the next best thing to one-on-one instruction, at a fraction of the cost.

• The #1 selling ballroom dancing book
• Includes a fantastic, new instructional DVD and hundreds of illustrations and instructions
• Allen is a renowned, award-winning ballroom-dance teacher

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

JEFF ALLEN is a columnist for Dancing USA  magazine and the author of four books on social and ballroom dancing. He holds Membership credentials with the North American Dance Teachers Association, Inc., and the Pan American Teachers Association. After competing in national and international competitions and winning the Gold closed level at the North American Championships, Jeff turned professional in 1984. However, he considers his greatest accomplishments to be the more than 30 Top Teacher awards he has won and being listed among the top teachers in America by DVIDA as a Regional examiner and teacher trainer.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 276 pages
• Publisher: Alpha; 2nd edition (September 5, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592575773
• ISBN-13: 978-1592575770
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #131,903 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #5 in Books > Arts & Photography > Performing Arts > Dance > Popular

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

76 of 88 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Concur - By Far The Very Best!, August 4, 2005

By 

Phil Samuels "A Tango & Swing Junky" (Detroit) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ballroom Dancing (Paperback)

I am not amused when reviewers without experience in a "How To" topic slash out at a fabulous book like "Complete Idiot's Guide to Ballroom Dancing" by Jeff Allen when they haven't taken the time to read and absorb its material.
There is a ridiculous review titled "Mediocore At Best" by a reviewer (generous categorization) named "Page Turner" as in someone who turns pages. This person can read a 300 plus page book in two days while comprehending all the nuances and idiosyncrasies of Ballroom & Latin dancing enough to say that, probably the best and most comprehensive book available on these subjects, is only mediocre.

If there is any book out there on the subject that accommodates a student taking dance lessons better than The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ballroom Dancing I' d like to own it. The truth is, there isn't - this book is the finest and most accurate for the American style of dancing on the market place. It covers the beginnings of 11 dances and has a wonderfully compiled music CD for each dance. There is great information for wedding couples and there families. The book has a terrific condensed history of Ballroom dancing as well as the structure and framing required for the beginner dancer. I thought it was a great idea to present to the beginner all the major things required of the individual to contribute to the couple to make the dance partnership work! The treatment and techniques of the dances themselves with plenty of photos showing the major positions of each dance figure come next. They are complied in three sections - Smooth; Waltz, Foxtrot, Tango, and Viennese Waltz, then the Latin- Rumba (the foundational Latin dance), Merengue, Samba, Cha-cha, and then Mambo (substitute Salsa and for the beginner there is little difference!) then the Rhythm dances of East Coast Swing (presented in Allen's innovative style found in his book Quickstart to Swing) and lastly the Hustle great for the new and old Disco music.

People who take private lessons take weeks to accomplish even the simplest of tasks required to dance with someone else in your arms. This book will certainly make your practice easier as you increase your dancing IQ! Everything, I mean everything you are required to know to make your experience on the dance floor successful is contained between the pages of this book. This book will also fill in the blanks of the videos that are out there making even them much easier to comprehend.

Buy it!!!!!!

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Good Book, March 4, 2006

By 

D. Merchant (Ruston, LA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ballroom Dancing (Paperback)

This guide does give one good background information on ballroom dancing, and has many illustrations. The accompanying music CD is good (not great, but good).

My main complaint is that it can sometimes be a bit difficult to read, to follow. And there really should be a glossary of terms in the back, I had a difficult time finding what various acronyms meant.

It's not really a book you can open up to, say, the section on the foxtrot and just learn how to do the foxtrot without first reading the rest of the book. It's meant to be read from start to finish before you begin learning any particular dance.

41 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CHOCK FULL OF USEFUL, READABLE INFORMATION, June 23, 2002

By 

Niel Shell (Jackson Heights, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ballroom Dancing (Paperback)

This book is NOT for complete idiots. . . it is for those smart enough to recognize the absolutely best introduction on the market to ballroom dancing, Latin dancing and disco-hustle dancing. As the author of the dance book HUSTLE, which has become a standard for that dance, I can tell you THIS IS THE BOOK TO LEARN FROM! It comes with a FREE CD picked especially to match the right music with the right dance. The author gives you everything you need to get started and then to succeed. Jeff gives you the motivation by letting you know all the wonderful advantages of dancing. He gives you the basic information, with plenty of close-up photos to help. There are lots of useful tips that will be helpful to social dancers of all levels. The author writes explanations that are clear and complete. Many short boxed notes call the reader's attention to important points. Other boxed notes lighten the reading with interesting "dance trivia" and cartoons. Two chapters on the history of dancing have enough information to satisfy even the most curious. If your big day is soon and you need help to make sure your wedding dance comes out just right, Jeff has just what you need. Turn to Chapter 4--Dancing Through Your Big Day. Very useful extras include a glossary, a list of references, a list of dance related websites, and an extensive index. The book is very thorough and very readable.
Add to this the low price, and you get a bargain not to be passed up.