From Library Journal
Dance critic Roseman (Beach Blanket Babylon) confesses to having been drawn to dance for its ability to lift her spirits. To learn more about its transforming power, she undertook this labor of love, a series of interviews with some of the country's leading choreographers. Although one could always quibble about her choice of dance masters, Roseman has taken care to represent a variety of dance forms (ballet, modern dance, historical representations, and re-creations). Those interviewed are ballet-inspired Edward Villella, Michael Smuin, and Alonzo King; modern dance makers Merce Cunningham, Mark Morris, and Danny Grossman; and Baroque dance master Catherine Turocy. Roseman's questions reveal a deep understanding of and sensitivity to dance and often prompt revealing responses about the creative process, the future of dance, and the feelings of movement. Great art has an element of magic that is not easily defined, but Roseman's interviews will certainly add to the understanding of what goes into making and communicating movement. Recommended for public libraries and academic libraries that support dance programs. Joan Stahl, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Dance is the most elemental and universal of art forms, evolving first as communal ritual, an expression of our species' grounding on the earth and longing for the sky, then moving toward ever more sophisticated forms. Contemporary dancers and choreographers have aeons of culturally diverse traditions to live up to and draw upon, and their inspirations and ideas can be as direct as hoping to recapture the joyful energy and motion of a child, or as open to interpretation as the attempt to express deep, often contradictory feelings about beauty, sexuality, love, and justice. Drawn to "artists who seem to be able to both embody and express elements of soul in their work," dance critic Roseman set out to talk to dancers and choreographers about their lives, creative process, philosophies, careers, and "the spiritual aspects of dance." The result is a set of seven extraordinarily well formed and enlightening conversations with Merce Cunningham, Edward Villella, Mark Morris, Catherine Turocy, Alonzo King, Danny Grossman, and Michael Smuin.
Donna SeamanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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