Dancing With Cats [Bargain Price] [Paperback]

Burton Silver (Author), Heather Busch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1999

The sequel to the best-selling "Why Cats Paint", "Dancing with Cats" is aimed at millions of cat lovers everywhere who would like to tap in on the rediscovery of the ancient practice of cat dancing and appreciate the humour of New Age satire.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

With a hey diddle diddle, the creators of Why Cats Paint return with another version of feline (and human) reality. And suffice it to say that in Burton Silver and Heather Busch's hands, Kipling's cat that walked by himself has turned into a deeply codependent dervish. Their first book was a brilliant parody of artspeak--Busch's photos of creative felines matched by Silver's text. Their second, Dancing with Cats--an epic three years in the making!--juxtaposes psychological and spiritual mumbo-jumbo with the language of dance criticism. As Silver explores everything from visualization to mirroring to empathy, Busch is busy with her human-feline pairs. In one sequence, Fred, clad in tabby tights, kitty-cat body paint, and a tanga with a long black tail, leaps about the place with a slightly puzzled pussy: "I share its grace, power, and oneness with the universe. I relate to Fluff and the whole spectrum of feline physicality on a profound level--I even regard birds differently."

On the very next page, chubby Helen, sporting a tie-dyed purple gown and a deeply sworn belief in feng shui, identifies perhaps a bit too deeply with chunky, amber-eyed Boots (who looks suspiciously like "Trans-Expressionist" Bootsie from Why Cats Paint). And then there's Sue and Zoot. In one photo, the recumbent gray and peach cat raises his left paw to the sky as his ecstatic human does the same. Then Sue dons a feathery jerkin "in order to dance out some of her past traumas." It's difficult to say which is funnier, the photos or the text, as Silver catches pseudo-therapy's mixture of self-affirmation and non sequitur: "Dancing with Zoot helps Sue reenact and come to terms with the joy and sorrow of a brief but painful relationship: when she fell in love with her daughter's father while he was photographing bridges in the neighborhood." Though the two-legged models must have been prepared for this inspired silliness, one does wonder what on earth the cats made of their eurythmic adventures. Alas, until interspecies communication reaches a greater height, we can only dance amid our uncertainty! --Kerry Fried --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Review

Reviews from: ELLE

LIFE

CATS MAGAZINE

PEOPLE

This lean and lithe danseur noble is only one of the balletically inclined felines that Burton Silver and Heather Busch—authors of the newly published Dancing With Cats—have turned up in their ongoing investigation of the aesthetic propensities of cats (see their 1994 monograph Why Cats Paint). If the American Ballet Theater has not yet picked up on these piroutteing pussies, it's only a matter of time.

While researching their last tongue-in-cheek tome, Why Cats Paint, Burton Silver and Heather Busch came across pet owners with a curious predilection: two-stepping with their tabbies. The pair shed light on this phenom in a collection of pet pas de deux. Raves one dance partner: "The feline vibration surges through me with such power. Afterward I feel incredibly alert and peaceful."

The authors of Why Cats Paint, bring you Dancing with Cats published by Chronicle Books. It is lovingly illustrated with photos of graceful felines and their colorful owners, caught mid-flight.

Burton Silver and Heather Busch have rediscovered and brought to light the ancient art of cat dancing. They say cat dancing lets the owner and the cat channel together and tap into the natural feline energy vibration...or something like that. We just love the pictures. Look for it in your local bookstore.

by Michael Neill
People who hate cats—ailurophobes is the ten-dollar word—dismiss our purring friends as cold-blooded, self-centered manipulators with no redeeming social value beyond their all-too-occasional oppression of small rodents. Hah! What fools! As Silver and Busch know—and cleverly showed in Why Cats Paint, their previous book—kitties are actually multitalented Renaissance critters capable of, heck, just about anything. And it seems they also cut a mean rug—not just shred it to bits. Dancing with Cats cleverly mixes mock-pretentious writing—"Before dancing, Helen and Boots do a series of mirroring exercises to specially developed feline soundscapes"—with whimsical entertaining photographs of cat-human paws de deux.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• ISBN-10: 0811824152
• ASIN: B0006BD90Q
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 9.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #832,717 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Whoa... December 5, 2004

By Finn C. Pillsbury

Format:Paperback

A quote from a cat dancer: "At those levels, an unstable etheric oscillation could collapse into an astral vortex and suck my spiritual reserves into a state of negative sub-matter." Any author who can publish that sentence with a straight face deserves to sell as many books as they can.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Cat lovers, laugh and enjoy! October 31, 2000

By Gwyneth Calvetti VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

The photographs of these cats are absolutely stunning and at the same time familiar to anyone who has ever been allowed by a cat to share its home. While the photography is the main draw of this book, don't stop by just looking at the pictures. To truly enjoy the genius of the book, one has to read the comments and interviews with the cat-dancers. From spiritual connection to psycho-babble to childish perceptions, the narration is a delight and a hoot to read. The book is an absolutely perfect parody, leaving the reader just enough convinced to scratch her head and think, "Is this for real?"

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy this book for the pictures! September 23, 2000

By Mrs. Donihue

Format:Paperback

I have a weakness for cats, I admit that freely, and it leaves me predisposed to a book like "Dancing with Cats," which is crammed with photographs of cats (and their humans) leaping, stretching and "dancing" with abandon.

Is the dancing real? Well, I don't knowm and judging by some of the other reviews, there is room for doubt...but I defy any cat to resist some of the visual stimuli directed towards the cats in this book (a swishing faux-"tail," scarves, etc.).

Some of the new age psycho-babble spouted by the human subjects made my eyes glaze, so I ultimately chose to largely ignore the text and instead focus on the pictures themselves. Since the pictures, and not the text, are what made me buy the book in the first place, this was probably a wise move.

"Dancing with Cats" is a very enjoyable book, full of delightful photos that are sure to appeal to cat lovers everywhere.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Study and testimonies of people who dance with cats August 19, 2000

By M. J. Smith VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Dancing with Cats is another well-researched study of feline modern dance by the same researchers who brought us Why Cats Paint. We are treated to the same extensive photographic evidence. In the case of dance, the felines invite human participation but the felines remain in full artistic control.

The cats are very non-discrimatory (in human terms) in selecting their dance partners - a full range of age, gender and skin color participate in the dance. Can anyone be unmoved by Selena, dressed as a fairy, dancing with Zoot and Oscar, declaring "they want to fly like fairies. Cats never ever eat fairies, except sometimes, by mistake."?

One of the best dance comedy or feline comedy books you'll every encounter.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring, beautifully illustrated... July 22, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I love to play around with my cat and we often do something very akin to dancing but until I discovered this wonderful book, I thought I was the only one. Cats are amazingly graceful and they love to interact with their owners, so of course others do it! It's time cat lovers came "out of the closet" and discussed the fun of dancing with cats. Thanks to the authors for creating this book.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Dancing With Cats is hilarious! July 16, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

Dancing With Cats is hilarious! The claim that the cats were tortured is kind of pushing it, especially considering that of the 4 cats I've had as pets in my life, 3 of them were prone to leaping out of 2nd story windows in hot pursuit of squirrels! I learned when I was still quite young that my cat loved it when I held her in my arms and twirled in circles. It was only a short while before we were actually dancing together-cheek to whisker-just like Fred and Ginger.

I didn't think it could get any better than Why Cats Paint, but when I saw that this book was on its way, I danced for joy!

Thank you Burton Silver and Heather Busch, for the wonderful photographs and the incredibly entertaining text!

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Very funny book, no matter what "Cat Spring, Texas" says. September 5, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

...by the way, there is NO "Cat Spring, Texas", in case you were wondering. Obvioulsy "Cat Spring" did not take their Prozac that day as they were making WAY too many ASSUMPTIONS as to how things are made. All I'll say is that if you are a cat owner (and have a sense of humour) this is a MUST read. Wild and wacky "analysis" is just great humour. You will just love it!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Fun! September 27, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Anyone who loves cats will just love this book. It is such great fun. I've spent a lifetime watching many cats play in such unforgettable ways, but I've never seen a cat book that had so much fun with playing with cats! Wild an Whacky! Great photography!