Customer Reviews

Film Choreographers and Dance Directors: An Illustrated Biographical Encyclopedia with a History and Filmographies, 1893 Through 1995

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From the review in Dance Spirit Magazine - "When you pick up a copy of Film Choreographers and Dance Directors, you'll wonder how on earth you managed without it. This comprehensive encyclopedia contains biographies and credits for 970 choreographers, who worked on 3,500 films. This 664-page book includes 184 photographs, a decade-by-decade history of dance in movies, and a detailed index."

This book is a totally unique resource. It contains both a history of dance on film (by decade) and a veritable biographic encyclopedia of film choreographers and dance directors, from the well known to those who should be. Despite the massive research that must have been required for this book, it does not read like an academic tome, but is written in a lively, enjoyable style that makes it difficult to put down. An added bonus are the numerous. and often rare, photographs.

This book will delight you if you love dance in movies. I picked it up out of curiosity and found myself lost in its pages in no time. Even as someone who knows a lot about dancing in the movies, I kept saying "I didn't know that!" as I read through the various biographies. It's most impressive the way the author has cross-referenced the complex relationships between dancers and choreographers. As director of the Academy of Dance on Film, he has access to the "backstory" of how things really happened, and this book is filled with wonderful anecdotes.

In this expansive encyclopedia, author Billman offers a comprehensive who's who of Hollywood film choreographers and dance directors from the start of the movie business. Each entry provides a brief biography/perspective of the talent under examination as well as providing their film credits and listing their career contributions in other mediums.

Of particular interest are the author's essays on the history/development of screen dance as techniques, style, and technology impacted how choreographers and dance directors executed their craft in Hollywood productions over the many decades.

A unique treasure trove of information well worth purchasing--and enjoying!