Customer Reviews

Modern Dancing (Da Capo series in dance)

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

 

 

This is a true classic. It should be on the shelf of every serious ballroom or social dance enthusiast. If you are a beginner who wants to learn some steps, however, look elsewhere. Includes very amusing chapters on clothing and the dansant by Irene Castle. The rating of five stars merely reflects the historical value of the book and the Castles. Posed photograps are a blast. :o)

Given the publication date of 1914, some of the detail for dancing has changed, but that's to be expected. I enjoyed the history and explanations. While the description of the book does point out that the print version is an OCR copy, prone to errors and the pictures are missing, I am disappointed that the print version did not receive any clean up editing.
Most of the mis-reads could have been easily fixed. I may actually print the PDF version to have a more readable copy not to mention having the pictures next to the text where they belong. It's a shame that the PDF version is not offered as an alternative to the print version and save the trees.

i don't know what the all-caps reviewer here was smoking, but this book definitely doesn't contain "the best info on one step, tango and waltz". first off, it doesn't deal with the one-step. (it does treat the castle's version of the one-step, called the castle walk.) secondly, saying that two early american ballroom dancers provide the best information on an austrian and an argentinian dance form is silly. thirdly, it hardly has "the best info" on anything. it has funny posed pictures and very dated descriptions which are rather a pain to learn from. if you're a dance historian, this book is great, though. the dancing of vernon and irene castle is usually seen as the beginning of american ballroom dance, and that alone makes this book interesting. as one of the other reviewers pointed out, the chapters on the dansant and clothing are most amusing. some of the stabs at the turkey trot, the grizzley, etc. are rather fun, too. in short, unless you are a serious dance historian, look somewhere else.

BEST INFO ON ONE STEP,TANGO & WALTZ