Customer Reviews

Shall We Dance: Eight Classic Ballroom Dances in Eight Quick Lessons

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When I first received this tiny book, I was a little disappointed by its size. I couldn't imagine that it would have much to offer. How wrong I was!! Although it is by no means comprehensive, it provided me with many technique tips that other more apparently comprehensive sources did not. For the beginner social dancer, it is an indispensible read.

I got this book to use in addition to some dance classes my husband and I were taking. Though I wouldn't recommend learning to dance from this book (or from any book for that matter), this is the only book I could find that had the dance steps laid out clearly and simply. As a beginning dancer, I didn't want a complicated manual that showed fourteen different foxtrots. "Shall We Dance" was exactly the book we needed when we were having trouble remembering which step was which. I love that you can practice by holding the book between you, since it's laid out so that the leader's dance steps are opposite from the follower's dance steps.

I read this book as a result of a very unfortunate experience. I attended a fund raising event with my husband and 3 other couples. My husband and I have been avid social dancers (and competitors) for a few years. Two of the couples have also had some dance instruction and the third couple has always been `the non-dancing couple". The music started and we all headed for the dance floor.

I have never felt so badly for anyone as I did for the `non-dancing couple'. They were physically uncomfortable, looked like robots, and were totally off time. These are good friends of mine that I spend time with socially, so I tried to keep the shock out of my voice as I asked them "so, when did you start dancing?" They proceeded to tell me about the book they bought - Shall We Dance. Now I have played tennis and golf with this couple and I know they are physically agile and coordinated, so I asked if I could take a look at this "book" that turned them into such stiff, awkward specimens.

What a horror! It quickly becomes very clear that the author knows NOTHING about dancing or what it takes to look good while you are on the dance floor! Closed dance position is skimmed over, as are forward and backward walks with no mention of the geometric accuracy that is necessary when someone takes a good `dance step'. And the side steps - "are taken on the balls of the feet, then lowered to the heels as the feet come together" - that sentence explains why my friends were off time and lurched as they took their forward and back steps. No mention is made of the need to completely change weight when the feet are together in rise or the necessary release of the foot without weight as you lower to the flat foot with weight. How does someone swing his or her leg when both feet are planted on the floor without lurching or using their shoulders to generate movement? In the section on Waltz the author states about the side steps "Dancers should raise their bodies slightly using the ankles..." UGH! Rise with your ankles? Only if you want to look like my friends the "robots"!

The glaring errors contained in this book are too numerous to list. No wonder my friends started to dance a Swing to an obvious Foxtrot when this book states, "In the Foxtrot or Swing, the emphasized beats in a four-beat measure are the first and third beats." Add ignorance of music tempi to this author's ignorance of dance. In a Foxtrot the first beat is emphasized - the 1 is the `heaviest beat' with 2,3,4 becoming gradually `lighter' with crescendo to 5, with 6,7,8 getting `lighter'- in Swing the emphasis is on the second and fourth beat allowing a Swing music to actually be counted 1,2; 1,2 - the rhythm is like a heartbeat, that's why people tend to clap along to Swing music!

This book is definitely "pretty" in appearance, but unlike "Madison Avenue" I judge a book by its content not its cover! Don't bother.

The best feature of this book: the men's and women's dance steps mirror each other on the pages. Dance partners can hold the book between them and go through the steps together without someone having to read backwards! This pocket-size book has several great vintage photographs of dancing, mostly from classic movies. Plus in the right corner there's a tiny dancing couple which goes through their moves if you flip the pages quickly. The way it's put together it's a pleasure to read

This book is small and that's about the only thing going for it. I bought this book as a neophyte dancer interested in finding out more about this new activity/sport I was trying to get into.

This book is of no use to dancers or non-dancers. It is somewhat cute to look through, but serves no practical value related to improving your dancing technique, knowledge or style.

Thankfully, I bought this book to supplement the class I was taking. The classes are wonderful; no medium can come compare. Dance, as I'm finding out, is less about where to place your feet and more about your entire body and the interaction you have with your partner.

This book should not feel bad for itself. It has many companions at the poor book party.