The Oxford Dictionary of Dance (Oxford Quick Reference)

By Judith Mackrell and Debra Craine

Book Overview

With over 2,500 entries covering all aspects of dance, this unique dictionary is the only one of its kind available.
It is the most comprehensive and up-to-date dictionary of dance in paperback, ranging from classical ballet to the cutting edge of modern dance. It provides all the information necessary for dance fans to navigate the current diverse dance scene.
During the last twenty years the boundaries of dance have been radically redrawn. There has been an explosion of new activity within traditional forms like ballet, a stream of new dance languages invented by fresh generations of choreographers, and there is a growing appreciation of cultural dance forms from around the world. Fans today are likely to attend performances as varied as Spanish flamenco, Indian bharata natyam, Japanese butoh, classical ballet, and post-modern dance.
With an emphasis on performance - the dance we see in our theatres today - readers will find both fact and analysis on a wide range of subjects, from styles of dance and the history of dance companies and their productions, to dancers, choreographers, and technical terms.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0198607652
• ISBN13: 9780198607656
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 544 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 5.0" x 1.2" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

It's about time!

At the risk of stating the obvious like a darn fool, it is a dictionary in every sense of the word. Arranged in alphabetical order, this book contains encyclopaedic entries on famous dancers, choreographers, dance companies from around the world, dance terminology and even composers like Charles Ives and Richard Strauss (whose music were used in miscellaneous dances). From Alvin Ailey to the Zurich Ballet, it serves as a quick reference for seasoned followers of dance, while pure beginners might get lost in the mass of text. Those into visual aids will also be utterly disappointed for there's none here. But on the whole, it's still worth the space on your bookshelf.