Home for the Holidays? Dance Books Staff Picks
Just in time for the holidays the Jerome Robbins Dance Division staff have put together a list of their favorite dance reads to help you while away the wintery hours. While our NYC performance venues will sadly be shut this season, the diverse range of suggestions here will help make sure that you know your mambo from your merengue and your pirouettes from your plies so that the next time live performance returns to our city you can discuss dance with flair. We would love to hear which titles you pick and what you think of them so please post your thoughts on social media with the hashtag #readdancebooks so we can join in on the conversation with you.
Arlene Yu, Collections Manager
Not content with being an accomplished archivist and librarian, Arlene is also a champion ballroom dancer with a love for social dance.
And Then We Danced: A Voyage into the Groove by Henry Alford
Hard Cover
Paperback
Audiobook
Rita Moreno: A Memoir by Rita Moreno
English
Spanish
E-book
Audiobook: English, Spanish
Forbidden City U.S.A. by Arthur Dong
Phil Karg, Supervising Librarian
Phil was a professional dancer for many years before transitioning to a career as a librarian and his title choices reveal his postmodern roots.
Trisha Brown: Choreography as Visual Art by Susan Rosenberg
Ralph Lemon edited by Thomas J. Lax
Merce Cunningham: Beyond the perfect Stage by Stephanie Berger
Kenneth Murphy, Circulating Reference Staff
Kenneth is the newest addition to the Dance Division team and is the producer of our program series Dancer’s Corner. His titles represent authors who have spoken on the series.
Big Deal: Bob Fosse and Dance in the American Musical by Kevin Winkler
Katherine Dunham: Dance and the African Diaspora by Joanna Dee Das
Tanisha Jones, Assistant Curator
Tanisha is an accomplished musician in addition to being a knowledgeable dance archivist and her love of music provides clues to her book selections.
Dancing Revelations: Alvin Ailey's Embodiment of African American culture by Thomas F. DeFrantz
Jazz Dance: A History of the Roots and Branches edited by Lindsay Guarino and Wendy Oliver
Daisy Pommer, Producer, Original Documentations
As the staff member who films dance for our archive Daisy has seen it all, but her love since childhood has been ballet.
Theatre Street: The Reminiscences of Tamara Karsavina by Tamara Karsavina
Holding On To the Air: An Autobiography by Suzanne Farrell with Toni Bentley
Private Domain by Paul Taylor
Kathleen Leary, Dance Education Coordinator
The educators and students who visit the Dance Division know Kathleen as a stellar teacher but she had a previous career as a costume designer!
Dance & Fashion by Fashion Institute of Technology edited by Valerie Steele
Linda Murray, Curator
The curator needs to know a little bit about everything and these three titles offer very different insights into diverse corners of the dance world.
Dancing Women: Female Bodies on Stage by Sally Banes
Tango Lessons: A Memoir by Meghan Flaherty
Class Act: The Jazz Life of Choreographer Cholly Atkins by Cholly Atkins and Jacqui Malone
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