“What are the best dance books?” We consulted 13 articles and 140 books to answer that very question. Below you will find our results of the 18 best dance books of all-time.
What can be found in a “Best Dance Books” Listicle
- Covers of a dancer on a single foot
- Books about Ballet
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The 122 Remaining Books Appearing on a Single List
- 101 Stories of the Great Ballets by George Balanchine and
Francis Mason - A Dance Like Starlight
- A Dictionary of Dance (Blue Apple, 2007) by Liz Murphy
- Afterimages, by Arlene Croce
- Alicia Alonso: Prima Ballerina (Marshall Cavendish, 2011) by
Carmen T. Bernier-Grand; illus. by Raúl Colón - Alphabet of Dance (Soundprints, 2010) by Barbie Heit Schwaeber;
illus. by Damian Ward - American Indian Ballerinas, by Lili C. Livingston
- Apollo’s Angels by Jennifer Homans
- ASAF MESSERER – OLEG BRIANSKY. CLASSES IN CLASSICAL BALLET
- Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead
- BALANCHINE, CELEBRATING A LIFE IN DANCE
- Balanchine: A Biography, by Bernard Taper
- Ballerina Dreams (Feiwel, 2007) by Lauren Thompson; photos by
James Estrin - Ballerina: Sex, Scandal, and Suffering Behind the Symbol of
Perfection by Deirdre Kelly - Ballet and Modern Dance, by Jack Anderson
- Ballet Cat: The Totally Secret Secret
- Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring (Porter/Flash
Point/Roaring Brook, 2010) by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan;
illus. by Brian Floca - Ballet-Student’s Primer: A Concentrated Guide for Beginners of
All Ages by Kay Ambrose in collaboration with Celia Franca - Bea at Ballet (Paulsen/Penguin, 2012) by Rachel Isadora
- Beautiful Ballerina (Scholastic, 2009) by Marilyn Nelson; photos
by Susan Kuklin - Behind the Mask by Yangsook Choi
- Brothers of the Knight (Dial, 1999) by Debbie Allen; illus. by
Kadir Nelson - Choreophobia: Solo Improvised Dance in the Iranian World
by Anthony Shay - Classical Ballet Technique by Gretchen Ward Warren
- Complete Guide to Modern Dance, by Don McDonagh
- Creative Dance for All Ages: A Conceptual Approach, by Ann Green
Gilbert - Dance Anatomy by Jaqui Green Haas
- Dance History: An IntroductionBy Janet Adshead-Lansdale; June
Layson - Dance Imagery for Technique and Performance by Eric Franklin
- Dance of the Sleepwalkers: The Dance Marathon FadBy Frank M.
Calabria - Dance: Rituals of Experience, by Jamake Highwater
- Dance! (Greenwillow, 2001) by Elisha Cooper
- Dancers Among Us by Jordan Matter
- Dancin’ in the Kitchen (Putnam, 1998) by Wendy Gelsanliter and
Frank Christian; illus. by Marjorie Priceman - Dancing across Borders: Danzas y Bailes Mexicanos edited
by Olga Nájera-Ramírez, Norma Elia Cantú, and Brenda M. Romero - Dancing at the Dawn of AgricultureBy Yosef Garfinkel
- Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy by
Barbara Ehrenreich - Dancing Through It: My Journey in the Ballet by Jennifer Ringer
- Dancing till Dawn: A Century of Exhibition Ballroom DanceBy
Julie Malnig - Dancing Wheels (Houghton, 2000) by Patricia McMahon; photos by
John Godt - Dancing: The Pleasure, Power, and Art of Movement by
Gerald Jonas - Days on Earth: The Dance of Doris Humphrey, by Marcia B. Siegel
- Done into Dance: Isadora Duncan in America by Ann Daly
- Drumbeat in Our Feet (Lee & Low, 2006) by Patricia A. Keeler and
Júlio T. Leitão; illus. by Patricia A. Keeler - Dynamic Alignment Through Imagery by Eric N. Franklin
- Ear Training for the Body by Katherine Teck
- Europe Dancing: Perspectives on Theatre Dance and Cultural
IdentityBy Andrée Grau; Stephanie Jordan - Flamenco: Gypsy Dance and Music from Andalusia edited by Claus
Schreiner - Footwork: The Story of Fred and Adele Astaire by Roxane Orgill
and Stephane Jorisch - Fosse by Sam Wasson
- Further Steps: Fifteen Choreographers on Modern Dance, by Connie
Kreemer - Going To My Ballet Class by Susan Kuklin
- Gretchen Ward Warren’s books
- Handbook of American Popular CultureBy M. Thomas Inge
- HENNING KRONSTAM. PORTRAIT OF A DANISH DANCER
- Hilsendager, and Brenda Dixon
- History of the Dance in Art and Education, by Richard Kraus,
Sarah Hilsendager, and Brenda Dixon - Hitler’s Dancers: German Modern Dance and the Third ReichBy
Lillian Karina; Marion Kant; Jonathan Steinberg - How Can You Dance? by Rick Walton and Ana Lopez-Escriva
- How to Dance Forever: Surviving Against the Odds, by Daniel
Nagrin - In Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina
- International Encyclopedia of Dance edited by Selma Jeanne
Cohen and the Dance Perspectives Foundation - Jazz Age Josephine (Atheneum, 2012) by Jonah Winter; illus. by
Marjorie Priceman - Jingle Dancer by Cynthia Leitich Smith, illustrated by Cornelius
Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu - Jump Into Jazz: the basics and beyond for the jazz dance student
by Minda Goodman Kraines, Esther Pryor - Kathleen O’Byrne: Irish Dancer (Brighter Child, 2002) by Declan
Carville; illus. by Brandan Ellis - Kitchen Dance (Clarion, 2008) by Maurie J. Manning
- LEGENDA ALLI SHELEST/THE LEGEND OF ALLA SHELEST
- Let’s Dance! (Morrow, 1998) by George Ancona
- Life in Motion by Misty Copeland
- Lion Dancer: Ernie Wan’s Chinese New Year by Kate Waters
- Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process
- Lola’s Fandango by Anna Witte, illustrated by Micha Archer
- Mabel Dancing (Candlewick, 2000) by Amy Hest; illus. by
Christine Davenier - Mama, I’ll Give You the World by Roni Schotter & S. Saelig
Gallagher - Max by Rachel Isadora
- Modern Ballroom Dancing by Victor Silvester
- Modern Bodies: Dance and American Modernism from Martha Graham
to Alvin AileyBy Julia L. Foulkes - Modern Dance (Capstone, 2008) by Wendy Garofoli
- Modern Dance (Heinemann, 2008) by Andrew Solway
- Movement to Music: Musicians in the Dance StudioBy Katherine
Teck - Olé! Flamenco (Lee & Low, 2010) by George Ancona
- On Your Toes: A Ballet ABC (Greenwillow, 2003) by Rachel Isadora
- Pina Bausch-Wuppertal Dance Theater, by Norbert Servos
- Poor Dancer’s Almanac: Managing Life and Work in the Performing
Arts by David R. White, Lise Friedman - Prime Movers: The Makers of Modern Dance in America byJoseph H.
- Mazo
- Psychology of Dance by Jim Taylor, Ceci Taylor
- Rap a Tap Tap: Here’s Bojangles — Think of That! (Blue
Sky/Scholastic, 2002) by Leo and Diane Dillon - Rupert Can Dance
- Serpent of the Nile: Women and Dance in the Arab World by Wendy
Buonaventura - Sharing the Dance: Contact Improvisation and American Culture
by Cynthia J. Novack - Social Dance: A Short HistoryBy A. H. Franks
- Song and Dance Man by Karen Ackerman and Stephen Gammell
- Sport, Dance, and Embodied IdentitiesBy Noel Dyck; Eduardo P.
- Archetti
- Suki’s Kimono by Chieri Uegaki, illustrated by Stéphane Jorisch
- Swingin’ the Dream: Big Band Jazz and the Rebirth of American
Culture Lewis A. Erenberg - Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina by Michaela
DePrince - Tango: The Art History of Love by Robert Farris Thompson
- Tanya and Emily in a Dance for Two by Patricia Lee Gauch and
Satomi Ichikawa - Teach Yourself Ballroom Dancing by the Imperial Society of
Teachers of Dancing - Terpsichore in Sneakers, by Sally Banes
- The Art of Making Dancesby Doris Humphrey, Barbara Pollack
- The Ballroom Dance Pack by Walter Laird
- The Ballroom Technique by the ISTD
- The Complete Book of Ballroom Dancing by Stephenson and
Iacarrino - The Creative Habit by Twila Tharp
- The Dancer Prepares by James Penrod, Janice Gudde
- The Illustrated Dance Technique of José Limón, by Daniel D.
Lewis - The Revised Technique of Latin-American Dancing by the ISTD
- The Vision of Modern Dance: In the Words of Its Creators,
editors Jean Morrison Brown, Naomi Mindlin, and Charles H.
Woodford - To Be an Artist (Charlesbridge, 2004) by Maya Ajmera and John D.
Ivanko - Training the Body for China: Sports in the Moral Order of the
People’s Republic by Susan Brownell - Unsung Genius: The Passion of Dancer-Choreographer Jack Cole, by
- Glenn Loney
- VAGANOVA TODAY: THE PRESERVATION OF PEDAGOGICAL TRADITION by
Catherine Pawlick - VERA VOLKOVA – A BIOGRAPHY by Alexander Meinertz
- Vernon and Irene Castle’s Ragtime RevolutionBy Eve Golden
- Viennese Waltz by the ISTD
- Winter Season by Toni Bentley
- Writing about Dance by Wendy Oliver – Human Kinetics
- Your Other Left Foot by Andy McCann
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