4dancers

When I think of Antony Tudor, his ballet, The Leaves are Fading immediately springs to mind. Tudor had an enormous impact on the ballet world when I was growing up, and is still well-known throughout the dance world for his choreography. I always felt that Tudor’s work was informed by our collective human psyche. It impacts you.

One of the most famous quotes about Tudor’s work comes from none other than Mikhail Baryshnikov who said, “We do Tudor’s ballets because we must. Tudor’s work is our conscience.”

For more information on Tudor, and a list of all the ballets he choreographed, visit The Antony Tudor Ballet Trust.

Those interested in reading about him in more detail may want to pick up the book, Undimmed Lustre: The Life of Antony Tudor for a closer look at his life–and his art.

1. What is your dance background, and how did the idea for Dance Teacher Press come about?

I began taking ballet in the 1960’s. Since then I have always been taking and or teaching ballet. After years of teaching I organized all of my notes on my computer. My notebook became an indispensible tool for class planning.  I used my own notebook so much I thought that other ballet teachers would like it too.  Hence The Ballet Combination Book became my first publication and Dance Teacher Press was born. 

Janet Jerger from Dance Teacher Press

2. What types of products do you carry? 

Dance Teacher Press has a variety of educational and fun teaching tools for dancers.   Books for students and teachers, posters, coloring sheets, flashcards, banners, wallpaper, and gifts.

3. What is unique about the things you offer your customers? 

My products teach the terminology needed in dance, and reinforce positive characteristics such as hard work and discipline.

 4. What are your most popular items? 

Ballet Step by Step  – an illustrated ballet dictionary for students, The Ballet Combination Book, Reproducible Ballet Coloring Sheets, and the Ballet Essentials Poster Sets have been my most popular.

5. Who should consider shopping at Dance Teacher Press? 

Anyone needing some new ideas for stimulating students to learn, enjoy, and progress in dance.

Advertising disclosure

If you are into dance–and into poetry–this book is for you. An anthology of poems on dance, this book has noted authors such as Carl Sandburg, Lord Byron, Ezra Pound and Anne Sexton.

Famous dancers that are talked about in the poems include Gene Kelly, Anna Pavlova and Isadora Duncan, among others. There are 86 poems in all.

This book would make a great gift for a dance lover, or a nice addition to your own library of dance books.

You can find it at Dance Horizons for $18.95

I recently heard about a new magazine that will be coming out in March 2010…it’s called TangoZapa. It bills itself as a tango culture and lifestyle magazine, covering everything from the dancers to the shoes they wear–and much more. You can sign up for a free digital version of the mag to see what it’s all about. (And if you are handy with a camera you can even enter their photo contest (until Jan 10th)…you might win a trip to Buenos Aries!)

Dance writers may be interested in contributing to this magazine. Accepted articles pay $100 through PayPal. The submission guidelines are listed in detail on the site.

I’m happy to announce that 4dancers will be moving into the area of product reviews for the remainder of 2009 and into 2010. We will be accepting any dance (or dance-related) product for impartial review and will be posting them here for you to read. You can expect to see things such as:

• DVD/CD reviews
• Clothing/bag reviews
• Book reviews
• Dance gift reviews
• Textbook reviews

We are also interested in reviewing products that are designed for dance studio owners, such as dance flooring, barres and software.

If you have something that you would like us to evaluate and review, please send an e-mail to:

info (at) moonbeamdigital.com with the words REVIEW REQUEST in the subject line.

*Please note that we cannot meet timeline requests for reviewing products. We will do our best to attend to reviews in a reasonable time-frame, but are not able to guarantee publication at a particular time. Products sent in for review will not be returned, and all reviews will be impartial. We look forward to seeing all the wonderful things that are out there in the world of dance and sharing them with our readers!

This book by Gelsey Kirkland is a well-written account of her life as a ballerina. It chronicles her struggle with drug addiction, anorexia and bulimia and her ultimate triumph over all of these things. Written with a heartfelt voice, it paints an interesting picture of how difficult the world of professional ballet can be if the wrong paths are chosen. Still, ultimately the message is one of hope and self-redemption.

Find Dancing on My Grave here.

If you are looking for dance-related books, videos and other related materials, check out Dance Horizons on-line catalogue. Here you’ll find a very large inventory of things including DVDs and rare books. You can also sign up for a free newsletter to be notified of new releases.

This is an excellent book on ballet technique by Gretchen Ward Warren who is a Professor of Dance at the University of South Florida. She has also been the Ballet Mistress at American Ballet Theatre II. I have read this book myself and can vouch for its usefullness as a teacher. It is simple, clear and direct, and has plenty of photographs to illustrate proper technique. Great for the beginning or intermediate ballet instructor or for your dance library.

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