Ballet 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving the Ballet (Limelight) Review

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(More customer reviews)Reading this book was a good learning experience -- the author, clearly, knows his stuff; at the same time, it's a bit awkward, hard to read (somewhat meandering, artificially florid, disjointed at times, with proofreading snafus -- for example, "graphein" is said to be a German word: obviously a typo made in haste) -- overall, I wish the writing were simpler, more to the point; it'd be great if an editor kneaded it all into a more graceful literary shape.

Recommended though: although the book can be improved, overall it's informative, quite good for a novice.

PS. When reading reviews on this page, please be careful to distinguish between bona-fide reviews by real readers and phony commercial blurbs by publishers' flunkeys who dishonestly use the amazon review capability to post advertizing copy here. A case in point, a review right above, by "D. Donovan, Editor/Sr. Reviewer": visit this person's reviews page and count the number of reviews posted in a single day. For example, on April 26, no less than forty (40!) reviews were added by this "reviewer", and so on, nearly every day, back to the beginning of time. No one can read forty books a day every day, to say nothing of reviewing them afterwards. I've discovered lately that this is a very widespread practice here. Beware! Not every reviewer posting something here is honest.

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Symphonies Nos. 1-21 in Full Score Review

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(More customer reviews)It's a score that does what it suppose to do. All the notes are there.

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Product Description:
The great composer's 21 early symphonies, written between 1764 and 1771 when he was still a boy, are reproduced here from the authoritative Breitkopf and Härtel Complete Works Edition. Rich in melody, musical invention, and a much-imitated but unsurpassed grace, they allow musicians and music lovers to savor and study the composer's youthful development and mastery of the symphonic form.

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Fifty Ballet Masterworks: From the 16th Century to the 20th Century Review

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(More customer reviews)Lincoln Kirstein's genius as a writer of dance history is his ability to concisely and accurately relate dance to politics, industry, and economics--among other things. This book is organized chronologically by dance masterpieces, beginning with the sixteenth century and ending in the twentieth century. It's a great quick reference book to the great ballets. For each ballet, Kirstein describes the plot, creation of the ballet, and artistic collaborations that made the ballet possible. More importantly, he puts each ballet into historical context by discussing the art movements and politics of the time that affected the performers, choreographers, composers, costume designers, set designers, librettists, and other creative contributors to the ballets.

There is also a section of photographs, lithographs, etchings, and drawings at the end, in addition to the art that appears with each ballet. You won't find a lot of biographical information in the book, nor is it filled with anecdotes about the artists. The bibliography will point you in the right direction if you want to learn more. This is a straightforward, factual book that never ceases to educate and fascinate.

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Profusely illustrated vision of ballet as movement, art, theatrical spectacle, and history. Penetrating discussions of 50 seminal works, from the 16th to the 20th century. 474 illustrations.

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Getting the part - Thirty-Three Professional Casting Directors Tell You How to Get Work in Theater, Films, and TV (Softcover) (Limelight) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book was by far the best I have read on auditions. It let me know how to act and what to do and not do to get a directors attention. I reccomend this book to anyone and everyone who are looking for an acting job.

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"At last, an in-depth book about the casting process that tells actors what it is like to be on the other side of the desk, and a must read for the aspiring casting director!" -Marilyn Henry, coauthor, How to Be a Working Actor

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Courtly Dance of the Renaissance: A New Translation and Edition of the Nobilta Di Dame (1600) Review

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(More customer reviews)Julia Sutton is one of the leading Renaissance dance historians, and this work reflects her careful scholarship. However, while "Courtly Dance of the Renaissance" does contain Fabritio Caroso's explanations of steps and choreographies, it is quite difficult to reconstruct dances from these descriptions. There are many ambiguities in the instructions, and since Sutton's goal is to provide an accurate translation rather than an interpretation, she leaves these conundrums intact. Sutton also translates the names of the steps into English, which makes this volume harder to use in conjunction with other Renaissance dance resources, which leave them in Italian. Nevertheless, for those with some grounding in dances of this period, "Courtly Dance of the Renaissance" is a critical source, and the wonderful discussions of etiquette and costume require no prior knowledge to enjoy.

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Renaissance classic includes choreography and music for 49 dances, plus all-important guidance on how to dress, how to behave and how to carry oneself while dancing at court, set down with utmost clarity and precision. Indispensable source of authentic information on courtly dance in the period from 1550 to 1610. Full scholarly apparatus. Translated and edited by Julia Sutton.

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Grace Under Pressure: Passing Dance Through Time (Limelight) Review

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(More customer reviews)In Grace Under Pressure: Passing Dance Through Time, ballet expert Barbara Newman (Dance Critic of "Country Life" magazine and a journalist contributor to "Dancing Times"), has compiled remarkably informative interviews with eighteen contemporary illuminaries of the world of dance. This impressive collection of leading dancers and renowned dance instructors ranging from Suki Schorer (School of American Ballet) and Marc Du Bouays (Paris Opera Ballet School) to Yuri Fareyev, Margaret Mercier, and Richard Thomas. Enthusiastically recommended reading for anyone contemplating a life in ballet, Grace Under Pressure offers the reader a diverse selection of insights into the dedicated life and working world of the contemporary ballet as the aspirants experience the hard work and intense discipline for learning and practicing this demanding art.

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Grace under Pressure is a series of insightful essays by Ms. Newman and a collection of stimulating interviews with movers and shakers of today's dance world. They are: Suki Schorer, Violette Verdy, Kathryn Wade, Mark Morris, Anne Marie Vessel, Margaret Mercier, Robert Denvers, Richard Thomas, Sorella Englund, Marc du Bouays, Helgi Tomasson, Francia Russell, Maina Gielgud, David Bintley, Irina Kolpakova, Yuri Fateyev, Jean-Pierre Frohlich, Shelley Washington.
Grace under Pressure provides a brief history of important schools in four countries as well as a detailed overview of the audition policy, curriculum and pedagogic philosophy that shape each one. In dance as in every academic discipline, the classroom is a testing ground for dedicated pupils, who must constantly adapt to the rigorous demands of their chosen art. The subjects in this book speak openly about the challenges they face themselves as they attempt to breathe new life into familiar performance pieces and imbue each student with a unique love of dance that surpasses the drive for physical perfection.

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The Techno Primer: The Essential Reference for Loop-Based Music Styles Review

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(More customer reviews)I wasn't at all impressed with this book. If you want to know what gear Misstress Barbara uses or if you want to read yet another authors version of "the history of electronic music" then this is for you!

Me, well I sent it back. I had the book less than an hour and I'd already re-packed it up to ship back.

If you want a good reference book for electronic music then go pick up the 'Dance Music Manual: Toys, Tools and Techniques' by Rick Snoman. Now Snoman's book is an 'essential reference', seriously.

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The Techno Primer is a complete guide to the world of loop-based music styles. This book/CD pack contains an enhanced CD with techno music tracks in a variety of styles - as well as video clips and a demo version of the ACID(TM) XPress program by Sonic Foundry , a history of electronic music, and a detailed guide to techno styles. Also includes information on interactive music on the web, digital recording via the internet, understanding MIDI, the art of sound design, the DJ drummer concept and more. Features interviews with leading techno artists, producers and DJs (such as Jamie Myerson, Misstress Barbara, Code 911 and others), plus a comprehensive glossary of terms used in techno culture.

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Christina Aguilera - Stripped (Piano/Vocal/Guitar Artist Songbook) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is very difficult on piano, I'm having a real hard time with Soar and The Voice Within, even Fighter is fairly difficult. I've been playing piano for 9 years now, so I'm not some beginner saying this. There are some easier songs in this, but I suggest for piano Michelle Branch, she's has much easier songs for piano, guitar, other way around. Or even Avril for piano, but not this. You have to be good to know how to play these songs. Anyway, there's no tabs but the notes are dead accurate, no mistakes and it's really well written. Christina must have some great musicians behind her because it's really tough, I haven't got her 1st book, but this is probably much improvement. Christina wrights really good, strong voice, also reaches some really high notes, very effective and this is an amazing book. Not recommended for beginners though. Even on guitar, it's just chords and still manages to be harder then anything Blink's ever done. But Tom's a horrible guitarist, so I wouldn't lean to much into that. Get Mine, Get Yours or Dirrty are easier songs on here, Makeover is pretty tough, very nice to play though. Fighter is an amazing song for guitar, oh, you can also play this on flute, because it uses the same notes as piano. Don't play flute so don't know how hard it is, but probably pretty hard just the same.

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16 songs from the 2002 blockbuster album by Christina Aguilera. Includes the chart-topping debut single "Dirrty," her confessional "I'm OK" and: Beautiful * Can't Hold Us Down * Cruz * Fighter * Get Mine, Get Yours * Impossible * Infatuation * Keep on Singin' My Song * Loving Me 4 Me * Make Over * Soar * Underappreciated * The Voice Within * Walk Away.

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