Best dancing reference books according to redditors

That is simply a poorly written article.

Dance theory, choreography, and general concepts of contemporary dance are quite well defined and clearly articulated.

In the history of dance, there have been a number of approaches to formalize specific principles and vocabulary, even actual dance notation (Labanotation) was created to record specific choreographic movement in order to be reproduced. The availability of film and especially video made this obsolete.

Ballet is still actually the foundation of modern dance, which introduces variations of technique and extended vocabulary. It would literally be impossible to be a professional performer or choreographer in the contemporary sphere without not only a solid ballet foundation, but other well known principles set out since the Denishawn school (school founded by Ted Shawn and Ruth St. Denis that is considered the origin of contemporary dance's break with ballet).

Anyway, here are some essential reads that I would strongly encourage anyone that is interested in choreography or staging, especially in the context of marching arts, to read:

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The Art of Making Dances - Doris Humphrey (<<< critical read!)
https://www.amazon.com/Art-Making-Dances-Doris-Humphrey/dp/0871271583

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The Intimate Act of Choreography - Lynne Anne Blom & L. Tarin Chaplin

https://www.amazon.com/Intimate-Choreography-Lynne-Anne-Blom/dp/0822953420/

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Anatomy of Movement - Blandine Calais-Germain

https://www.amazon.com/Anatomy-Movement-Revised-Blandine-Calais-Germain/dp/0939616572

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Dance and the Specific Image - Daniel Nagrin

https://www.amazon.com/Dance-Specific-Image-Daniel-Nagrin/dp/0822955202

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Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet - Gail Grant

https://www.amazon.com/Technical-Manual-Dictionary-Classical-Ballet/dp/0486218430/

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The Routledge Studies Dance Reader - Alexandra Carter

https://www.amazon.com/Routledge-Dance-Studies-Reader/dp/0415485991

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Every Little Movement: A Book About Delsarte - Ted Shawn

https://www.amazon.com/Every-Little-Movement-About-Delsarte-ebook/dp/B01N1YQQXX/

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What Is Dance?: Readings in Theory and Criticism - Roger Copland & Marshall Cohen

https://www.amazon.com/What-Dance-Readings-Theory-Criticism/dp/0195031970

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The Illustrated Dance Technique of José Limon - Daniel Lewis

https://www.amazon.com/Illustrated-Dance-Technique-Jos%C3%A9-Lim%C3%B3n/dp/0871272091/

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There are so many more!

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Also recommended, free OCW course from MIT:

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Dance Theory and Composition

https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/music-and-theater-arts/21m-675-dance-theory-and-composition-fall-2003/

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One thing that helped me was just figuring out which damn muscles I need to activate in inversions and other tricks. This book has been highly helpful in that regard, but I am also regularly seeing a physical therapist for various shoulder/elbow/grip issues (it’s a long story) so I get to ask her all sorts of questions.

Plus that book is packed full of exercises that even my PT nor my instructors know.

You might be interested in: https://www.amazon.com/Applied-Anatomy-Aerial-Arts-Illustrated/dp/1623172160

I think The Complete X-Files: Behind the Scenes, the Myths and the Movies is a book which covers this sort of stuff. I haven't read it yet, because I am waiting for the Revised and Updated Edition which includes Season 10 to come out in November.

There is also The X-Files Official Collection, which is content from the official X-Files magazine, which was released while the original series ran, collected into three volumes:

• Volume 1: The Agents, the Bureau and the Syndicate
  
• Volume 2: Little Green Men: Monsters and Villains
  
• Volume 3: Conspiracy Theory - The Truth, the Secrets and the Lies

It was! Great content with plenty of behind the scenes info, a lot of work on the looks/aesthetics of the thing.

If you're interested, Titan reprinted a selection of their articles into 3 volumes a couple of years ago. You can "look inside" a bit with Amazon previews:

https://www.amazon.com/X-Files-Official-Collection-Agents-Syndicate/dp/1782763716/

https://www.amazon.com/X-Files-Official-Collection-Monsters-Villains/dp/1782763724/

https://www.amazon.com/X-Files-Official-Collection-Conspiracy-Secrets/dp/1782763732/

>i used to do Muay thai(for those who dont know its kickboxing but a little different)and i had to stop due to intense pain after sessions


Here's your problem -- you're putting a lot of force through your system and not aligning your bones/joints to transmit the force safely through your physical structure. If you keep putting force through your body without first learning proper alignment you will cripple yourself.


Form >>>> force


https://www.amazon.com/Dynamic-Alignment-Through-Imagery-2nd/dp/0736067892


Start with gentle range-of-motion exercises, without resistance. Develop body awareness. Maybe switch to Tai Chi while you rehabilitate your spine. Do not stop moving/exercising, just dial down the force production and focus entirely on alignment.


Good luck.

If I could pick just one thing for Christmas this year, it would be this Tap Dictionary. I teach classes for tappers from ages 6-18. It's been a while since I actually took a tap class myself, and some of the terminology has gone out the window. I think it'd be a great help when it comes to planning classes.

I'm sorry to hear your Christmas was spoiled by those awful people :(

If you take the pills before class, make sure they're not muscle relaxers (aleve has naproxin which is a muscle relaxer) lol.

Here is the book I mentioned in my comment to you (I'm not a sponsor or anything, I'm just finding this book to be really valuable and it's filling in some of the gaps for me while I look for a solid private instructor. Right now, I just drop into group classes.) https://www.amazon.com/Applied-Anatomy-Aerial-Arts-Illustrated/dp/1623172160/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=1L9KKLE4MN5NZ&keywords=applied+anatomy+of+aerial+arts&qid=1551311745&s=gateway&sprefix=applied+anatomy%2Caps%2C192&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1

This book is really really interesting and helpful for training. It goes into detail on the physical mechanics of aerial.

Applied Anatomy of Aerial Arts: An Illustrated Guide to Strength, Flexibility, Training, and Injury Prevention https://www.amazon.com/dp/1623172160/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_eb23DbV6PS20J[Applied Anatomy of Aerial Arts: An Illustrated Guide to Strength, Flexibility, Training, and Injury Prevention ](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1623172160/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_eb23DbV6PS20J)