Masters of Movement: Portraits of America's Great Choreographers - Softcover

Eichenbaum, Rose

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1588342484 ISBN 13: 9781588342485

Publisher: Smithsonian Books, 2007

Synopsis

Where does the impulse to create originate? How does one cope with the highs and lows of the artist's life? What is the choreographer's responsibility to the dancers, the audience, the self? These are just a few of the probing questions that Rose Eichenbaum, a dancer turned photographer, asks 59 of America's most celebrated choreographers in her five-year quest to understand the secrets of creativity.

A collection of photographic portraits and vignettes based on intimate conversations, Masters of Movement takes us on a rare journey into the world of dance, from the concert stage and Broadway to feature films and music videos. Whether through her lens or through the revelations emanating from her masterful interviews, Eichenbaum has succeeded in capturing the essential character of her subjects, who confide experiences and emotions that have driven their creativity and defined their styles.

Masters of Movement will inform, empower, and inspire anyone on the creative path—and delight lovers of dance everywhere.

About this title

About the Author

Rose Eichenbaum, a dance teacher for more than 25 years, is one of the most highly respected photojournalists working in the dance field today. Her articles and photographs have appeared in nationally acclaimed publications, including Dance, Dance Spirit, Dance Teacher, Point, and Dancer. She lives in Encino, California.

From Publishers Weekly

One might quibble with the title of this volume of photographic portraits and interviews—several of the subjects, like Edward Villella and Ann Reinking, are more notable as dancers than as choreographers. And one might wonder about omissions: the great tap dancer Gregory Hines is here, but why not Savion Glover? Nevertheless, both Eichenbaum’s black-and-white images and her subects’ words will please dance lovers. Her range of styles is broadly inclusive: from ballet (Eliot Feld) to jazz (Luigi), flamenco (José Greco) to music videos (Vincent Patterson, who has choreographed for Michael Jackson and Madonna). Eichenbaum captures the essence of each dancer she profiles: nonagenarian Katherine Dunham tells an audience, "I am still unfulfilled... I am rich and full, but I know there is so much more to learn." Eichenbaum can be delightfully unfawning: her double exposure of a temperamental and uncooperative Mark Morris is, she writes, "a sort of illustrated inflated ego." Other celebrity choreographers include Susan Stroman and Judith Jamison, but many of her subjects will be known only to those who follow the dance scene closely. For those aficionados, this is a lovely gift book.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Smithsonian Books
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1588342484
• ISBN 13: 9781588342485
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288