The Oxford Dictionary of Dance (Oxford Quick Reference) - Softcover

Entries are brief, usually one paragraph, but major individuals, institutions, and works receive longer ones. Lengthy works lists are provided for a very small number of well-known artists, like Balanchine. The dictionary is still concise , although that word is no longer part of the title. Some entries found in earlier versions have been dropped (for example, Katharine Abel, a famous Viennese dancer who died in 1892, is gone), probably to make room for new and updated entries. Among the new entries are Merce Cunningham's Beach Birds , which premiered in 1991 and was partially created using a computer program; the Ballets Trockaderos de Monte Carlo company; and the Pilobolus Dance Theater, which practices a form of sculptural dance that includes acrobatics, gymnastics, pantomime, and modern dance. Such entries represent the dictionary's acceptance of more diversity among the types of dance included.

Perusing a sampling of entries, one finds specific works (Coppelia , Mass for Our Time , Riverdance ), companies (Berlin Opera Ballet, Rockettes, Stuttgart Ballet), musicians and composers, dance steps and styles, and surveys of dance in various countries. Attesting to the fact that classical ballet, tap, and modern dance are represented, there are entries for Alvin Ailey, Savion Glover, Martha Graham, Gene Kelly, Rudolph Nureyev, Bill Robinson (Bojangles), and Tommy Tune, to name a few. The work cannot match the depth of coverage in the two-volume encyclopedia International Dictionary of Ballet (St. James, 1993) and the recent International Encyclopedia of Modern Dance (St. James, 1998). However, it packs an amazing amount of information into a small amount of space. Very affordable, it is well worth adding to a dance collection in any library and provides a compact, handy way to access dance facts quickly. REVWR
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