BOOKS
SNAKE
HIPS - "Belly Dancing and How I
Found True Love" by Anne Thomas Soffee
(reviewed 12/21/02)
I have a shameful confession to make, when I first ordered the book, I thought it was going
to be another poorly written, ego-driven book. Boy, was I wrong.
What a funny, engaging book written by someone who truly loves what she is
doing, and finds joy in life. I finished it in two evenings. Her
description of her family life, and not feeling "Lebanese enough, good
enough, etc." will strike home for many people, especially people in this
country who are first, second or third generation "fill-in-the-blank-Americans".
The book was not only about her bellydancing adventures, although that was the
core of the book, and the axis around which this period of her life
spins. It was about failed relationships, woman to woman
friendships, family life and family relationships, and how she finds herself and
her husband-to-be. The book was extremely well-written by a talented
writer. It is also a tale about being true to yourself, despite what
others think you should be. After finishing her book, I thought "Anne
is someone I would like to know." Smart, funny, and an astute judge
of situations, Anne has written a thoroughly funny and entertaining book. I
especially laughed at the part in the book when she went to the bellydance sale
and absolutely had to have the most outrageous costume. Speaking for
myself, costumes and jewelry cannot be big enough, fancy enough! I
thought, there is a woman who knows how to pick a costume! When she said in the
book "I must have it", I cracked up! That alone was worth the
price of the book. This is a book for everyone who loves to read a good
book, not just bellydancers. Click on amazon.com
and do a search for the book, or order it from Anne's
website.
* A note about my review. Disclaimer: Anne mentions my website in the back of her book for bellydancing resources and pays me a very nice compliment! Even so, and even if she did not, it is an excellent book.
Islam:
Faith * Culture * History by Paul Lunde
(updated 8/29/02)
This book is written by one of the leading experts on Islamic culture and history. It is separated into six sections, Islam Today, The Islamic Faith, Islamic Culture, Islamic History, the Islamic world, and a chronology and index. Great pictures, maps, illustrations, charts, and sidebars enhance the text. I think it is important post 9/11 to learn and understand as much as we can about true Islam, and the countries of the world who embrace the culture and religion of Islam. Fundamentalists are NOT what Islam is about, just as the ku klux klan does not stand for America and our culture and what we are about. I found this book to be very educational, for adults as well as children. The directory at the end of the book lists the various countries of the Islamic World in alphabetical order, with a map of the country, their economics, resources, defense, spending, and other vital statistics. I found it fascinating, and did not realize certain countries were part of the Islamic World, such as Mali in Africa. Do a search on www.barnesandnoble.com for this beautiful soft cover coffee table book. I read it through in two evenings, and still go back to it. Highly recommended.
Sacred Woman, Sacred Dance :Awakening
Spirituality Through Movement & Ritual - by
Iris J. Stewart
(reviewed 10/26/01)
This book is a high quality paper-back book. I
enjoyed the pictures throughout the book, and the quotes from dancers and
other sources at the beginning of each chapter also. The greatest interest
to me was the sidebars throughout the book with the history of art, story of the
maenads, for example, some veil history,etc. It is obvious that Ms.
Stewart did a lot of research for her book, and it shows.
Her book is separated into two parts, "In the Beginning was the Dance"
and in part two, "Modern Sacred Dance Today".
I liked the first part of the book much better than the second. The second
part of the book became a bit too "new-agey" for my personal taste,
but I enjoyed reading it regardless.
I would recommend this book for anyone interested in women's dance, especially bellydance as we call it now. I completely enjoyed and appreciated the pictures, sidebars, etc. Ms. Stewart also has done an outstanding job on resources, notes and bibliography. I plan on reading some books she has listed in her bibliography for further reading and study.
www.amazon.com and do a search for the book
CHOREOGRAPHY - A BASIC APPROACH USING IMPROVISATION - by Sandra Cerny Milton
This book is a very good choreography book for students and dance teachers alike. It is broken down into 4 basic chapters and further subdivided. Chapter 1 is Exploring and Improvising Movement, Chapter 2, Designing and Shaping the Dance, Chapter 3, Identifying Choreographic Form, Chapter 4, Staging the Performance. This is a high-quality book with lots of clean, quality pictures of the dancers. The pictures show the correct and incorrect forms of, for example, blocking, facing, etc. It is very thorough and detailed. Their is even a section on printing your programs. It is a book I refer to time and again when I am choreographing for my student troupe. I highly recommend it.
Dance Imagery - for Technique and Performance
by Eric Franklin
(updated 2/1/01)
I have been studying the technique of Dance Imagery for some time now. I find it to be invaluable for practice and especially for me, performance. One of the better books that I can highly recommend is Dance Imagery, by Eric Franklin. Mr. Franklin has over 20 years experience as a dancer and choreographer. He is the founder and director of the Institute for Movement Imagery Education in Lucerne Switzerland, among his many other accomplishments. The book is very accessible and he has it divided into different parts and chapters. His sketches and pictures are very helpful for those of us who are visual learners. Most every chapter is useful to the middle eastern dancer, save for the basic exercises of the ballet barre chapter. I have taken that chapter and used his imagery and applied it to basic exercises and basic movements of technique for middle eastern dancers. His chapters on imaging music & rhythm, upper body gesture, turns, and imaging for focus during performance, I find particularly relevant for bellydancers.
DANCING, The Pleasure, Power and Art of
Movement, by Gerald Jonas, preface
by Rhoda Grauer
(updated 12/1/00)
This book was written in association with WNET, Public TV Channel 13 in New York. It is the companion book to an eight-part television series. I would love to see the TV series. Being originally from New York, and not watching TV, I did tune in to Channel 13 whenever they had something on that was of this nature. The book is divided into eight chapters, Chapter 1, The Power of Dance, Chapter 2, Lord of the Dance, Chapter 3, Dance of the Realm, Chapter 4, Social Dance, Chapter 5, Classical Dance Theater, Chapter 6, New Worlds of Dance. The book also has a very extensive Bibliography so you can further your study, and is indexed. It has wonderful pictures. The book is wonderfully researched, and I did learn quite a few new things. It has alot of information on traditional Japanese dance, of which I knew very little about. My one problem with the book is that it mainly stayed within traditional dance forms, such as Japanese, Court Dancing in Europe, Africa and other countries, and ballet. If I was in the ballet or modern dance world, this would be a "must-have" book. I was a bit disappointed in that there was very little mention of Flamenco and Middle Eastern Dancing. All in all, I would recommend it for the pictures of other dance forms, to educate ourselves to other dance, and of course, another dance book for your collection.
Amazon.com has copies readily available
When the Drummers were Women, a
spiritual history of rhythm - by Layne
Redmond
(updated 10/22/00)
Layne Redmond is an accomplished percussionist and an expert on the ancient history of women in music. She knows her subject well, and reveals through images of carvings, paintings, vases, reliefs, etc., from paleolithic times to churches of the middle ages in and around the Mediterranean area the importance of women drumming and worshipping the feminine divine. For those of you who do not know the history of the religious worship in those cultures, this book is a fascinating introduction into those worlds, and how they perceived their place in it, their religious thoughts and practices, etc. I enjoyed chapter 11, entitled "The Triumph of the Virgin". I wish she would have delved more into how the Christian religions took over places and symbols and rituals of the old pagan religions and transformed them into their own, but at any rate, she gives a great overview of how Mary has become the Queen of Heaven, like Innana before her. The sub-chapter on modern-day visions of Mary was also fascinating. Ms. Redmond also talks about current scientific research in rhythm's effects upon the body and mind. She sums up her book by talking about her acceptance in regards to relating her music to goddesses and spirituality, although she has enjoyed professional recognition and success as a drummer. Her expertise in the history of women in music related in the book was fascinating and well-documented. It was well-written and I enjoyed reading her book.
Amazon.com has readily available copies for sale
Psychology of Dance by Jim Taylor/Ceci Taylor
(updated 8/26/00)
While this book is geared toward teachers of dance, I found it to be a fabulous resource for any level dancer too. If you are performing out there professionally, it is invaluable. In this book you will find out how to use the Performing Attitude Profile, personal factors, and your performing attitude. There are eight chapters plus a thorough introduction. The chapters are, motivation, self-confidence, intensity, concentration, dance imagery, slumps-stress-and burnout, psychology of dance injury rehabilitation, and developing a program in your school for enhanced performance. The copy of my book is, I confess, dog-eared, sticky-noted and highlighted. I refer to it time to time when I am feeling less than "up to par" mentally, and it always gives me that added edge. The book teaches you common psychological techniques such as: thought-stopping, enhancing concentration, plus more. It is written in non-mumbo-jumbo tech talk, and is very accessible for the average reader. The book is also peppered with quotes from famous dance artists. This is one book that I refer to over and over, and well worth the price.
Amazon.com has copies for purchasing.
Harem - The World Behind the Veil - by
Alev Lytle Croutier
(updated 6/13/00)
This gorgeous coffee-table quality book printed on heavy paper stock is divided into three sections, which are further divided into chapters. Each section and chapter are beautifully illustrated with the works of European artists, as well as Turkish woodcuts, Persian miniatures, rare documentary photographs and photos from the author's family album. The photos are my favorite. The author prefaces her book by introducing us to her grandmother. She and her sisters had been brought up in a harem. The author draws on firsthand accounts, histories and memoirs. The author explores life in the world's harems, mostly about the famous, or infamous, Grand Harem of the Sultan. She talks about eunuchs, the power unofficially exercised by women of the harem, etc. I am not a historian, so cannot speak to that aspect of the book, but as a dancer, and one interested in Turkey, I enjoyed the book. It is on a par with Serpent of the Nile (see review below) for sheer picture power, and the photos are marvelous. I must tell you that two sections of the book upset me greatly, one section in particular. That section was her description of the procedure used to castrate men and boys. I had to skip over the graphic parts of the description. All I could think about was the cruelty of it, and think about the small boys having to go through such torture, especially that I have two boys of my own. The other part which was upsetting to me was a passage from a harem woman describing the "soul-crushing" life in the harem. Her description was so intensely moving and sad. That all being said, the book is beautiful for the pictures alone, and well worth owning as an addition to your library.
click here to purchase this beautiful book
A Fez of the Heart - by
Jeremy Seal
(updated 3/12/00)
This book is about the writer's search in Turkey for the Fez. The
Fez was the hat (which I am sure you are all familiar with) that the great
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk outlawed in Turkey in 1925 in his quest to modernize
and Westernize the country. The author taught English in Turkey, and
being a man, was able to travel all around Turkey unaccompanied in his search
for the Fez. As the author travels around Turkey, the book really relates to us
how Turkey still has one foot firmly in the east, and the other firmly in the
west. It was interesting how he came across people who resented the
westernization and values of the west, and wanted a return to the old days and
Islamic law. The further into Anatolia he went, the more of people
with that worldview he came across. The book was also telling in that he never spoke to any
women. I believe the only women he came into contact with were working at
various museums and hotels. The book is supposed to be about his search
for the fez, but it was an incredible account of Turkey's day to day life
and culture. Mr. Seals also writes a little about modern Turkish
history in respect to how the Fez became outlawed. Turkey is a
beautiful country, the people are wonderfully polite, and have a culture of
treating guests with the utmost respect and hospitality. The worry I have
for Turkey is will they stay grounded in eastern and western ways, or will one
prevail and at what cost?
Please click here to order A Fez of the Heart, by Jeremy Seal.
SERPENT OF THE NILE, Women and Dance in the
Arab World
by Wendy Buonaventura
(updated 2/6/00)
This popular book is a wonderful resource to have on hand. It has
stunning reproductions of artwork and pictures. She also includes a short
glossary of arabic terms for anyone unfamiliar with them. This book is a
large paperback, printed in heavy stock. It is suitable for displaying as
a "coffee-table" book. She writes of the history of the dance,
how it changed in the Western world, the perceptions of the dance, the music and
the way the dance is performed in modern times. The reason I own the book
is for the pictures. I would not take the book as the definitive history
of the dance, because I personally think she relies too much on the 18th century
writers perception of the dance, but all in all, for the quality of the book,
and the pictures alone, (of which there is quite a number) it is a
beautiful and worthwhile book to have in your library.
Click
here to purchase Serpent of the Nile, by Wendy Buonaventura!