... cultures and countries who were brought together by the love of dance and how their story sheds light on ...
347885
A very captivating story of two people from different cultures and countries who were brought together by the love of dance and how their story sheds light on how we as people love one another and how this pure love can become misconstrued and tainted by the influence of religion, culture, politics and society.
3658248
Ms. Pinard's story of Emma Kate's journey to New York to join a ballet company is a fascinating study, merging the author's keen insights into the world of ballet and the coming-of-age of a midwestern raised young woman.

The author starts the story with Emma Kate's break from her parents, and moves on to her difficulties in adapting to life in New York City.  Her main character struggles not only in her relationships in the ballet company, but also in trying to shift from a homogeonous midwestern lifestyle to the melting pot of New York.

Emma Kate is a brave young woman, and surprising capable in getting used to her new situation.  But she is also naive in many respects, especially in dealing with men.  She has a rough time understanding what the men in her new environment want from her, and sometimes has to pay a high price for her lack of savvy.

This is a fun book to read: a fine insight into the mirrored cloister of the dance studio, and a touching tale of a young woman's struggle to achieve her dream to be a ballet dancer.

By E. Hazel, author of "Tarot Decoded"
4158607
This is a great book that brings together South Asian immigrant and continental story with Native American story of place. Ravva masterfully weaves together the threads of location with his own understanding of self.

Ravva is attuned to the conversations of settler colonialism and wages alliance with other colonized communities--a move that Asian American literature must make in order to show complicity with the settler state as we im/migrate here reinforcing the displacement of original inhabitants of the continent.

I recommend this book for lovers of poetry, non-fiction, religion, postcolonial and settler colonial studies.
4828189
This is a fascinating look into the development of 20th Century ballet, both East and West, as well as a biography of a person who fought for her ideals despite suffering great hardship and loss. It was a shame that she never got round to recording her work, but I remember her memory living on through some of her "graduates" who taught in London in the 80's and 90's viz. Svetlana Beriosova, Maryon Lane (both ex Royal Ballet) and Patricia Norman, who retrained as a teacher with her, and worked with her at the Royal Danish. All these teachers shared a sense of style combined with the development of a strong core, which nurtured dancers from all backgrounds, both modern and classical, and when the West Street studios re-opened in the mid 80's, they shared their memories of their great teacher in casual after class conversations. So, in a sense, her teachings were passed on, allbeit by word of mouth.
3204626
I was given a free copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

With Ballet In My Soul is a memoir that focuses on the life of the accomplished author Eva Maze. When Maze is a teenager in the late 1930s, her lifelong dream is to become a dancer, specifically a ballet dancer. She decides to leave the country of Romania in order to pursue her dream of dancing. Although she is unable to dance due to illness she ultimately becomes an extremely successful impresario; this is a notable accomplishment due to the fact that women were practically unknown in that field during the time period. Although her efforts are mostly unheard of, she achieves so many interesting triumphs throughout her adult life. Overall, Maze manages to travel through seven different countries and makes her mark on each one she visits, showing that if you work hard enough you can reach any goal you set your heart on.

With Ballet In My Soul is a breathtaking, carefully organized and visually stunning novel. My favorite part of this book it its beautiful pictures. Rarely there are pictures in memoirs, and if there are, they are usually placed as an afterthought. There are many pictures in this book and they are colorful, vibrant and organized in a way the flows with the words on the page. It almost felt like I was going through a scrapbook; the pictures made Mazes story feel more warm and intimate. It was interesting to see these pictures match up with the time period in which Maze describes. She is now around ninety years old so there is a lot of history woven into this book. She has lived through many major historical events and I enjoyed that I was able to learn more about the past through her point of view.

All in all, this book is very enjoyable to read. Mazes writing is wonderful; when you read her writing it is almost as if you are listening to an old friend talk to you. The pacing has a middle ground that works well with her voice, and the tone is consistently inviting. It is organized well; each chapter divides her story up equally and allows the reader to learn more about her life as time moves forward. Not only is this book intriguing to read but it also teaches you a lot of different things including important aspects of history and dance. Before reading this book I had no idea what an impresario was, but now I know how important the role is within the entertainment industry. Maze has an amazing life story that should be spread all over the world and she does a great job of conveying that through her memoir. I suggest this novel to any person who loves memoirs, dance, history and has an interest in learning more about different countries. This memoir teaches you that in order to achieve your dreams, you must be willing to work hard for them.
2928633
I saw a documentary about peoples like these, bare knuckle fighters in modern times.  A people who live by a mostly strict code of honor, be it also violence and love.  Daniel Kenyon penned an utterly fascinating and detailed book about those groups of people, Gypsies and Travellers.  I thought this would be just graphic violence.  It did have that and may have benefited from another dozen pages describing a fight.  But this was so much more.  A love story.  The love and honor of families.  Tragedies.  And a fascinating look at cultures little of us least of all me knew about but are richer for knowing if not still confused by it.  Highly recommended.
2133750
I love to read stories about the families of other cultures, especially how the people handle the transition from one country to another that is vastly different than what they know.  Violence is part and parcel of every culture, some more than others, especially in countries that subjugate woman.  Even in the good o' USA we have a way to go for the physically weaker sex.  Maybe it's in the dna, who knows.  I do not believe there is any "war" on women at all, here, but as a woman who was physically mistreated and suffer ptsd as a result, I know how easy it is to fall into a pattern.  This story gives the perspective from four women in one family and how they looked at it and how it affect them.  Excellent read.
1164985
Beautiful book about the importance of Cuban ballet and its influence on the early American ballet scene. I was blessed by studying ballet at the Alicia Alonso school of ballet in Havana as a little girl then after the revolution was again blessed by studying ballet for many years with her sister, Cuca Martinez - who was an inspiration in my life. This book covers the techniques, artform, and personal relationships within these geniuses of ballet art. It is a treasure and I know I will hold it dear to my heart forever.
1392162
This DVD tells the story of the Chicano movement that started in East LA and tells it through the music that evolved into a unique beat and blend of Mexican and American music.  The stories are great and told with skill and sweetness.  You won't be able to resist dancing with joy and welcoming this music into the U.S. story.

Shirley Fredricks
1180614
The tango's global reach can be difficult to appreciate from one's own familiar perspective, encompassing as it does not only the South American dancers and musicians that gave it birth and sustain it in its land of origin, but also the far more numerous tango aficionados from around the world who discover within themselves a powerful resonance with this magical cultural expression. Beatriz Dujovne's deeply satisfying book recounts her spirited and multifaceted journey to interweave the tango's many perspectives in her own life, from an academic's fresh look at the history of tango, along with extensively detailed recountings of interviews and milonga experiences in her native Buenos Aires, on the one hand, to the threads of her life in the United States (which includes a Ph. D. from the University of Missouri) on the other, including a fascinating set of experiences at USA tango festivals and interviews with non-Argentine tango aficionados from around the world. Throughout her explorations, her narrative voice sustains a sense of awe and wonder at the magical effects of tango on its adherents. Among an increasing selection of recently published "tango memoirs", this book is the first I've seen which combines an academic's drive for detail and solid research with such an appealing breadth of observation of the rich "flora and fauna" of the contemporary tango world.
2211482
"This is a wonderful story of the coming together of cultures and generations. A woman artist finds herself in a foreign land; in spite of facing loneliness and hardship, she finds love right where she is in the friendship with an elderly village woman, and the friendship changes the foreigner's life.  She learns new tricks to survive in the ancient French village and earns the respect of the villagers as she adjusts to her new life. It is a compelling story and you feel it really comes from the heart."

Fred Andresen, Author of Walking on Ice, An American Businessman in Russia.
34540
Sharing Stories is a celebration of storytelling-how it can create history, healing, and meaning, especially as people reflect on important moments in their lives. I greatly enjoyed reading about the process of the stories that were first collected for local newspapers, to the facilitation of the Memoir Class at the senior center. The stories themselves are so full of detail and emotion. One of my favorite stories is written by Yolanda Adel about a teenage encounter with her bruja tia. I also really enjoyed Elaine Held's piece about her mother's dream of the opera. The editor, Carol Kearns, did a fabulous job of putting order to the stories, she takes you from Roots to Modern Times, a journey full of learning.
1253090
If you like to learn about foreign countries while enjoying great stories, Making Ghosts Dance is for you.  The author's deep knowledge of Cambodia's dark side provides a chilling, at times horrifying, background for the tale of a father's love for his family.  You won't  want to put the book down until the end, and the characters and setting are guaranteed to stick with you a long time.
3884614
Nam Viet and it's importance in Chinese history is often overlooked,however, Edward Schafer has combined a remarkable set of historical accounts from various sources that details many of these accounts from their earliest oral and written history to their ever lasting contributions in the arts, and trade.
The real story of the indigenous tribal societies of Vietnam, Thailand, and southern China have all been brought together telling of slavery, cruelty, farming, idol worship, and even culinary delights. The indigenous culture that had replaced an earlier negroid tribal group was now forced to submit to the T'ang system of civilization and worship. Ironically this process was nothing short of the many imperialist historical accounts of many other nations throughout history but the unique nature of this region and it's diversity has an interesting surprise at every point.
1328165
The history of the Jewish diaspora has been told over centuries largely from a Western cultural perspective, omitting the movement of these communities eastward along the Silk Route into the furthest reaches of Asia. In this richly descriptive recounting of that neglected story, Rabbi Marvin  Tokayer and Dr. Ellen Rodman give readers a wealth of well researched, fascinating material about the interaction of little known Jewish communities and larger-than-life heroes with the cultures they encountered from 4th Century India, where a Jewish state was established under the protection of an Indian ruler, to the Holocaust era refuge granted Eastern European Jews by Japan. At a time when violent  religious conflicts are fracturing centuries old communities, creating the misery of new mass migrations, this book is full of little known stories that provide views of exotic, magical worlds of cooperation that really existed.
3573502
It all started with Kelly Hargraves. She's the publicist for First Run Features, and a primary source of so many of the great documentaries I see for review. Kelly has a passion for dance, for film, and the melding of the two. The inclusion of dance documentaries and dance films in First Run Features' catalog is the result of her passionate influence. In turn, this philistine's introduction to the worlds of dance film is directly due to her gentle persuasion. So, dear reader, you've been warned. This review of "Dancing Dreams" is composed by a vulgarian confronting a fine art -- for watching dance at its creative evolutionary edge is, for me at least, like entering another world with unfamiliar languages and rituals.

"Rehearsal Director." Now there's a new term on me. The two rehearsal directors are Josephine Ann Endicott and Bndiete Billiet. They're in a dance hall, in Wuppertal, Germany, working with a large group of adolescents from more than 11 schools, teaching them a dance. But Billiet and Endicott didn't write the dance, I mean choreograph the dance. That was done by a lady named Pina Bausch who is, like, this world-famous dancer and choreographer who died in 2009. Bausch is in this movie, evaluating, helping, and teaching the dancers, but not all the time. Endicott and Billiet do almost all the teaching work.

This three-women producing/directing team is teaching these teenagers how to do this dance -- one which has been performed around the world for decades. Some of the kids have never danced before. I'm not sure how or why the team chose non-dancers, but I readily admit it makes the whole thing kinda more interesting -- especially considering this dance, called "Kontakthof", is something about how people connect with each other. In addition to the raw challenge to learn this dance for public performance, the group is being directed to perform highly stylized erotic movements -- moves most teens would save for `freak' dancing in the dark confines of a club. Plus, there's more than dance. There's acting. Quick vignettes occur between the dancers who have short lines of dialog to express.

Filmmakers Anne Linsel and Rainer Hoffman cover the rehearsals, Pina Bausch's participation, and interview the kids as well as Bausch, Billiet, and Endicott at and away from their rehearsal hall. We also see some portions of the piece being performed for the public. Through it all we share in the joy, tensions, struggles, and uncertainties both the kids and the rehearsal directors face as they travel light years of change and learning preparing their dance.

The DVD's special features include a Pina Bausch biography, a photo gallery, director's notes, and First Run Feature's `Dance Gallery'.

Okay, Kelly. What's next?
2903551
When East meets West the cultures fuse and combine....but not without conflict and loss of authenticity. This is what we learn during the journey of Ali and Nino. Beautifully written with great consideration for all cultures involved, and understanding of the clashes created by the arrival of outside forces. A lesson in love, tolerance and respect for the past.