Never Far from Dancing

Never Far from Dancing
Author: Barbara Newman
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2016-04-26
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1317325508

A series of interviews with some of the foremost dancers in twentieth-century ballet, Never Far from Dancing reflects on the paths that their careers have taken since they retired from the stage. Barbara Newman has expertly edited each of her interviews to read as a monologue, addressing every aspect of ballet, from its styles and technical demands to its personalities, its celebrated roles and, most of all, to what happens when the dancing stops. While ballet invites all manner of writing from critics, admirers and academics, the thoughts and experiences of the dancers themselves are seldom recorded. Here, those who scaled the heights of their art hand down their wisdom and recount lives spent in this most enduring of art forms.

A Dance Too Far

A Dance Too Far
Author: H. L. Day
Publisher: Independently Published
Total Pages: 318
Release: 2019-02-16
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9781796965889

Love can be dangerous!Valentin Bychkov, rising star of contemporary Russian ballet, appears to have everything: wealth, talent, success, and a face and body to match. Not that anyone can get close. Bypass the entourage and there's still Valentin's sharp tongue and acerbic wit to deal with. He may give his body freely, but his emotions are kept tightly locked away.Max Farley's life is a simple one. All he's interested in is work, drinking, and picking up the latest in a long line of one-night stands. The way he chooses to live may not be to everyone's taste but it suits him down to the ground. He's never met anyone who's made him want to confront the demons from his past. Until now. A show in London brings the two together. Lust brings them closer still. But if rumors of Bratva connections turn out to be true, then dangerous men wait in the wings. One dangerous man in particular, who's used to people following his orders without question.Difficult choices need to be made on both sides. Valentin and Max need to stop playing with fire and let each other go, or face the consequences. But letting go isn't that easy where love is concerned.And some things are worth the risk. Warning: This book contains a snarky ballet dancer with an aversion to clothes, a little too much wall sex and an overabundance of Russian heavies.

I'll Never Change My Name

I'll Never Change My Name
Author: Valentin Chmerkovskiy
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 397
Release: 2018-03-06
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0062820494

Poet. Dancer. Immigrant. Artist. Son. Brother. There’s always more than meets the eye . . . Valentin “Val” Chmerkovskiy has captivated viewers with his striking performances on Dancing with the Stars since his first step, season after season. His raw talent, dashing looks, and genuine kindness have made him an instant, beloved star. Now, for the first time ever, viewers will have an all-access pass to Val’s life—and in I’ll Never Change My Name, Val bares his soul, illuminating the thoughtful person he is both on and off the stage. In this revealing memoir, Val opens up about his life and career so far—where he’s come from and where he hopes to go. He shows the reader some of the most notable moments from his childhood in Odessa, Ukraine, and his tight-knit family’s immigration to the United States—including his struggles learning English as a stranger desperate to fit into a different culture, how he worked to become a premiere ballroom dancer, and, of course, the collaborations and competitions with his brother and fellow DWTS sensation, Maksim “Maks” Chmerkovskiy. After years of practice and discipline, Val, along with his older brother Maks, have reached the pinnacle of success, but it took a great deal of hard work and gratitude to get there. Sharing at times intimate and at times entertaining moments with early dance partners all the way up through celebrity dance partners such as Laurie Hernandez, Zendaya, Kelly Monaco, and Rumer Willis on Dancing with the Stars, Val expresses his enduring gratitude for the opportunities America has afforded him and his family, and for everything this country represents—offering hope not only to fans, but everyone with a dream. Inspiring, heartfelt, and compulsively readable—including sixteen pages of never- before-seen photographs, as well as a foreword by brother Maks Chmerkovskiy—I’ll Never Change My Name is filled with Val’s honesty and insight, and moments that are sure to touch readers’ hearts and inspire us all to keep it moving.

Never Far from Home

Never Far from Home
Author: Bruce Jackson
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2023-02-07
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1982191155

Microsoft’s associate general counsel shares the inspirational story of his rise from childhood poverty in pre-gentrified New York City to a stellar career at the top of the technology and music industries in this stirring true story of grit and perseverance. For fans of Indra Nooyi’s My Life in Full and Viola Davis’s Finding Me. As an accomplished Microsoft executive, Bruce Jackson handles billions of dollars of commerce as its associate general counsel while he plays a crucial role in the company’s corporate diversity efforts. But few of his colleagues can understand the weight he carries with him to the office each day. He kept his past hidden from sight as he ascended the corporate ladder but shares it in full for the first time here. Born in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Jackson moved to Manhattan’s Amsterdam housing projects as a child, where he had already been falsely accused and arrested for robbery by the age of ten. At the age of fifteen, he witnessed the homicide of his close friend. Taken in by the criminal justice system, seduced by a burgeoning drug trade, and burdened by a fractured, impoverished home life, Jackson stood on the edge of failure. But he was saved by an offer. That offer set him on a better path, off the streets and eventually on the way to Georgetown Law, but not without hard knocks along the way. But even as he racked up professional accomplishments, Jackson is still haunted by the unchanged world outside his office. From public housing to working for Microsoft’s president, Brad Smith, and its founder, Bill Gates, to advising some of the biggest stars in music, Bruce Jackson’s Never Far from Home reveals the ups and downs of an incredible journey, how he overcame many obstacles and the valuable lessons learned along the way.

Never Far from Dancing

Never Far from Dancing
Author: Barbara Newman
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2014
Genre: PERFORMING ARTS
ISBN: 9780415832144

This is a collection of interviews with some of the foremost ballet dancers of the Twentieth Century, reflecting on the paths that their careers have taken since retiring.

Dancing on My Ashes

Dancing on My Ashes
Author: Heather Gilion
Publisher: Tate Publishing
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2010-05
Genre: Bereavement
ISBN: 1607998718

Holly and Heather share their story and help to walk the reader through the painful yet necessary healing process for when life deals us its harshest blows. Dancing on my ashes soothes and empathizes with the broken heart, while sharing the truth of scripture, and the hope that comes from the heart of God.

And Never Stop Dancing

And Never Stop Dancing
Author: Gordon Livingston
Publisher: Da Capo Lifelong Books
Total Pages: 113
Release: 2008-10-20
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0786726539

In Dr. Gordon Livingston's follow-up to his national bestseller Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart, he offers thirty more true things we need to know now. Among the fresh truths he identifies and explores in this book, which has sold more than 50,000 copies in hardcover, are: Paradox governs our lives. Forgiveness is a gift we give ourselves. Marriage ruins a lot of good relationships. We are defined by what we fear. We all live downstream. One of life's most difficult tasks is to see ourselves as others see us. As we grow old, the beauty steals inward. Most people die with their music still inside of them. Dr. Livingston's sterling qualities are in evidence again: a clear and deep understanding of the hidden hypocrisies, desires, evasions, and emotional tumult that course through our lives; an unerring sense of what is important; and his own ability to persevere-to hope-in a world he knows is capable of inflicting unjustifiable and lifelong suffering.

Daring to Dance With God

Daring to Dance With God
Author: Jeff Walling
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2010-06-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1451604823

In Daring to Dance with God, Jeff Walling uses biblical insight, fascinating stories, and cutting-edge wisdom to move you into a celebration of life's surprises and a richer relationship with the God of the unexpected. How would you like to step into God's embrace and know him more intimately? How would it feel to be swept away in his strong arms and warm affection? Such visions may seem like impossible dreams, but the incredible fact is that God yearns for deep communion and intimacy with you. God does not intend that your life be paralyzed by fear, duty, or guilt. Rather, he has orchestrated a melody, written just for you, that is full of energy, passion, and exaltation. In Daring to Dance with God, Jeff Walling uses biblical insight, fascinating stories, and cutting-edge wisdom to move you into a celebration of life's surprises and a richer relationship with the God of the unexpected. Open this book and open your life to the daring possibilities of celebrating life at its deepest level through an intimate, expressive relationship with God. He is the lead in this great dance of life…inviting…encouraging…inspiring you to step forward into his waiting embrace. Dare to take a step and dance with God.

What You Become in Flight

What You Become in Flight
Author: Ellen O'Connell Whittet
Publisher: National Geographic Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2020-04-14
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1612198325

"Poignant and exquisite"--The Los Angeles Review of Books "An inspiring and powerful book"--Booklist "A genuinely absorbing read"--Kirkus "Revelatory, honest, and wondrous."--Chanel Miller, author of Know My Name A lyrical and meditative memoir on the damage we inflict in the pursuit of perfection, the pain of losing our dreams, and the power of letting go of both. With a promising career in classical ballet ahead of her, Ellen O'Connell Whittet was devastated when a misstep in rehearsal caused a career-ending injury. Ballet was the love of her life. She lived for her moments under the glare of the stage-lights--gliding through the air, pretending however fleetingly to effortlessly defy gravity. Yet with a debilitating injury forcing her to reconsider her future, she also began to reconsider what she had taken for granted in her past. Beneath every perfect arabesque was a foot, disfigured by pointe shoes, stuffed--taped and bleeding--into a pink, silk slipper. Behind her ballerina's body was a young girl starving herself into a fragile collection of limbs. Within her love of ballet was a hatred of herself for struggling to achieve the perfection it demanded of her. In this raw and redemptive debut memoir, Ellen O'Connell Whittet explores the silent suffering of the ballerina--and finds it emblematic of the violence that women quietly shoulder every day. For O'Connell Whittet, letting go of one meant confronting the other--only then was it possible to truly take flight.

Dancing Modernism / Performing Politics

Dancing Modernism / Performing Politics
Author: Mark Franko
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2023-05-02
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0253065445

In the much-anticipated update to a classic in dance studies, Mark Franko analyzes the political aspects of North American modern dance in the 20th century. A revisionary account of the evolution of modern dance, this revised edition of Dancing Modernism / Performing Politics features a foreword by Juan Ignacio Vallejos on Franko's career, a new preface, a new chapter on Yvonne Rainer, and an appendix of left-wing dance theory articles from the 1930s. Questioning assumptions that dancing reflects culture, Franko employs a unique interdisciplinary approach to dance analysis that draws from cultural theory, feminist studies, and sexual, class, and modernist politics. Franko also highlights the stories of such dancers as Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham, and even revolutionaries like Douglas Dunn in order to upend and contradict ideas on autonomy and traditionally accepted modernist dance history. Revealing the captivating development of modern dance, this revised edition of Dancing Modernism / Performing Politics will fascinate anyone interested in the intersection of performance studies, history, and politics.