Recommended: 4 Editor's Picks
February 1, 2017

Radical Bodies: Anna Halprin, Simone Forti, and Yvonne Rainer in California and New York, 1955–1972

•By Ninotchka Bennahum, Wendy Perron and Bruce Robertson

•University of California Press; 192 pages; $55

Anna Halprin’s California-based dance deck was a haven for many New York choreographers in the 1960s. Radical Bodies celebrates Halprin’s works and those of Simone Forti and Yvonne Rainer. The fully illustrated catalog of photos, scores and drawings is accompanied by essays that delve into the choreographers’ controversial work, which challenged what audiences accepted as dance.

Dance and Politics: Moving Beyond Boundaries

•By Dana Mills

•Manchester University Press; 144 pages; $25.95

In her first book, Dana Mills, a visiting scholar at Bard College, covers the history of how dance has been used to make statements. She connects the revolutionary dances of Isadora Duncan and Martha Graham, the Gumboot dancers in South Africa, the One Billion Rising movement to end violence against women and protest dances in Israel.

Taking the Lead: Memoir of a Dancing Life

•By Pierre Dulaine

•Dancing Without Borders Press; 240 pages; $25

In 1994, ballroom world champion Pierre Dulaine created Dancing Classrooms, a program that helps children build confidence, self-esteem and social skills through dance. It later became the subject of the documentary Mad Hot Ballroom. In his new memoir, Dulaine shares his journey from a turbulent childhood in the Middle East to becoming an acclaimed ballroom dancer and teacher.

The Magic Box: The Films of Shirley Clarke. 1929–1987. Project Shirley: Volume 4. Three Disc Deluxe Set

•Milestone Films, 2016; eight hours; $71.96 (DVD)

Best known for experimental films and an Academy Award–winning documentary on Robert Frost, American filmmaker Shirley Clarke was a dancer first, studying with Martha Graham and Hanya Holm in the 1930s. Clarke created a substantial collection of short dance films, which viewers can enjoy in The Magic Box.

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