LibGuides: Dance Research Guide: Finding Books

Finding Books

Books, eBooks, and other Library materials can be searched using the Online Catalog. Books for Dance are located in sections GV 1587- GV 1799 in the Library's collection. There are two main categories of books: general and reference. General books (located in the "Stacks" on the lower floor) can be checked out and are often used for more in-depth research. Reference books (located on the upper floor) do not circulate but can be useful for acquiring an overview on a topic.

Course Reserves

The Library maintains a collection of instructor reserve materials. These consist of textbooks, videos, and supplemental course materials that instructors have put in the Library for student use. To find what materials are available for Dance, search Course Reserves in the Online Catalog. It is best to search by "Course Number" (ex. KIN 103) in that an instructor other than yours may have placed an item on reserve. Materials can be requested at the Periodicals counter and generally must be used in the Library on a two-hour loan period. Photocopy machines are available for 10¢ a copy.

A few selected Library general and reference titles for Dance are listed below.

American Dance: The Complete Illustrated History by Margaret Fuhrer
Call Number: GV1623 .F84 2014
Publication Date: 2014
A lavishly illustrated history of American dance; covers more than four centuries, from Native American ceremonial dances to the early 21st century; written by journalist and dancer Margaret Fuhrer.
Dance Anatomy and Kinesiology [Second edition] by Karen Sue Clippinger
Call Number: RC1220 .D35 C55 2016
Publication Date: 2016
This text helps dancers learn anatomical and biomechanical principles as they apply to dance performance. It focuses on optimal dance movement and the related principles for understanding the function of body joints. And by applying those principles, dancers can help reduce their risk of injury and enhance their performance longevity.
Dance Encyclopedia by Anatole chujoy
Call Number: Ref. GV1585 .C5 1967
Publication Date: 1967
This completely revised and enlarged edition is a virtual one-volume international reference library of the art and science of the dance. Its 1,008 pages, which include close to 5,000 entries, are illuminated with 274 photographs.
Dance Imagery for Technique and Performance by Eric Franklin
Call Number: GV1589 .F73 2014
Publication Date: 2013
Renowned master teacher Eric Franklin has thoroughly updated his classic text, Dance Imagery for Technique and Performance, providing dancers and dance educators with a deep understanding of how they can use imagery to improve their dancing and artistic expression in class and in performance.
Dancing Culture Religion by Sam Gill; Richard M. Carp (Contribution by); Rebecca Sachs Norris (Contribution by)
Call Number: GV1588.6 .G54 2012
Publication Date: 2012
In this provocative study of dancing, Sam Gill examines the interpretive styles of a variety of cultural dance traditions in discourse with the philosophic traditions of Schiller, Merleau-Ponty, Barbaras, Derrida, Leroi-Gourhan, and Baudrillard. As a scholar of religion, Gill provides special consideration to the importance of this emerging appreciation of dancing as a perspective inclusive of body and experience. *Also available as an eBook
Dancing Longer, Dancing Stronger by Robin Kish; Jennie Morton
Call Number: GV1588 .K57 2019
Publication Date: 2019-07-01
Dancing Longer, Dancing Stronger offers a complete conditioning program to help dancers improve technique and lessen the danger of injury. By presenting general principles of injury prevention as well as specific exercises for increasing strength and flexibility, the book provides information that dancers of all ages and skill levels can use to improve performance.
Dictionary of Modern Ballet by Francis Gadan and Robert Maillard
Call Number: Ref. GV1787 D513 1959
Publication Date: 1959
A reference book of about 650 articles describing the achievements of dancing on the stage in the course of the last 50 years,the first half of the 20th century.Very well illustrated in color and black and white.
The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music by Ruth M. Stone (Editor)
Call Number: Ref. ML100 .G16 Vols. 1-10
Publication Date: 1997
Emphasizes the contexts of musical performance-unlike studies that offer static interpretations isolated from other performing traditions; and presents the fresh insights and analyses of musicologists and anthropologists of diverse national origins-African, Asian, European and American. Also includes nine maps and 96 music examples.
History of Dance 2nd Edition with Web Resource by Gayle Kassing
Call Number: Ref. GV1601 K37 2017
Publication Date: 2017
Offers readers a panoramic view of dance from prehistory to the present. The text covers the dance forms, designs, artists, costumes, performing spaces, and accompaniments throughout the centuries and around the globe.
International Encyclopedia of Dance by Selma J. Cohen; Dance Perspectives Foundation Staff (Editor)
Call Number: Ref. GV1585 .I586 1998 Vols. 1-6
Publication Date: 1998
In six volumes, with nearly 2,000 articles written by scholars from over fifty countries, the International Encyclopedia of Dance offers authoritative coverage of the full spectrum of dance, including theatrical dance, ritual dance-drama, folk, traditional, ethnic, and social dance. Extensive historical and cultural overviews of many nations appear and more.
Latin and Caribbean Dance by Margaret Musmon
Call Number: GV1596.5 .M87 2010
Publication Date: 2010
Latin and Caribbean Dance highlights dances indigenous to Cuba (mambo and cha-cha-cha), the Dominican Republic (merengue and bachata), Haiti (compas and Vodou ritual dances), Argentina (tango), and Brazil (samba and capoeira). Explore how each dance has developed and been adapted through European and African influences.
Middle Eastern Dance by Penni Alzayer
Call Number: GV1704 .A52 2010
Publication Date: 2010
This new edition of Middle Eastern Dance clearly and colorfully showcases the many dances of the region that have been performed for thousands of years, such as the spiritual spinning dances of the Whirling Dervishes and the dabkeh line dance of the Lebanese, Palestinian, Jordanian, Syrian, and Iraqi people.
Popular Dance: From Ballroom to Hip-Hop by Karen Lynn Smith
Call Number: GV1596.5 .S55 2010
Publication Date: 2010
Takes readers on a journey through the trends and developments in popular dancing from European nobles during the Renaissance and early Baroque periods in Europe through 21st-century America. Discover how social and historical elements influenced the development of the waltz, the Charleston, jitterbug, and urban street dancing (such as krumping), and more.
Queer Dance: Meanings and Makings by Clare Croft
Call Number: GV1588.6 .Q84 2017
Publication Date: 2017
Engaging with dance making, dance scholarship, queer studies, and other fields, Queer Dance asks how identities, communities, and artmaking and scholarly practices might consider what queer work the body does and can do.
Salsa World by Sydney Hutchinson (Editor)
Call Number: GV1796 .S245 S27 2014
Publication Date: 2013
Since its emergence in the 1960s, salsa has transformed from a symbol of Nuyorican pride into an emblem of pan-Latinism and finally a form of global popular culture. While Latinos all over the world have developed and even exported their own "dance accents," local dance scenes have arisen in increasingly far-flung locations, each with their own flavor and unique features.
Social Dancing in America by Ralph G. Giordano
Call Number: Ref. GV1623 .G56 2007 Vols. 1-2
Publication Date: 2006
This two-volume set relates the history of the most popular social dances, where they began, which dances survived the test of time and why, and what attracted American men and women to social dancing in these periods.
Underground Dance Masters by Thomas Guzman-Sanchez
Call Number: GV1623 .G89 2012
Publication Date: 2012
This book is a comprehensive, historical bible on the subject of urban street dance and its influence on modern dance, hip hop, and pop culture. * Includes coverage of all of the major players in urban dance * Places current dance phenomena--from the moves of Usher to the choreography of High School Musical--in a historical context that stretches half a century.
The World's Great Ballets by John Gruen
Call Number: Ref. GV1780 A1 G78
Publication Date: 1981
It includes photos from the top performances, and a great deal of explanations about them. A beautiful hardcover book with over 250 pages.

A Choreographer's Handbook by Jonathan Burrows
Call Number: Ebsco eBook
Publication Date: 2010
A Choreographer's Handbook invites the reader to investigate how and why to make a dance performance. In an inspiring and unusually empowering sequence of stories, ideas and paradoxes, internationally renowned dancer, choreographer and teacher Jonathan Burrows explains how it's possible to navigate a course through this complex process.
Country and Western Dance by Ralph G. Giordano
Call Number: Ebsco eBook
Publication Date: 2010
Country & Western Dance turns the spotlight on a uniquely American form of dance, one that has been scuffing the floorboards for nearly a century but is often overlooked. Fun, lively, and thoroughly researched, this revealing volume tells the full story of country and western dance music from the days of Bob Wills and Tulsa to Oklahoma's Cain's Ballroom to John Travolta and Gilley's of Houston, Texas.
Hip Hop Dance by Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar
Call Number: Ebsco eBook
Publication Date: 2012
This guide provides an overview of the history of hip hop culture and an exploration of its dance style, appropriate both for student research projects and general interest reading. *Also available in print
Jazz Dance: A History of the Roots and Branches by Lindsay Guarino (Editor); Wendy Oliver (Editor)
Call Number: Proquest eBook
Publication Date: 2014
The history of jazz dance is best understood by comparing it to a tree. The art form's roots are African. Its trunk is vernacular, shaped by European influence, and exemplified by the Charleston and the Lindy Hop.
The Lakota Ghost Dance Of 1890 by Rani-Henrik Andersson
Call Number: Ebsco eBook
Publication Date: 2008
A broad range of perspectives from Natives and non-Natives makes this book the most complete account and analysis of the Lakota ghost dance ever published.
The Routledge Dance Studies Reader by Alexandra Carter; Janet O'Shea; Jens Giersdorf (Editor); Yutian Wong (Editor)
Call Number: Ebsco eBook
Publication Date: 2010
Represents the range and diversity of writings on dance from the mid-to-late twentieth century, providing contemporary perspectives on ballet, modern dance, postmodern 'movement performance' jazz and ethnic dance.