The Dancer Within: Intimate Conversations with Great Dancers

by Rose Eichenbaum

Book Overview

Intimate portraits of some of the most beloved dancers in America

The Dancer Within is a collection of photographic portraits and short essays based on confessional interviews with forty dancers and entertainers, many of them world-famous. Well-known on the concert stage, on Broadway, in Hollywood musicals, and on television, the personalities featured in this book speak with extraordinary candor about all stages of the dancer's life--from...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0819568805
• ISBN13: 9780819568809
• Release Date: June 2008
• Publisher: Wesleyan University Press
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 2.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 7.1" x 10.1"
• Age Range: 18 years and up

Customer Reviews

pleased

Being a dance lover, I wanted to read about people who live to dance and what inspires them. Some of the dancers I knew of and others I didn't. The only disappointing part for me was that almost all of them focused on ballet. I don't recall there being any ballroom dancers,bellydancers,etc. Nice pics.

A glorious book about dancers and their passion.

Rose Eichenbaum's love of dance and her devotion to dancers shines through every page of this glorious book. Personal interviews and candid photographs take the reader on an intimate journey with each of these performing artists, revealing their aspirations, their failures, their love of life and of their art. The author manages to bring out the uniqueness of each subject, presenting an entertaining, inter-active visit with some of the great dancers of our time.

Capturing a Moment in Time

What can one write about a "one-of-a-kind" photo journalism work like this one? "The Dancer Within" not only contains some masterful photographs but the "tone" of each interview is so personal, so candid and so insightful. Although the dance styles, career paths, accomplishments and challenges of each interviewee are varied, they all emerge as "One." It was prophetic and purposeful that the book is titled "The Dancer Within," as the text "nails" that random and demanding dancer computer chip embedded in all of them. For anyone who ever danced -or ever dreamed of it - the book is a neccesary addition to your library. And your spirit. It also captures the end of an era in dance history but begins the transition into the future. I look forward to Ms. Eichenbaum's next exploration and thank her for allowing us to take these journeys with her.

Inspired ...

I bought "The Dancer Within" a week before actually reading it. When I began, I couldn't put it down and I was compelled to reach out in gratitude to the author/photojournalist herself. Each page touched my heart and soul as Rose Eichenbaum captured what it truly means to be a dancer regardless of age, race, nationality or gender. It is no easy task to express the richness, spirituality and transformative nature of this art form, yet Eichenbaum pulls it off seamlessly. I wanted to share my appreciation for the time and energy put into creating this book. I've gained greater insight about myself through those photos and interviews. So, I say 'thank you' because something led me to that striking shot of Chita Rivera on the cover ... which ultimately led me to open up to another journalist who recognizes the power and gift of dance.

Intimate Indeed

Sitting down to read "The Dancer Within," I feel as if I've been invited into the homes of each great dancer for a cup of tea and an intimate sharing of lives. Accompanied by introspective, striking photographic portraits, most questions and answers tell the story of each artist/dancer's life while paying equal attention to his/her inner life. I learned, for example, that for quite some time Joel Grey didn't want the early fame accorded him as a song-and-dance man; he longed to be the serious actor, the next Laurence Olivier. Rita Moreno's rise to fame was deeply desired and complex. Not surprisingly in those times, as a Puerto Rican she was typecast in roles; but at the same time in adulthood she herself struggled--internally and externally--to overcome the messages of being "less than as a Puerto Rican" internalized in her childhood. She triumphs personally and professionally: a triumph of will, work, luck, and other blessings. Eichenbaum pays tribute to the drive and the humanness of these artists with sensitivity and grace.