New Dance and Physical Education Books from Perpich Library

August 21, 2025

The Perpich Library is working at bolstering the dance and physical education areas of the professional collection. These are the fabulous books that were added most recently.

All items on this list are available at the Perpich library. Click on titles for more information.

1. The Art of Dance Composition: Writing the Body by Jenefer Davies
An introduction to modern dance composition, providing clear and structured approaches to designing and defining movement that demystify the creative process. The book introduces the concepts of creating authentic movement, processes for gathering and ordering compositional elements, and the ways in which theme, story, and design relate to bodies moving through space. It approaches the practice of composition from many avenues, including the use of digital tools such as video and video editing software, digital mapping, and motion capture, and through improvisation, sourced gestures, and inspiration from visual art, found objects, and chance methodology. Flowcharts that organize and provide a framework for making dance are included, equipping readers with a clear roadmap for creating their own work.

2. Ballet: The Definitive Illustrated Story – Viviana Durante, consultant
Discover more than 70 celebrated dances, from The Nutcracker and Swan Lake to The Rite of Spring. Learn about renowned companies such as The Royal Ballet and the Bolshoi Ballet. Explore the lives of ballet dancers across the centuries, such as Margot Fonteyn, Carlos Acosta, and Darcey Bussell, and meet composers and choreographers, including the likes of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Matthew Bourne. Tracing the history of ballet all the way from its origins at court and the first institutes to the contemporary scene, this comprehensive yet accessible volume offers an unrivaled overview of this dance form.

3. Ballet & Modern Dance: A Concise History, Third Edition by Jack Anderson
Ballet and Modern Dance meets the needs of both students and inquisitive dance goers through a narrative focused on the development of Western theatrical dance from the Renaissance to the first decades of the 21st century, incorporating the most recent scholarship and projecting trends. The text is illuminated by excerpts from primary sources and embellished by 65 photos. A section of biographical profiles at the end of the book serves as a supplementary reference source. Intended to be entertaining as well as enlightening the book seeks an additional objective which is the value of dance history as a field of study.

4. Dance and the Alexander Technique: Exploring the Missing Link by Rebecca Nettl-Fiol
Rebecca Nettl-Fiol and Luc Vanier utilize their ten years of research on developmental movement and dance training to explore the relationship between a specific movement technique and the basic principles of support and coordination. The Alexander Technique, developed in the early twentieth century by F. M. Alexander, can be used to enhance dexterity in all types of activities, from everyday actions as mundane as tooth-brushing to highly demanding dance movements.

5. Dance Theatre of Harlem: A History, A Movement, A Celebration by Judy Tyrus and Paul Novosel
This definitive history is a celebration of the first African American ballet company, from its 1960s origins in a Harlem basement, to the performances, community engagement, and education message of empowerment through the arts for all which the Company continues to carry forward today. Illustrated with hundreds of never before seen photos from the founding during the Civil Rights Movement by Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook through to today, this visual history tells the story that fueled Dance Theatre of Harlem’s growth into one of the most influential and revolutionary American ballet companies of the last five decades.

6. Edges of Ailey edited by by Adrienne Edwards
Alvin Ailey is one of the most celebrated choreographers of the twentieth century. The creator of iconic works such as Blues Suite, Revelations, and Cry, he is widely recognized for the dance company he founded in 1958 when he was just twenty-seven years old. This expansive volume situates Ailey within a broader social, creative, and cultural context, looking at the artists who influenced and collaborated with him, the spaces and scenes he frequented, the dynamic themes within his dances, and how his vision and work changed contemporary dance.

7. Meaningful Physical Education: An Approach for Teaching and Learning edited by Tim Fletcher, Déirdre Ní Chróinín, Douglas Gleddie and Stephanie Beni
This book outlines an approach to teaching and learning in physical education that prioritizes meaningful experiences for pupils, using case studies to illustrate how practitioners have implemented this approach across international contexts.

8. No Standing Around in My Gym by J.D. Hughes
Includes lesson plans, games, and teaching tips for elementary physical education. The book provides complete descriptions, nearly 200 illustrations, and proven plans to make the units and games easy to teach. It’s the ideal resource for busy teachers with little time in the day to think of new ideas or develop lesson plans from scratch.

9. Rechoreographing Learning: Dance As a Way to Bridge the Mind-Body Divide in Education by Sandra Cerny Minton
This book includes a description of the often-forgotten kinesthetic sense, body awareness, somatic practices, body-based way of thinking, mental imagery, nonverbal communication, human empathy, and symbol systems, what occurs in the brain during learning, and why and how movement and dance should be part of school curricula. This exploration argues that becoming more aware of bodily sensations serves as a basis for knowing, communicating, learning, and teaching through movement and dance.

10. Rooted Jazz Dance: Africanist Aesthetics and Equity in the Twenty-First Century edited by Lindsay Guarino, Carlos R. A. Jones, and Wendy Oliver
An African American art form, jazz dance has an inaccurate historical narrative that often sets Euro-American aesthetics and values at the inception of the jazz dance genealogy. The roots were systemically erased and remain widely marginalized and untaught, and the devaluation of its Africanist origins and lineage has largely gone unchallenged. Decolonizing contemporary jazz dance practice, this book examines the state of jazz dance theory, pedagogy, and choreography in the twenty-first century, recovering and affirming the lifeblood of jazz in Africanist aesthetics and Black American culture.

11. Skin Colored Pointes: Interviews with Women of Color in Ballet by Nyama McCarthy-Brown
This book sheds light on female dancers of color, including thirteen primary accounts from African American, Latina, and Asian women in ballet. Topics covered include dance training, casting (and color-casting), employment, discrimination, implicit bias, success, and achievement. Dancers discuss in detail the obstacles many dancers of color face during training; considerations facing some women of color when seeking employment; performance challenges related to company work; and the teachers, parents, and community members that paved a way and widened spaces for them.

All items on this list are available at the Perpich Library.

Title descriptions are provided by Amazon and/or the publisher.