Books: Kinesiology

[danceuntiltheworldends]

I'm looking into adding a dance kinesiology book to my library, and was wondering if anyone had any titles they recommend?

 

Dance anatomy and kinesiology by Karen S. Clippinger, Dance Anatomy (Sports Anatomy) by Jacqui Greene Haas, Dance anatomy and kinesiology by Karen S. Clippinger all have good reviews. Anatomy and Kinesiology for Ballet Teachers by Eivind Thomasen and Rachel-Anne Rist also looks good.

 

Any thoughts on these, or are there any other titles you like?

Edited September 11, 2011 by danceuntiltheworldends

[Stage Right]

All three of those books you mention are in my library, and I highly recommend them. All have different strengths: the Clippenger book is by far the most detailed and has just a wealth of information--if information is what you want, that's absolutely #1! Dance Anatomy is a book I used in my college-level dance alignment course. It is very clear, great illustrations. The anatomy is somewhat simplified, as compared to the Clippenger book, although definitely not Mickey Mouse. It has wonderful exercises that target the muscles used in each chapter. Anatomy and Kinesiology for Ballet Teachers is also good--haven't looked into that in a while, so I don't have a clear memory of it. Another great one I'd add is "Inside Ballet Technique". I don't have it next to me, so don't recall the author's name just now. I'll look it up and add it as an edit later. As I recall, it is wonderful and clear at applying anatomy to ballet technique in very specific terms.

 

*OK, the author of "Inside Ballet Technique: Separating Fact from Fiction in the Ballet Class" is Valerie Grieg. It does just what the title suggests: takes a direction commonly found in the ballet classroom, such as "The motivation for the grand battement front should come from underneath the leg", or the ubiquitous "pull-up", and talks about what is actually going on anatomically, and how to perhaps make that instruction a little clearer and more accurate.

[danceuntiltheworldends]

Awesome! Thanks so much for the reply and information. I'm looking forward to checking out these books! "Inside Ballet Technique" sounds very much like what I am looking for as well. Can't wait. :-)

[mirabray]

Dance anatomy and kinesiology by Karen S. Clippinger, is a book use in St. Mary's Leap college program.

[danceuntiltheworldends]

Thank you! :-)

[kylara7]

Dance anatomy and kinesiology by Karen S. Clippinger is my go-to reference book for dance-related anatomy and physiology topics (and some non-dance ones as well!). I'm a scientist by training and profession, so I liked the very detailed and thorough anatomical approach but with a dance interpretation and connection to dance movements and common physical problems. The suggested exercises for strengthening in each section are very good and I have found them very valuable. I think you can preview quite a bit of the actual pages using Google books (Google search).

[danceuntiltheworldends]

Thank you, kylara!

[Serrée]

I have the Karen S. Clippinger book and I like it. I also have Sally S Fitt's "Dance Kinesiology". It is older than the Clippinger book but I really like it. There are lots of things mentioned in Fitt's book that aren't mentioned in Clippinger's. If I had to choose I think I would choose Fitt's book but Clippinger'd book has more pictures and is a little easier to read. I sort of got the impression that Clippinger's book was a bit of a copy cat of the Fitt's book.