Books: for beginner Adult Man?

[Dave62]

Hello all,

 

My apologies if this is posted in the wrong place or order, I am not of the computer generation or computer savy. I looked at the log of older posts. Many of which are quite old. Hoping there might be more curent information or opinions.

 

Can you recommend a book for Adult beginners? I'm coming back to ballet after 25 years away and remember very little. A book with good descriptions and photos of basic positions and techniques to support what I will learn in a new class. If there is something geared towards men that would even be better.

 

Thank you,

Dave

Edited November 17, 2013 by Dave62

[gimpydancer]

I have found The Joffrey Ballet School's Ballet-Fit book very useful. I even gave copies of it to a couple of my teachers a few years ago since it's written from the adult beginner's perspective so well. There are several pages talking about men in ballet.

[jimpickles]

People on this board have often recommended one by Gail Grant - which I have not seen. I guess it depends on what you want - if you want a detailed description of the different steps etc (so you can check up after class - does the foot come back behind or in front, etc?) I think this does it.

 

One I use (because it was more readily available to me) is by Gretchen Ward Warren - "Classical Ballet Technique" - massive, detailed, exhaustive. As well as photos of the steps done properly, it has photos of typical errors (with analysis). It has descriptions of transitions between steps. Lots on mens' steps as well as womens'. Its a bit daunting, but its all there - as an adult you will not be put off by its bulk (though a youngster might be). If you are an adult who is committed to ballet, I suggest sooner or later you will want to buy this, even if you start with a more basic book (I did, with the only ones I could find at first, a second hand intro ballet book for girls, and a little Penguin book, which soon outlived their usefulness). Even though its relatively expensive, it only costs as much as a couple of ballet classes (read the reviews on Amazon - I think that they are accurate).

 

Jim.