Memoir Dance

New York Times bestselling author Ann Leary offers a “zany, relatable essay collection” (Oprah Daily), told from the perspective of a recovering people pleaser. “Ann Leary is a damn delight...Read this book!” —Glennon Doyle Having arrived at a certain age (her prime), Ann Leary casts a...

Joan Baez shares poems for or about her contemporaries (such as Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, and Jimi Hendrix), reflections from her childhood, personal thoughts, and cherished memories of her family, including pieces about her younger sister, singer-songwriter Mimi Fariña. Speaking to the people, places, and moments that have had the greatest impact on her art, this collection is an inspiring personal diary in the form of poetry.

A NEW YORK TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR From "one of our most nuanced thinkers on the intersections of race, class, and feminism" (Cathy Park Hong, New York Times bestselling author of Minor Feelings) comes a memoir "as electric as the title suggests" (Maggie Nelson, author of On Freedom). A...

Luther Standing Bear was seemingly everywhere in the course of his extraordinary life. He met Chief Crazy Horse on the eve of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, was enrolled in the first class at the government-run Carlisle Indian Industrial School, witnessed the Ghost Dance movement, toured the US and Europe with showman Buffalo Bill, and devoted his later years to Indian rights. His firsthand accounts of those experiences—and his reflections on Sioux culture, customs, and traditions—combine to make this narrative a landmark of Native American literature.

The Masked Dance is a candid personal reflection on the psychological, religious, and cultural influences at the core of domestic violence. Monica vividly conveys her spiritual battle against the entanglements of the abuse cycle while unveiling the latent messages that cultivate emotional and physical violence against women. This book opens urgently needed conversations about Christian culture and what its hidden messages say about the value of a woman’s soul versus the value of her marriage.

This is an archeological-autobiographical dig both on and off the stage into the life and mind of a now 87-year-old actor, writer, father, grandfather, ex-husband, former lover, humorist, and longtime-sober alcoholic’s thrust into and through the present-day human experience. It's not a confessional, but stories of human vulnerability abound.

Cheryl Burke has been dancing since the age of four and competing since she was 13 years old. Over several exciting seasons, she has captivated Dancing with the Stars audiences with her incredible dance performances, Emmy-nominated choreography, high energy, and bright smile. In Dancing Lessons, she takes you from her childhood years into the world of competitive ballroom dancing and on to the hit TV show.

Janka was a Polish Jewish girl, and Alberto, a Spanish Greek Jewish man. This tale reveals how love and hearts of kindness came out of the horrors of the concentration camps. In 1949, they came to Australia, bringing two cultures, 13 languages and their toddler Nina, to forge a new beginning. These two people would never have met and fallen in love, if they hadn’t survived the attempted extermination of a race in the death chambers of Europe. They knew and taught their children, that we cannot move on without forgiveness.

A Syria-born dancer offers his deeply personal story of war, statelessness, and the pursuit of the art of dance in this inspirational memoir.

A powerful meditation on identity and belonging, Sejal Shah explores the tension of being both invisible and hyper-visible in a country that struggles with race. The daughter of immigrants from India and Kenya, Shah wrestles with her experiences growing up in—and returning to—western New York, an area of stark racial and socioeconomic segregation. Her work illuminates how we are all marked by family and place; by the limits of our bodies; by our losses and regrets; by who and what we love; by our ambivalences and our silences.

Coming to terms with advancing dementia, Mary has no choice other than to move into her daughter’s home. Her daughter, Kayla, caught between her cognitively impaired mother and her belligerent teenage son, soon finds caregiving is more challenging than she imagined. Sage, the family’s golden retriever, offers comfort and unconditional love, but she has her own problems, especially when it comes to dealing with Mary’s cat.

When Lauren Kessler was 12, her ballet instructor crushed not just her dreams of being a ballerina but also her youthful self-assurance. Now, many decades and three children later, Kessler embarks on a journey to join a professional company to perform in The Nutcracker. Raising the Barre is more than just one woman's story; it is a story about shaking things up, taking risks, and ignoring good sense and forgetting how old you are and how you're "supposed" to act.

From the most brilliant and audacious choreographer of our time, the exuberant tale of a young dancer’s rise to the pinnacle of the performing arts world, and the triumphs and perils of creating work on his own terms—and staying true to himself Before Mark Morris became “the most...

In this transparent, compelling memoir, a young, highly-successful black man reflects on the life he built for himself over the years, only to reach the middle of his life and realize it wasn’t a life he wanted. All his life, he’d followed the rules, excelled at all he touched, made historical strides in school and career, and gave every bit of himself to please others and be seen as “perfect”. It was a pressure-filled life that left little room for error or enjoyment. He succeeded in manufacturing a you-niverse, of which him being perfect was the center.

As a child in a small barrio in the Philippines, Deja Vu Prem faced neglect and physical abuse. At age seventeen, desperate to escape her situation and claim a better life for herself beyond the mountains of her town, she became a mail-order bride and moved to San Francisco. But the challenges of her childhood didn't go away—they merely evolved into the form of her emotionally abusive husband.

Learn how to thrive in intense, competitive environments with these secrets from one of America's premiere ballerinas--and get a sneak peek at what her life is really like. Ballet may look glamorous and effortless to audience members, but it requires grueling discipline. It's a competitive and...

Las memorias tan esperadas y tremendamente entretenidas de la leyenda del escenario Chita Rivera, tres veces ganadora del premio Tony, homenajeada en los Centros Kennedy y ganadora de la Medalla Presidencial de la Libertad. Era conocida como Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero, hasta que...

For more than five decades, Twyla Tharp has been a phenomenon in American dance, a choreographer who not only broke the rules but refused to repeat her own successes. Tharp has made movies, television specials, and nearly one hundred riveting dance works. Her dance show Movin’ Out ran on Broadway for three years and won Tharp a Tony award for Best Choreography.

In Get in the Boat, Darlene Fuchs shares the powerful and poignant story of her father Richard's experience as a caregiver to his wife Gail during her decline into dementia. This memoir, based on the journals of Richard Sonnichsen, is a heart-wrenching yet inspiring exploration of the enduring power of love, faith, and resilience in the face of life's most difficult challenges.

Left partially paralysed below the rib cage by polio, Anne Wafula Strike was forced to flee her native Kenyan village, moving across the country with her family. After overcoming additional adversity, including the loss of her mother and ableist prejudice, Anne moved to the UK, where she discovered her talent for wheelchair racing. The first East African to compete in her sport, representing Kenya in the 2004 Paralympics before joining Paralympics GB, Anne is now a fierce advocate for the promotion of the games around the world, and a champion of disabled rights.