"Captivating...equal parts memoir and cultural history, Henry Alford seamlessly interweaves heartwarming and hilarious anecdotes about his deep dive into all things dance" (Misty Copeland, The New York Times Book Review). When Henry Alford wrote about his experience with a Zumba class for
The New York Times, little did he realize that it was the start of something much bigger. Dance would grow and take on many roles for Henry: exercise, stress reliever, confidence builder, an excuse to travel, a source of ongoing wonder, and--when he dances with Alzheimer's patients--even a kind of community service.
Tackling a wide range of forms (including ballet, hip-hop, jazz, ballroom, tap, contact improvisation, Zumba, swing), Alford's grand tour takes us through the works and careers of luminaries ranging from Bob Fosse to George Balanchine, Twyla Tharp to Arthur Murray. Rich in insight and humor, Alford mines both personal experience and fascinating cultural history to offer a witty and ultimately moving portrait of how dance can express all things human.
And Then We Danced "is in one sense a celebration of hoofer in all its wonder and variety, from abandon to refinement. But it is also history, investigation, memoir, and even, in its smart, sly way, self-help...very funny, but more, it is joyful--a dance all its own" (
Vanity Fair).
Author: Henry Alford
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 06/18/2019
Pages: 256
Weight: 0.5lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.40w x 0.80d
ISBN: 9781501122262
About the AuthorAlford, Henry: - Henry Alford has written for
The New Yorker,
Vanity Fair, and
The New York Times for two decades. His books include
And Then We Danced,
How to Live, and
Big Kiss, which won a Thurber Prize for American humor.