Dance!

Elisha Cooper's book Dance! is wonderful for what it says and shows but also for what it does not spell out. He shows us some of the exquisite details in the daily lives of the dancers, in the practice studios, posing and touching and relating to each other..walking on your partners back for example. But I'm pleased to say he stops before you get the big show, just when the curtain is about to go up. Now young and old a like will stretch their creative imagination to envision the performance. Almost like the good old days of radio shows when you listened carefully and visualized what was going on. Maybe Elisha Copper will someday give us Act I so we can compare it to ours. He gets better with each book.

Thank goodness for Elisha Cooper's DANCE! I'm so glad there's such a talented young author who chose to investigate the work behind the stage in a style that was unpretentious, kid-friendly, and didn't copy Degas all over again! A light-hearted yet insightful look behind the hard work of the performance, the story's watercolor studies and verbal vignettes capture moments of sweet and bittersweet perfection. Like other strong children's books, and unlike Hollywood, leaving the end open to imagination is a jarring but ultimately satisfying close, leaving us thirsty to sally forth and see the shows this book celebrates! Thank you!!

Every child who ever liked to watch dance performances will love this portrayal of the work and fun that happens behind the scenes before the curtain goes up. Cooper's energetic and ethereal illustrations capture the airy movement of the dancers, and his prose is evocative and sometimes wonderfully quirky and entertaining. I disagree with the former reviewer's complaints about the illustrations, which I found charming, and productive of endless fun with children picking out specific little figures. I particularly like the tiny handwritten notes in the paintings themselves, which lend an air of spontaneity and a playful view into the mind of the artist at work, and which do not need to be clearly legible to have this effect. I also loved the ending, which I found entirely appropriate to a book so specifically about what happens on the other side of the curtain.

What a wonderful look behind the scenes of, not only a dance production, but any dramatic presentation! I am an elementary teacher and we are about to embark on a third grade play of our own. Sharing with kids that most of the work is in the preparation - an important lesson. The finale is a small part of the whole. I value Mr. Cooper's book immensely.

As a former dancer myself, I was astounded by how perfectly the author captured the lightness, flexibility, and movement of the dancers in this book. This book guides the adult and child reader through the backstage life of a professional dancer -- through the sweat and pain, the music and laughter, the choreography and lighting, the nerves and excitement. The swirling words, the simple colors, and the memorable observations are both entertaining and educational. Any child (or adult) who likes to dance -- or simply likes to ask questions about how things happen -- will love this book!