I Feel Like Dancing

Since 1976 thousands of youngsters have participated in the National Dance Institute's programs, which bring professional dancers, intensive training and student-professional performances to schools. This enlightening collaboration is a energizing chronological survey of one year's program from the first tryouts through the final performances. Along the way readers are treated to d'Amboise's personality and philosophy as he transforms ordinary youngsters into seasoned, serious dancers. Though the script-like typeface proves a bit distracting, the book's overall design--with its abundance of color photographs placed over vividly hued rectangles--provides a strong sense of energy. Barboza's somewhat lackluster prose, however, lacks immediacy--the writing, in fact, seems to not reach much beyond captioning for the photos. Though this book fails to do justice to a notable performer-instructor's efforts, readers may well ``feel like dancing'' by its final pages. Ages 7-11. (June)