cover image Murray Louis on Dance

Murray Louis on Dance

Murray Louis. A Cappella Books (IL), $19.95 (164pp) ISBN 978-1-55652-147-8

Dancer, choreographer and teacher Louis (Inside Dance) has long been one of dance's more eloquent and provocative voices. Here he presents 21 meditative essays on his art, written from an intensely personal perspective. Born during the Great Depression, Louis spent his formative years in a Brooklyn orphanage, without access to formal dance training. However, his lifelong dance compulsion--together with his grit--led to an eminent 45-year career. The glory of a dancer's powers and the crushing fall of the final curtain both come under Louis's passionate eye. He touches on topics firom the mundane reality of classes, calluses, and coffee to the mystical call of the sixth sense. His tone ranges from the solemn pronouncements of an incurable Romantic to the irreverent musings of a veteran trouper. Essays address such neglected topics as Sex and Sexuality, a long-suppressed subject at the very core of dance, as well as Dressing Rooms, Benefactors and death. Louis's seasoned reflections are bound to spur agreement and disagreement--sometimes in the same paragraph. Yet, unlike the customary artist's autobiography, this volume could well achieve the status of a new talisman for dancers and their public. (Oct.)