Coffee Table Book of: Ballroom Dance (Hardcover)

Description

Coffee Table Book of: Ballroom Dance is a large format book of ballroom dance, printed edge to edge in colour, one picture to a page and the widest carried across two: satin shoes and patent lace ups, chiffon gowns on padded hangers and the black tailcoat, the sprung floor, ballrooms, studios, halls and pavilions empty from first light to late at night, the shoes, gowns and floors being made and cared for, the old days of fans, gloves and gramophones, and a few couples seen far off in plain dark clothing.

The kit is laid out plain: flesh coloured satin shoes for the Standard dances and strappy sandals for the Latin, black patent lace ups, black Latin shoes with raised heels, a shoe turned to show its suede sole, a wire brush and a velvet shoe bag, a gown of pale blue chiffon with floats at the shoulders, a red Latin dress hung with fringe, a long practice skirt, a tailcoat and its two long tails, a white bow tie and wing collar, drop earrings, hairpins and a hairnet, with a fan, a gown, a gramophone and a polishing machine standing alone on the wide floors of empty rooms.

The making and the care follow stones set one by one with tweezers, chiffon cut with shears, horsehair braid for a hem, a coil of fringe, suede cut for soles, a shoe last and its hammer, a new sprung floor laid on battens and rubber pads, pale floorboards stacked, panels joined into a floor for an event and stacked away, a floor swept and buffed and a chandelier lowered to be cleaned. The past runs from assembly rooms, a gallery for the musicians and a chandelier of candles to long white gloves, a folding fan, slippers tied with ribbon, patent pumps with silk bows, a beaded dress from the 1920s, two gramophones, an old record and the steel springs under an old ballroom floor.

Short notes run through the book, on the ten dances and how they are danced, the shoes, gowns and floors and how they are made, and the history of the ballroom: standard shoes have a closed toe and a heel that widens at the base, for balance in the turns, a wire brush lifts the flattened nap of a suede sole, so it grips the floor again, gowns travel hanging in long bags, so the stones and chiffon are not crushed, and hair is pinned into a smooth, tight bun and set hard, so it holds through every turn.

Printed in full colour on heavy 150gsm coated paper at 216 x 279 mm (8.5 x 11 inches), as a hardcover with the art printed on the case.