Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet (Dover Books on Dance)

This text gets an extra star because I'm familiar with the original copy.
The pages are a recycled mess, with blurred pictures in an array of
font sizes. The pictures are minuscule without a microscope.

I'm certain I have my three decades old copy, which remain
( sealed in a trunk ) in pristine condition. I just wanted to present
a newer copy as a gift to a tiny ballerina hopeful. The Grant Manual
is a great text, but not in this recycled brown paper-version.

I bought this book for my daughter after reading the recommendations on the store, but I was disappointed by the small and a-little-bit-blurry print. Although it seems to be a comprehensive book of terms, it's definitely not appealing for a 10 year old.

I am a professional dancer and ballet teacher. I adore this book for its clear and concise definitions of ballet terminology and technique. It is an essential resource for any teacher, student or ballet enthusiast. Its compact design makes it perfect for quick and easy reference. I definitely recommend it!

Great book.Really handy and easy to understand if you are related with ballet terms. It's also very explicit describing steps and it includes drawings in case you are begining to get aqcuentade with ballet. I highly recomended it.

This small but packed dictionary is a delight. As an adult ballet beginner in a class that is geared to more advanced students, I've already recouped its cost in the few weeks I've had it. I'll be referring to it to clarify fine points for years to come. And although I don't expect to need many of the entries, they are fun to read and puzzle over.

The book arrived in perfect condition and was exactly what I needed for class. It has drawings of the ballet moves and a dictionary in the back for each vocab word. It's a great manual to have for first time dancers. It's also very small, easy to be placed in a dance bag.

I received a new book. This book is also extremely clear, concise, and above all, very helpful for people who want to understand ballet terminology. I would definitely recommend this book to my friends.

Before ordering, I've already borrowed the older version of this very same book from local library (published by "Dover Books on Dance").
After checking the content out, I want to buy this book. On the store, there are two books w/ the same title and author, one is $4.95, i.e. the same edition as the one from local library (3rd revised edition published 1982) and the other one is $9.95 with nicer/newer cover artwork (published by BN publishing).

Hoping for more updated information (somewhat mislead by the modern looking cover artwork and higher price), I ordered the $9.99 one.

Just got this book yesterday. What a disappointment and rip off it is!!

Actually, I won't be upset enough to write this review if the $9.99 version were to be the same as $4.95 one.

There is no updated information as far as I can tell. Oh-well, a little disappointed but no biggie if there are no changes.

What turns this into a rip-of is that:
THE PRINTS ARE BLURRY/FUZZY IN THE $9.99 edition. It's as if someone scanned the pages of the original book and then printed them out into a book. The letters aren't nicely printed as in the "Dover Books on dance" $4.95 edition.

DON'T SPEND THE EXTRA MONEY ON A SCANNED VERSION!!

As a pianist who basically got drafted to accompany ballet classes I needed all the help I could get since I knew absolutely nothing about the terminology of ballet. And since my first experience accompanying was for the professionals at the Southern Ballet Theatre, I knew I was in big trouble. This little book helped me immensely with the terms, although I still had tons of problems because I simply did not know what the steps looked like until I saw them rehearsed. For beginners, you are going to need a few references to understand what the instructor is saying because they simply don't have the time to give you private lessons while the rest of the class waits. I recommend this book for all those musicians who haven't got a clue about the language of one of the most beautiful art forms in existence. Heck, I almost sound French when I use the pronunciation guide.

As a 13-year-old intermediate/advanced ballet dancer, I found this book very useful. I bought it at the first master class I ever went to about 5 years ago, because it was then I realized that there was more to ballet than just "tendu close degage plie". I wasn't familiar with some of the terms the teacher was using, and it helped immensely, especially with the body positions (croise, efface, etc) and pronounciation. Also, my dance teacher recommends this book to us constantly!

If you are a learning (or even trained) dancer,, you should definitely buy this book. Teachers- you should keep a copy in your studio library. My old dance teacher introduced me to this dictionary, and I continued to use it in my college dance classes and when I taught dance on my own.

It's small enough to slip inside your dance bag, so you can take it with you to class. It's a fabulous resource for terminology, which is priceless to learning dancers. Because, there's nothing worse than going to a class when the teacher is of a different methodology. This one features several, including the more popular methods, like Cechetti. There are also some drawings to help you understand more clearly.

This book will help you learn all your arabesques, positions, and more.
A great tool!

I have had ballet studios and educational school for many years. This little unpretencious dictionary has an amazing content. It is full of steps and drawings with the correct ballet terminology, which is carefully explained.

It is a plus that the book tells about french, russian and italian ballet styles. We practice the french style and the dictionary is very valuable for the students and teachers if, there should be any problem.

We keep the dictionary at the ballet studio, and be sure that the students know where to find it.

This book best serves those who have had enough experience with ballet to be able to understand the terms within the definitions themselves. Almost all ballet terms in this book contain other ballet terms within the definitions, and pictures are minimal (positions of the feet/arms, body in space, head, stage terms). If the dancer is not familiar enough with ballet terms, technique, and form, then this book can be overwhelming. I recommend this book to all teachers as well as teenagers who are serious about ballet (it's a must have). For younger students (9 years old and up), I recommend any ballet book that contains basic terms as well as pictures showing proper form/execution of these terms (pictures will also include proper alignment and proper turn-out as well as a clear explaination on how to work toward both).

This book really helps me learn all the ballet steps and poses. Anyone can read it and understand it. It teaches different styles, such as Cechetti, Russian, etc. I highly recommend it for any ballet lover at any level. This book is an EXCELLENT tool.

I am a dance instructor, and have been using this Ballet Dictionary for over 15 years. It is easy to use and all of the terminology is correct and easy to understand. Steps are described in great detail, and I would recommend this book to dance students of every age and every skill level. For the price, you can't find a better Ballet Dictionary!

This book has served as an excellent resource for me in my ballet classes. I am a ballet teacher, even though it's not my strength. With this book, I was able to ensure I was instructing my girls accurately. This is a great dictionary of ballet terms. This a must-have to carry in your dance bag.
Another note, a number of my students frequently looked up terms in my book. Eventually, a few of them purchased it for their reference too. A good buy, in our opinions.

This book best serves those who have had enough experience with ballet to be able to understand the terms within the definitions themselves. Almost all ballet terms in this book contain other ballet terms within the definitions, and pictures are minimal (positions of the feet/arms, body in space, head, stage terms). If the dancer is not familiar enough with ballet terms, technique, and form, then this book can be overwhelming. I recommend this book to all teachers as well as teenagers who are serious about ballet (it's a must have). For younger students (9 years old and up), I recommend any ballet book that contains basic terms as well as pictures showing proper form/execution of these terms (pictures will also include proper alignment and proper turn-out as well as a clear explaination on how to work toward both).

This book really helps me learn all the ballet steps and poses. Anyone can read it and understand it. It teaches different styles, such as Cechetti, Russian, etc. I highly recommend it for any ballet lover at any level. This book is an EXCELLENT tool.

I am a dance instructor, and have been using this Ballet Dictionary for over 15 years. It is easy to use and all of the terminology is correct and easy to understand. Steps are described in great detail, and I would recommend this book to dance students of every age and every skill level. For the price, you can't find a better Ballet Dictionary!

This book has served as an excellent resource for me in my ballet classes. I am a ballet teacher, even though it's not my strength. With this book, I was able to ensure I was instructing my girls accurately. This is a great dictionary of ballet terms. This a must-have to carry in your dance bag.
Another note, a number of my students frequently looked up terms in my book. Eventually, a few of them purchased it for their reference too. A good buy, in our opinions.

All dancers should be familiar with classical ballet terminology. This book is great for spelling, pronunciation and defition. It's one of those great books to have in your ballet bag at all times. I wouldn't go anywhere without mine! Highly recommended for all dancers.

Mandatory for my degree in dance, this book was a fantastic resource through my four years. It continues to assist me in my professional career. I believe it to be a necessary staple for all dancers of all genres.

This was a required text for my college ballet classes. I still use this text as an instructor and director. I also teach high school students and I am recommending that this text be used by all students in dance classes. It is superb!

This book is a wonderful source for the technical names of classical ballet steps. I have used it over and over for checking my spelling of movements for papers and for writing dance syllabus. It covers the variations of both steps and names for the French, Russian (Vaganova) and Ceccetti schools. A wonderful resource for teachers and students both.

I recently purchased this book along with The Ballet Companion for my 11 yr old daughter who is in her second year of pointe. I found both books to be invaluable reference guides and they go together perfectly as a gift. This book is an amazing resource for ballet definitions. The pronunciation guide is extremely helpful, especially for those of us who never took French. The wealth of information in this book is just wonderful, and its low price makes it a bargain. If you're shopping for a ballet reference guide, look no further. I don't think any ballet students should be without this book.

This is an excellent and informative book, with clear definitions and pronunciation guides for the French, Italian, and Russian methods of ballet. It even "translates" names of steps from one method to the others!

The one drawback I can see is that this will probably not be as good a resource for someone who is not already familiar with the basic steps of ballet. The illustrations are helpful, but it would be impossible to illustrate all the steps and still have the book be easily portable; as a result, the reader must rely on his/her own ability to envision the steps described.

I work with the Center for Dance and Palmetto Dance Theatre. We refer to this book regularly. Oftentimes, we give our beginning students die cut figures with the French term on one side and the simple definition on the other side. We start with our Pre Ballet students and they quickly learn the terminolgy. It is an invaluable resource for teachers and students alike. All Ballet teachers could benefit from the use of this inexpensive but informative book.

The information is invaluable and an excellent reference at an incredibly low price. But a beginner reading this book would be like reading about myocardial infarctions for someone not knowledgeable in medical terminology (that's a heart attack). It makes sense if you have a grasp on ballet already, but should not be bought as a guide from which to learn ballet. If you are looking for a place to quickly look up a step, and already have a good deal of training, then this is the book for you.