Dancing From Darkness

Abandoned as a toddler in Nazi Germany, American-born Eleanor Isaacson survived bombings, starvation, Russian occupation, and a stint as a child smuggler -- all before reaching her teens. Escaping just as the Iron Curtain clashed shut, Eleanor soon discovered that "the land of the free" held as much pain and rejection as the life she'd escaped. Deafness and solitude would become the catalyst leading to glorious womanhood, the love of her life, and the beauty of dance. In the process, she would discover that the "invisible Friend" whose presence alone had kept a lost child sane had other names -- heavenly Father, loving God, Prince of Peace. A true story too implausible for fiction with every element of a big screen epic -- war, danger, starvation, villaims, romance, rags-to-riches triumph -- along with the most delightful of heroines.

To outsiders, Rikki Kasnett is a model student; co-dance head for the upcoming school production; a fun-loving friend. But on the inside, Rikki and her older sister Daniella are struggling to cope with their desperate home situation, which they must keep hidden at all costs. When their mother's mental illness reaches new depths, the facade that the two sisters have worked so hard to build is shattered. The girls valiantly attempt to keep their lives afloat, guarding their horrifying secrets from well-meaning friends and teachers who want to help. They're worn out by the deception, but can't imagine any other solution. Will Rikki and Daniella be able to transcend the secrecy that has ruled their lives and find the help they need to recover?

He tossed her into the air as if she were weightless, and just for a moment she seemed suspended there, defying gravity. I couldn't take my eyes off her. I knew what she was feeling. It was in every movement of every limb. Here was a power I had never seen before, a kind of haunting loveliness I had never imagined. Seeing it made me long for something, I didn't know what . . . Ditty was born to dance, but she was also born Jewish. When her strictly religious parents won't let her take ballet lessons, Ditty starts to dance in secret. But for how long can she keep her two worlds apart? And at what cost? A dramatic and moving story about a girl who follows her dream, and finds herself questioning everything she believes in.

This is one man's guide to begging for sex, smuggling drugs and pretending to be rock 'n' roll...The one time pirate bass warrior of cock rockers, The Darkness; offers an illustrated alternative self-help book based on the philosophy of disaster: 'How To Be A Bass Player With No Sense Of Rhythm', 'How To Be A Tour Guide With No Sense Of Direction', 'How To Get Into The Closet', 'How To Go From Chateau To Shit-hole', and so on. Just take up what you are worst at, hold on tight, and enjoy the ride!In this off-beat, hilarious, hare-brained manual on fame, fortune and the universe, Frankie offers a unique slant on the bigger questions in life in an attempt to help readers (and himself) arrive at a greater understanding of the world through the excesses of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. Thanks to a revolutionary process called the 'Mind Sweeper', devised by his Polish cleaner, he is able to make sense of his life before, during and after 'that band' he played in...

The authors offer an insightful analysis of the symbiotic relationship between the popular entertainment industry and America's youth, suggest principles for evaluating popular art and entertainment, and propose strategies for rebuilding strong local cultures in the face of global media giants.

Dancing Into Darkness is Sondra Horton Fraleigh's chronological diary of her deepening understanding of and appreciation for this art form, as she moves from a position of aesthetic response as an audience member to that of assimilation as a student. As a student of Zen and butoh, Fraleigh witnesses her own artistic and personal transformation through essays, poems, interviews, and reflections spanning twelve years of study, much of it in Japan. Numerous performance photographs and original calligraphy by Fraleigh's Zen teacher Shodo Akane illuminate her words. The pieces of Dancing Into Darkness cross boundaries, just as butoh anticipates a growing global amalgamation. "Butoh is not an aesthetic movement grafted onto Western dance, " Fraleigh concludes, "and Western dance may be more Eastern than we have been able to see. "

A cultural history of the 1930s explores the anxiety, despair, and optimism of the period, exploring how the period culture provided a dynamic lift to the country's morale.

"Romance is structured yearning. In the romantic moment, we gather and focus that yearning in order to connect with something outside ourselves, believing against all odds that such connection is possible, knowing paradoxically that romance is born in the space between our reach and our grasp." So begins Barbara Lazear Ascher's Dancing in the Dark. Offering enchantment to a disenchanted age, this mesmerizing new book explores our instinctual, ageless romantic impulse and the essential role of romance in our lives, in nature, and in the arts. Barbara Ascher's lyrical and provocative prose expands the idea of romance and reveals its powers to redeem passion in our everyday lives. Ascher seeks out the romantic and explores the connections among sex, religion, family, nature, travel, food, music, art, and architecture, offering unforgettable insights that engage the soul and mind. In her quest for what is transcendent in life, she joins intrepid birders in Central Park, who brave winter cold for a glimpse of the long-eared owl--and for a connection between man and nature. She visits Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater house, and Le Cirque's kitchen to witness sensuous pastrymaking. She travels to great museums to view extraordinary paintings and to discuss romance with Sydney Pollack. She attends a Barbara Cook master class and buys a manual typewriter on which to write. Every page of this book draws us into our deepest humanity. Dancing in the Dark elevates this vital sentiment to a passion-suffused life force, available to all, composed of hope, reverence for the unattainable, and the desire for more. Friendly, humorous, informative, Dancing in the Dark connects life to art, fact to fiction, and present to past.