Off The Dance Floor

In times of constant change, adaptive leadership is critical. This Harvard Business Review collection brings together the seminal ideas on how to adapt and thrive in challenging environments, from leading thinkers on the topic—most notably Ronald A. Heifetz of the Harvard Kennedy School and Cambridge Leadership Associates. The Heifetz Collection includes two classic books: Leadership on the Line, by Ron Heifetz and Marty Linsky, and The Practice of Adaptive Leadership, by Heifetz, Linsky, and Alexander Grashow. Also included is the popular Harvard Business Review article, “Leadership in a (Permanent) Crisis,” written by all three authors. Available together for the first time, this collection includes full digital editions of each work. Adaptive leadership is a practical framework for dealing with today’s mix of urgency, high stakes, and uncertainty. It has been used by individuals, organizations, businesses, and governments worldwide. In a world of challenging environments, adaptive leadership serves as a guide to distinguishing the essential from the expendable, beginning the meaningful process of adaption, and changing the status quo. Ronald A. Heifetz is a cofounder of the international leadership and consulting practice Cambridge Leadership Associates (CLA) and the founding director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is renowned worldwide for his innovative work on the practice and teaching of leadership. Marty Linsky is a cofounder of CLA and has taught at the Kennedy School for more than twenty-five years. Alexander Grashow is a Senior Advisor to CLA, having previously held the position of CEO.

There are many people in the world who have always wanted to learn to dance. There are other people who believe that their time has passed and wish they had tried long ago. This is the story of someone who, in her forties, not only tried but made it a lifestyle. With nothing more than a childhood dream of wanting to stand out among the rest, she wanted to dance, to be included in the elite group of dancers, and, in the end, to teach. Follow her along the path to success in an unforgiving and crazy world. Watch her learn all the ins and outs of managing not only the dance industry but her relationships with other students, competitors, family, and friends. More importantly, watch her manage her relationship with herself through a decade of dance.

Following his hugely successful autobiography All Balls and Glitter, in this frank, funny and revealing book, Craig Revel Horwood turns the spotlight behind the scenes and uncovers some sensational stories from his life and times onstage.The true star of Strictly shows that there's more to him than tiaras and tutus with tales from the wildly popular Strictly Live shows, which he has directed since 2010. Craig has toured with the likes of Robbie Savage, Kara Tointon, Matt Baker and last year's winner, Louis Smith. As well as his four unforgettable stints as the Wicked Queen in panto alongside Ann Widdecombe, the multi-talented dancer, director and choreographer reveals the challenges of competing in last year's Maestro at the Opera, beating contestants including Trevor Nelson and Josie Lawrence. He also discusses his award-winning theatre productions, which include the 'gob-smackingly good' (The Times) Spend, Spend, Spend.Darling, this is a fab-u-LOUS book for fans of Strictly, as well as Craig's many theatre shows.

A warm and encouraging self-help book that draws inspiration and motivation from ballroom dancing. Precisely because the dance floor stands apart from the everyday world, allowing dancers to play, experiment and take on new roles, it also serves as a stage for human behavior. Antoinette Benevento, a former national ballroom dancing champion and co-owner of Fred Astaire Dance Studios, has been a student of that stage for 25 years. She has discovered that getting out on the dance floor is a powerful and empowering metaphor for living fully in all realms of life. Some of the tenets Antoinette Benevento lives, dances, and teaches by: -Persistence is a form of beauty -Give yourself permission to begin again--and again and again -If you're not willing to risk falling, you'll never learn to walk (or dance) -Desire is the energy that moves us forward in dance and in life -To dance well and to live fully, body and soul need to work together Building on the ballroom dancing craze that has swept the country, including the popularity of "Dancing with the Stars", this illuminating and highly readable book shows that what you learn on the dance floor can help you dance through life. ANTOINETTE BENEVENTO is co-owner of and National Training Director for the Fred Astaire Dance Studios and a former national ballroom dancing champion. EDWIN DOBB is a contributing editor of Harper's Magazine, and has written for numerous other national publications, including The New York Times Magazine, Vogue, and Discover.

This book is a compilation of true stories, experiences and direct quotes of people from the social dance community from around and outside the United States. Many of the comments came from a dancing social networking group I managed years ago. The contributors have various dance backgrounds such as Swing, Latin Dance, Ballroom and many others. The contributors range from novice to professionals. The stories offer basic insight into how people in relationship should treat one another. Also what we tend to learn about people as we encounter them on the social dance floor. Please note. The opinions expressed are solely of the contributors and not necessarily of the author of this book. Enjoy

After sixteen years, Friederike Lagrange dares to return to the dance floor for the first time: A serious car accident had forced her to give up competition dancing. Instead, dance became her research topic and she made a career as a professor in history. A colleague becomes her new partner because her husband George doesn‘t want to take part in a simple dance circle like a beginner: It would be beneath his dignity as chairman of the Lietzensee Dance Club. But he supports her when she wants to shoot a film about the dances of the Baroque with the square dancers and the Latin formation of the club. Then suddenly he wants to dance the Baroque dances with her himself. Friederike is faced with a dilemma: Since the accident she has longed to be able to dance with her husband again one day. But she also doesn't want to disappoint her colleague. Can she find a way out that doesn't offend either of them? Each book in the series can be read as a stand-alone.

Why does he want to ruin a perfectly good friendship by becoming boyfriends? Why would someone from Paul’s background have any interest in ordinary boy-next-door Tom? Tom is quiet and awkward, especially after his ex told him he was nothing. Besides, Tom’s too nerdy, too organised, too shy to ask anyone out ever again. Except maybe Paul. When Paul talks to him, Tom feels fabulous, he feels brave. When Paul looks after him, Tom thinks maybe he’s not nothing. He wants to go wherever Paul, with his rich parents and monthly allowance, leads—to places Tom’s working-class background hasn’t allowed him before. But there’s one problem. Paul’s love of the party drug ecstasy starts with him taking it sometimes, moves onto often, then to usually, until soon it’s always. Tom’s unsure if Paul’s a bad influence on him, or he’s a bad influence on Paul. With a nerd, friends to lovers, clash of backgrounds, partying, dancing and lots of recreational drug use, Love On The Dancefloor is a stand-alone gay romance that asks: can you really make yourself stop loving someone?

Open from 1942 until 1945, the Hollywood Canteen was the most famous of the patriotic home front nightclubs where civilian hostesses jitterbugged with enlisted men of the Allied Nations. Since the opening night, when the crowds were so thick that Bette Davis had to enter through the bathroom window to give her welcome speech, the storied dance floor where movie stars danced with soldiers has been the subject of much U.S. nostalgia about the "Greatest Generation." Drawing from oral histories with civilian volunteers and military guests who danced at the wartime nightclub, Sherrie Tucker explores how jitterbugging swing culture has come to represent the war in U.S. national memory. Yet her interviewees' varied experiences and recollections belie the possibility of any singular historical narrative. Some recall racism, sexism, and inequality on the nightclub's dance floor and in Los Angeles neighborhoods, dynamics at odds with the U.S. democratic, egalitarian ideals associated with the Hollywood Canteen and the "Good War" in popular culture narratives. For Tucker, swing dancing's torque—bodies sharing weight, velocity, and turning power without guaranteed outcomes—is an apt metaphor for the jostling narratives, different perspectives, unsteady memories, and quotidian acts that comprise social history.