Coffee table book celebrates the art of dance
ROSEBANK - The launch of the book I Praise the Dance took place on 4 November at the Swad Restaurant, Rosebank.
This new coffee table book intends to bring the best of South African dance into homes and hearts. It is a photographic celebration of contemporary dance in this country and applauds artists for their contributions.
Produced by the Preforming Arts Network of South Africa, the book was compiled by its national administrator and national co-ordinator Micheal Britton and Kurt Egelhof.
Members from the South Africa dance community were asked to submit material for the book. The response was overwhelming and, with a large amount of content in hand, Britton and Egelhof compiled and worked on the sequence of the photographs and text that would go into the book.
“We wanted to include quotes about dance from poets, philosophers and dancers. When we found the poem by St Augustine, I Praise the Dance, we knew that we had found the scaffold around which our book would be built,” said Britton.
“We picked stanzas of about two to three lines to frame each chapter. We chose key words and phrases in the poem which became the guidelines for the photograph selection,” said Egelhof.
The result is a book which will appeal to lovers of dance as well as to anyone who appreciates South Africa’s cultural and creative heritage.
Details: www.pansa.co.za
