Born to Dance, for the dance (and photo) enthusiasts

I completely blame (or credit) Born to Dance for planting songs in my head. Ever since I received our copy of the book that fabulous (or horrible) song by Patrick Hernandez, Born to Be Alive, pops in my head. That song stays there until I’m able to clean the slate, then it’s immediately replaced by Maniac by Michael Sembello. That song is there for a moment and then it’s replaced by the current favorite, Carpenter Brut version of the song. I state all of this to say that I don’t really dance. The last time I danced was at my wedding just over a decade age-which I did because my bride was dancing and my sometimes friend Al Chol was there. Wait, I did dance last week in the house, but it was in a mocking sense that even led my still bride to ask to promptly stop.

At first glance, Born to Dance is a book that is exclusively for those families that have a kid that dances. It’s a book that perfectly captures youth dancing in ways that will motivate dance fans across the spectrum. If you’re a casual fan of a television dance show then this book will prove to you that it doesn’t just happen in a studio.

These photos are taken in the wild streets of New York City, in COSTCO, at home, in a field and all across the globe. Moreover, the photos in Born to Dance are really stunning. It’s that split second that shows a girl almost impossibly jumping four feet in the air while carrying balloons. The illusion that the balloons are carrying her away is fabulous and the photograph was taken at just the right time. 1/100 of a second later and she be on the way down. 1/100 of a second earlier and she’d be on the way up.

This book is loaded with photos like that. Born to Dance is as much a book on excellent photography as it is for those people that love dance. It also has some motivational phrases that’ll pump up anyone, but specifically those kids that think they can dance.