Guest Post by Nichelle Strzepek: P Is for Pilobolus

I am very excited that Nichelle Strzepek from the extremely popular website Dance Advantage has written the first guest post for Picture Books & Pirouettes. Here she reviews the picture book Pilobolus: The Human Alphabet, created by the famous dance company Pilobolus and by photographer John Kane. Over at Dance Advantage, Nichelle has written another post about the history of this quirky modern dance company. You can read it here.

My three-year-old son has had his entire alphabet down cold since he was about 16 months old. His enthusiasm for identifying and playing with letters has led to both early reading and writing. So, when I finally picked up a copy of Pilobolus: The Human Alphabet a number of months ago, it was with the assumption that the purchase would probably be more for me (a dancer, writer, and picture book enthusiast).

To my surprise (honestly, I shouldn’t have been), the little guy was immediately enthralled by the colorful and nearly wordless hardcover. The book features over 50 photographs by John Kane of the world-famous dance company Pilobolus. Even if you’ve never seen the artistic work of this nearly 40-year-old ensemble, it’s likely you’ve caught at least one of their TV commercials, appearances on late night TV, or perhaps the 2007 Academy Awards. Magical, morphing silhouettes are a Pilobolus calling card.

Though not in shadow, The Human Alphabet artwork is similarly… well, illustrative, with the dancers creating imaginative and sometimes bizarre depictions of animals and objects with nothing but their bodies.

The book begins with a simple instruction: “Here are 26 letters of the alphabet and 26 pictures – all made of people! Can you guess what each picture shows?” I suppose you can predict what follows.

In the corner of each page is a human alphabetical character, which is accompanied by a corresponding picture: dancers, clad in vibrant unitards, render something that starts with the appropriate letter.

Some of my favorites are the four-person Tyrannosaurus Rex, complete with gnashing teeth and two-fingered talons that represent Dinosaur; a human Ladder climbed by an impish dancer dressed in cherry red; and the two-page layout of a particularly puerile Parade.

Not all of the photos are immediately obvious. However, the book’s final pages list the anthropomorphized ABCs with the upper and lower-case printed letter and the word represented by each photo.

Creating body sculptures is the natural next step when exploring this book with children. Right away my son wanted to collaborate to form letters of the alphabet and, though sometimes frustrated by our height difference, he was quite satisfied with the result.

Next steps might include the designing of objects, concepts, or animals, as well as further exploration of Pilobolus and their work, including their use of silhouette. Shadow play is fun and educational. As it happens, my dance studio growing up had quite an active creative movement program for ages 3 through high school (and sometimes beyond). Perhaps an industrious dad helped build the large wooden frame with white fabric we used to explore shape, shadow, and relationships. I recall endless fascination with the possibilities a floodlit screen presented for the telling of both existing and original stories. Parents, what kinds of discoveries might you and your children make with a white bed sheet and a few high-watt lamps?

Nichelle Strzepek is a dance artist, teacher, and writer in Houston, Texas. She's spent over 16 years as a dance instructor, striving to pass on the knowledge and legacy of the art of movement to her students. Since the birth of her son in 2007, she has funneled her enthusiasm for dance training and education into her role as creator, writer, and editor of DanceAdvantage.net. For and about dance students, teachers, and parents, Dance Advantage provides high quality information to supplement students’ in-class learning as well as inspire and support teachers in their work.

Wild About Nature is hosting Nonfiction Monday today. Find out about other educational books for kids there. And thanks again, Nichelle, for your wonderful post!

Song, Dance, and Music Collide in 'Olé Flamenco'

George Ancona is an award-winning photographer and author with a rich Mexican-American heritage. According to his website, he considers himself a "people photographer" and loves to find people who can teach him new things about interesting topics. He then designs children's books using the photographs he takes and the stories he collects. 

Olé Flamenco (just published by multicultural publisher Lee & Low Books) is Ancona's latest creation. He actually studied flamenco guitar years ago and now lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where the flamenco community thrives. So, it is only fitting that he would write this book, which is primarily a history and portrait of the art form known as flamenco.

Janira Cordova (the girl featured on the cover) is the youngest member of a Spanish dance company called Flamenco's Next Generation. In the book, Ancona follows Janira as she rehearses flamenco with her company and performs at the annual Spanish Market celebration in Santa Fe. Along the way, readers learn about the Gypsy origins of flamenco and how the various components--song, music, and dance--developed over time.

Words and photos show the "rapid stamping of the heels and thumping of the soles" and the twists and turns of the arms, hands, and fingers that help define the dance. They also show the sharp, strong movements of male dancers and the flair and passion with which women swish their skirts back and forth through the air.

The back of the book contains a glossary and pronunciation guide for Spanish terms, as well as a list of references. Kirkus reviewed the book positively here, but the reviewer suggested that a list of recommended recordings and videos would have been a nice addition. As I'm not an expert in flamenco, I can't really address this comment. But I did happen to find a YouTube video of Flamenco's Next Generation performing, and I think I even see Janira in it.

During the video, you might hear some of the audience members hollering "Olé," which is a shout of approval and encouragement. To this book, as well, I say Olé!

This is my first time participating in Nonfiction Monday--a day when bloggers all over the kidlitosphere blog about nonfiction books for kids. You can read the whole round-up of posts at Shelf-employed. And, before I go, thanks to Lee & Low for my review copy of Olé Flamenco.

It's Simple: Just 'Dance'

For the last few days, I've been sifting through all of our picture books, pulling aside the ones I might want to feature in upcoming blogs. My three-year-old has been looking through the books, too, and she has been fascinated by one in particular--a book that is simply called DANCE.

Would you like to guess why my daughter is so fascinated by this book? It's not because the book is filled with beautiful photographs by author and photographer Susan Kuklin (rather than the kind of illustrations she is so used to seeing in her books). It's not because of the exquisite lines and curves of phenomenal dancer and choreographer Bill T. Jones, whose body is the subject of all the photographs. And it's not because of the simple lyrical text she has heard so many times as we flip though the pages of the book together. 

My daughter is so fascinated by this book because...

Bill T. Jones is not wearing a shirt! 

He is shirtless on every page...sometimes more than once on a page. In fact, she even noticed that he is not wearing a shirt in his photo on the back flap. She was so proud of herself for figuring out that that shirtless person was the same shirtless person featured throughout the book. Oh, the simple pleasures of being three...

I actually bought this book long before I thought about writing children's books and long before I had children of my own. (It was published in 1998 and appears to be out of print now, although a few copies are still floating around out there.) I bought it because it portrays the same passion about dance that so many of us feel, and it does it in a very simple way. So goes the first line of the book...

I am a dancer. I want to dance.