Before, Between, and Beyond: Three Decades of Dance Writing

Sally Banes is a preeminent critic and scholar of American contemporary dance, and Before, Between, and Beyond spans more than thirty years of her prolific work. Beginnning with her first published dance review and including previously unpublished papers, this collection presents some of her finest works on dance and other artistic forms. It concludes with her most recent research on George Balanchine's choreography for circus elephants. In each piece, Banes's detailed eye and sensual prose strike a rare balance between description, context, and opinion, delineating the American dance scene with remarkable grace. With contextualizing essays by dance scholars Andrea Harris, Joan Acocella, and Lynn Garafola, this is an insightful, indispensible summation of Banes's critical career.