My most recent submission as book review editor of the Journal of Dance Medicine and Science (the publication of the International Association for Dance Medicine & Science) includes a review of these recommended books.

Aerial Dance by Jayne C. Bernasconi and Nancy E. Smith (Human Kinetics 2008)

and Overtraining Athletes by Sean O. Richardson, Mark B. Andersen, Tony Morris

(Human Kinetics 2008).

Jayne C. Bernasconi and Nancy E. Smith’s Aerial Dance is a handsome book and a fascinating read on the technical and aesthetic dimensions of aerial dance. It includes video clips of aerial dance artists and companies on the accompanying DVD. The book is part dance history, part kinesiology, and part dance appreciation – especially with its personal vignettes and accounts from dance artists and directors such as Stephanie Evanitsky, Jo Kreiter, Frederique Debitte, Robert Davidson, Susan Murphy, Amelia Rudolph, and Brenda Angiel. Chapters on “Flying Safely,” injury prevention, and rigging for aerial dance are included.

Overtraining Athletes, by Sean O. Richardson, Mark B. Andersen, and Tony Morris, is a good addition to the Finding Balance literature.  Issues around overtraining are presented from a variety of perspectives and levels of expertise. Also included is a good discussion (and comprehensive model) of risk factors that increase the probability of overtraining, as well as actual case studies of those seeking in unhealthy ways the illusive goal of perfection.