Dancing Through Life: Lessons Learned on and off the Dance Floor

by Antoinette Benevento, Edwin Dobb

A warm and encouraging self-help book that draws inspiration and motivation from ballroom dancing. Precisely because the dance floor stands apart from the everyday world, allowing dancers to play, experiment and take on new roles, it also serves as a stage for human behavior. Antoinette Benevento, a former national ballroom dancing champion and co-owner of Fred Astaire Dance Studios, has been a student of that stage for 25 years. She has discovered that getting out on the dance floor is a powerful and empowering metaphor for living fully in all realms of life.

Some of the tenets Antoinette Benevento lives, dances, and teaches
-Persistence is a form of beauty
-Give yourself permission to begin again--and again and again
-If you're not willing to risk falling, you'll never learn to walk (or dance)
-Desire is the energy that moves us forward in dance and in life
-To dance well and to live fully, body and soul need to work together
Building on the ballroom dancing craze that has swept the country, including the popularity of "Dancing with the Stars", this illuminating and highly readable book shows that what you learn on the dance floor can help you dance through life. ANTOINETTE BENEVENTO is co-owner of and National Training Director for the Fred Astaire Dance Studios and a former national ballroom dancing champion. EDWIN DOBB is a contributing editor of Harper's Magazine , and has written for numerous other national publications, including The New York Times Magazine , Vogue , and Discover .

240 pages, Hardcover

First published September 4, 2007

Reviews

[Aspen Benevento · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m biased with my rating because my step mom wrote this book. For those that have read it or are going to read it please know she was the kindest person this planet has ever seen. She passed away almost 10 years ago due to cancer but that didn’t stop her from shedding light on the good in this world. Her laugh and smile brought so much joy to my world & hearing about her dancing journey makes my heart so full. She was the one who introduced me to dancing & I wish I could have learned more from her. She was taken too early but heaven gained the most beautiful angel. Thank you for reading her book & listening to her words.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been ballroom dancing for the last 2+ years, at a local Fred Astaire studio. In fact, I found this book on the Astaire website. Why not read it, I told myself. I like the end better than the beginning of the book. Her analogy, comparing the dance floor to life in general, is a helpful lens through which to interpret and find meaning. It's true that the fun in dance starts with the first lesson, that there are many impediments to dancing well and there are many good reasons to find oneself dancing. Often. I agree that it's better to dance with two left feet than to not dance at all. Now apply these concepts to living with purpose and style and you get a sense of what this book is about.

[Miandmiksmom · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmmm....probably an okay book if you like dancing and self help books. I got a little bored...it reads like a life history with a lot of advice thrown in there.