Big Deal

There are many backstage tidbits sprinkled throughout the entire book, but Winkler is at his best when exploring Fosse's choreographic process through descriptions of the body in motion. * The Journal of American Drama and Theatre * A model for how to approach a biography-history of a dancemaker. Patiently, without edge or vulgarity or hype of any sort, the book focuses on Fosse's career-technical details, influences, process, and ideals intact-and it relates Fosse's life honestly yet with full relevance to the work. Furthermore, the larger context of the subtitle is honored as well, in full. It reads as if written with the collaboration of everyone in Fosse's world, including his critics, historians, and audiences. Kevin Winkler's achievement is a Big Deal, indeed. * Mindy Aloff, author of Dance Anecdotes: Stories from the Worlds of Ballet, Broadway, the Ballroom, and Modern Dance * Having worked with and been fortunate to be trained by some truly great choreographers/directors-Jerome Robbins, Michael Kidd, Peter Gennaro, Gower Champion-I could not have been luckier to learn yet another great style, Bob Fosse's. A style never explored before: sex appeal, innocence and humor in minimal movements. He himself was a great dancer, one who could dance all styles. In Sweet Charity his choreography ranged from explosive to controlled, precise, focused, tiny movements. People have a tendency to speak of the 'Fosse Style' as only small movements, but he had a wide range that fit his directorial talents. It has been rewarding to learn from Bobby through the years. He is one of a kind, and this book says it all. * Chita Rivera * This is the real deal. An impeccably researched, thoroughly entertaining examination of Fosse's life, legacy, and all that jazz. * James F. Wilson, City University of New York * A fascinating and well-researched book ... Essential. * L. K. Rosenberg, CHOICE *