Ballet and Modern Dance meets the needs of both students and inquisitive dance goers through a narrative focused on the development of Western theatrical dance from the Renaissance to the first decades of the twenty-first century, incorporating the most recent scholarship and projecting trends. The text is illuminated by excerpts from primary sources and embellished by eight photo inserts. A section of biographical profiles at the end of the book serves as a supplementary reference source. Intended to be entertaining as well as enlightening the book seeks an additional objective which is the value of dance history as a field of study.