How They Became Famous Dancers: A Dancing History for young readers tells the story of twelve dancers--six women and six men--who became famous, some against all odds. Coming from different parts of the world (France, Hungary, India, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Sweden, Trinidad, and the United States) and displaying a variety of physical sizes, body shapes, and skin colors, their lives spanned the seventeenth into the twenty-first centuries. Placed in chronological order, each biographical sketch mirrors the subject's historical and cultural context. Featured dancers are: Louis XIV, John Durang, Marie Taglioni, William Henry 'Juba' Lane, Anna Pavlova, Rudolf Laban, Doris Humphrey, Michio Ito, Mrinalini Sarabhai, Pearl Primus, Amalia Hernández, and Arthur Mitchell. Each chapter includes "Create a Dance" giving readers the opportunity to try out each dancer's style.