DESIGNED FOR DANCING
HOW MID-CENTURY RECORDS TAUGHT AMERICA TO DANCE
A fabulous book by Janet Borgerson and Jonathan Schroeder. Available on Amazon and through Penguin Random House. Published by MIT Press. Makes a great gift – Valentine’s Day, birthdays, weddings…!
Features almost 300 full color reproductions of midcentury dance albums with insightful and entertaining commentaries on each one.
Best Music Books to Broaden Your Horizons, Goodreads
Nominated for the Selma Jeanne Cohen Prize in Dance Aesthetics, American Society for Aesthetics, 2023
Finalist for the Oscar G. Brockett Book Prize for Dance Research, Dance Studies Association, 2022
Finalist for the Prize for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research, the Association for Recorded Sound Collections, 2022
GALLERY
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Reviews and Accolades
“a visually striking and thought-provoking volume that delves into the captivating world of mid-century record covers and their influence on American culture.“ – Jo Read, Dance Research review
“In producing Designed for Dancing, Borgerson and Schroeder co-create a distinctive yet tangible window of opportunity through which to chronicle, digest or at least imagine the heart and soul of the mid-twentieth century cultural experience for the 21st century. In doing so, they co-construct what can only be described as a 21st century masterpiece - an alluring, stunningly beautiful tour de force.“ – Sharon Ponsonby-McCabe , JCB journal review
“What an impressive, comprehensive, beautifully laid out piece of work.” – Jeff Gold, author of Sittin' In: Jazz Clubs of the 1940s and 50s.
“hundreds of album covers, many full page and wonderful. Each is accompanied by a close reading, delving into typography, photography, who the photographer was, his or her predilections; and the same for the cover designer.” – CA Modern
“Midcentury Americans sure did love that living-room shimmy. This beautifully illustrated compendium reveals the long-forgotten cosmopolitanism and playfulness of Cold War America. It also makes you want to dance. Who could ask for more?” – Fred Turner, author of The Democratic Surround: Multimedia and American Liberalism from World War II to the Psychedelic Sixties
“Recommended.” – Rough Trade
“A great body of work beautifully done.” – Mark Havens, Professor of Industrial Design, Thomas Jefferson University
“By taking seriously all three elements of the ‘composite artifact’ that is the LP record (photography and design on the front cover, text about the LP on the back, and of course, music on the vinyl) Borgerson & Schroeder have done no less than invent a novel subgenre of book…” – W. Norman, Amazon review
“a fascinating yet approachable read and a gorgeous feast for the eyes.”
– Christine Green, (585) magazine
“what a treat! seems I’ve been waiting for this book for decades! I highly recommend checking this one out.” – Art Chantry, graphic designer
Designed for Dancing is both scholarly and eminently accessible…beautifully written introduction.” – Aaron Stander, Michigan Writers on the Air
“The authors do important and entertaining work informing readers how the convergence of dancing and music – and album cover art – impacted American identity at midcentury.” – Joe Maita, Jerry Jazz Musician
“…not just a picture book (although it’s generously filled with album covers) but a deep dive into the Postwar phenomenon that found its way to virtually every American’s life…a must-have history.” – Print Magazine
“What an extraordinary accomplishment -- this is a game changer for our understanding of mid-century America.” – Penny Von Eschen, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of American Studies, University of Virginia
“An intriguing look at social dance culture through a material lens. For scholars and aficionados of mid-20th-century popular culture.” – Library Journal
“From hula to rock and roll, belly dance to square dance, tango to Polish polka, Borgerson and Schroeder provide a treasure trove of information, research, and warm memories!” – Anthony Shay, Professor of Dance and Cultural Studies, Pomona College, California
“Dance music LPs of all styles and nationalities were prize possessions in my family's home, and this cover collection reminds me of the infectious sounds streaming from the record console and the joyful music that filled the air with happiness” – Steven Heller, cochair MFA Design, School of Visual Arts, New York
In Designed for Dancing, vinyl record aficionados Janet Borgerson and Jonathan Schroeder celebrate dance records of the 1950s and 1960s as expressions of midcentury identity, fantasy, and desire. The stories begin with the memorable and striking album covers which were central to the way records were produced and promoted.
Dancing allowed people to sample aspirational lifestyles, whether at the Plaza or in a smoky Parisian café, and to affirm ancestral identities with Irish, Polish, or Greek folk dancing. Dance records invited consumers to dance in the footsteps of the Other with “hot” Latin music, Afro-Caribbean rhythms, and Hawaiian hulas.
Bought at a local supermarket, department store, or record shop, and listened to in the privacy of home, midcentury dance records offered instruction in how to dance, how to dress, how to date, and how to discover cool new music—lessons for harmonizing with the rest of postwar America.
Popular Music Books Series, International Association for the Study of Popular Music
June 12, 2023 Zoom
Janet Borgerson and Jonathan Schroeder discuss and play show-and-tell for their trilogy of books on mid-20th-century LPs that offered instructions for dancing, lifestyles, and 'success,' June 12, 2023, in the Popular Music Books in Process Series.
WATCH
Designed for Dancing: How Midcentury Records Taught America to Dance: "Outtakes" - Vol. 2 - Jerry Jazz Musician
The authors of "Designed For Dancing" share examples of Cha Cha Cha record album covers that didn’t quite make the final cut in their book. Jerry Jazz Musician
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Michigan Alum Winter 2022-23
READ ARTICLE
Designed for Dancing: How Midcentury Records Taught America to Dance: “Outtakes” — Vol. 1, December 5th, 2022
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Best Non-fiction Book Covers
VIEW LIST
Jerry Jazz Musician
August 20, 2022; Interview with Janet Borgerson and Jonathan Schroeder, authors of Designed For Dancing: How Midcentury Records Taught America to Dance
READ MORE
Mid-Century Song and Dance:
Ron Hicklin + Janet Borgerson + Jonathan Schroeder
LISTEN NOW
Interlochen Public Radio
July 22, 2022; Michigan Writers in the Air: Summer 2022
LISTEN NOW
Jerry Jazz Musician
June 22, 2022; Book Excerpt from Designed for Dancing: How Midcentury Records Taught America to Dance, by Janet Borgerson and Jonathan Schroeder
READ NOW
Art Chantry
Recently I was sent this wonderful copy of this (thick) book "DESIGNED FOR DANCING" by Janet Borgerson & Jonathan Schroeder. iI's not only a Cha Cha Cha record cover book, but they also reproduce all sorts of amazing wonderful record covers from assorted pop dance crazes of the 50/60's dance era.
READ MORE
Album Cover Hall of Fame.com
May 27, 2022; ACHOF “Featured Fan Collection” Interview – Professors Jonathan Schroeder and Janet Borgerson
READ
The MIT Press
Friday, 29 April, 2022; Essential album (covers) for International Dance Day
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(585) Magazine
April 25, 2022; Put on your dancing shoes;Midcentury albums tell the story of dance in America; Christine Green; photos by Tomas Flint
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THE MIT PRESS READER
Calypso Confusion; “Harry Belafonte’s best-selling album “Calypso!” propelled the genre into mainstream American consciousness, but its celebration of Jamaica launched a fundamental misunderstanding that obscured calypso’s origins and colonialist history.”; By: Janet Borgerson and Jonathan Schroeder
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Quick Easy Listening Vinyl Haul
Designed for Dancing featured on Kaiwaza’s Quick Easy Listening Vinyl Haul Episode.
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How Mid-Century Album Art Revolutionized American Pop Culture
10 JAN 2022; A new book explores the extraordinary impact of global dance music in post-war America. by Miss Rosen
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UnderConsideration @ucllc
Today on Brand New (Linked): A whole lot of Mid-century design inspiration to be found in "Designed for Dancing", a book by Janet Borgerson and Jonathan Schroeder that celebrates dance records — and their album covers — from the 1950s and 1960s.
VIEW
Read My Lips Radio
with Akaradiored
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Retro Cocktail Hour
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Dave, The Caregiver's Caregiver
Finding Fun and Connection with Vintage Vinyl Records & Jackets
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Wire
by Dave Mandl
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One for the “Record” Books
Designed for Dancing explores the era of Mid-century vinyl and how it shaped American culture; Northern Express; by Craig Manning
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Designed For Dancing: How Midcentury Records Taught America To Dance
Go! Latin Dance
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@jenniferotterbickerdike
Crushing massive on this gorgeous book by #janetborgerson & #jonathanschroder #designedfordancing about #vinylrecords from @mitpress LOVE IT.
The Daily Heller: Dance, Design and the American Dream
Print; by Steven Heller
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Midcentury Dance Records and Representations of Identity
In this contribution to ISRF [Independent Social Research Foundation] Bulletin 23, Janet Borgerson and Jonathan Schroeder discuss what the covers of dance records can tell us about the history of racial identity in the United States.
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MEDIA
PLAYLISTS
Introduction
Cha-cha-cha
Latin
Folk Dances
EVENTS
Popular Music Books Series, International Association for the Study of Popular Music
June 12, 2023 Zoom
Janet Borgerson and Jonathan Schroeder discuss and play show-and-tell for their trilogy of books on mid-20th-century LPs that offered instructions for dancing, lifestyles, and 'success,' June 12, 2023, in the Popular Music Books in Process Series.
WATCH
Goldsmiths | University of London
Music Research Series presents Janet Borgerson and Jonathan Schroeder
9 Mar 2023, 6:00pm - 7:30pm
309, Richard Hoggart Building
Fantasy: Colonial Imaginations of Caribbean Culture in Mid-Century Calypso Album Cover Art
with CoLA’s Nikesia Gordon, Jonathan Schroeder & Professor Kehbuma Langmia of Howard University
Modernism Week 2022
Designed for Dancing presentation at Modernism Week 2022