How They Became Famous Dancers: A Dancing History for young readers tells the story of twelve famous dancers - six women and six men - from different parts of the world. Spanning the seventeenth into the twenty-first centuries, each biographical sketch is placed within the subject's historical and cultural context. Dancers include: 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 dance themselves based on each dancer's style.