The Dance
NEW AND EXPANDED EDITION
“One of the most important books on Cold Reading ever written!!!” – George Daily, magic historian
The Dance is the most advanced work on the subject of Cold Reading to date. Where many of the manuals in the past have told you what to do, The Dance teaches you HOW TO DO IT! Topics include ethics, giving readings onstage, turning misses into hits, how to deal with skeptics, and two professional mind reading routines.
“The only other book on the subject that I ever recommend is called The Dance, by my friend Brad Henderson . . . [The Dance] is about the psychology and art of cold reading and how and why it can be such a ‘real’ experience for the client, if handled well. It explores what is going on between the ‘psychic’ reader and the client in the course of a reading, and offers a lot of very good advice based on lots of practical experience. . . The Dance is well worth getting, and contains an embarrassment of riches.” – Ian Rowland
Cold Reading is one of the most misunderstood and misused tools in the mystery worker’s arsenal. A skilled cold reader can easily convince his or her audience that he or she knows their innermost thoughts. A thoughtful cold reader can give their audience an experience that moves them to their core. A sensitive cold reader can literally empower someone to change their life for the better.
“The best description of the art (as opposed to craft) of cold reading written to date. This book will make you a better reader.” – Doug Dyment, noted bibliographer of cold reading.
For the first time in print, cold reading is approached from a functional perspective, an approach that lays bare the truly fundamental dynamics that are the heart of “cold reading”. In The Dance you will learn that much of what you believe about cold reading is simply inaccurate. Cold reading is not a script one reads hoping it applies to everyone. It is a process, an exchange of information between the reader and the sitter; one that manifests in and through a relationship. In The Dance you will learn how and, more importantly, why that process works as it does, along with techniques to build the ideal relationship with your audience, depending on the nature of the experience you wish to convey.
“[The Dance] strikes from a different direction, focusing intensely on what cold reading is as a system and a process…and even more importantly, on the relationship that exists between the reader and the sitter. He also spends a good deal of time discussing the ethics of cold reading and the reasons WHY we do it. In other words, he discusses it as if it were a performance art.
“Because Brad is such a strong thinker, his work on this is exemplary. If there’s to be any caveat, it’s that whether you’re reading one of his books or talking to him in person, he often exhibits a nearly dizzying intellect, and some may feel it easy to be left behind . . . [He] writes this book with a great deal of candor, which can be either refreshing or threatening, depending on whether or not you feel guilty of what he’s discussing at the moment.” – Lance Pierce
Brad Henderson’s The Dance will change the way you think, not only about cold reading, but also about magic, and maybe even about life. Brad’s approach to cold reading, and consideration of the questions he raises, will help you become a better communicator regardless of your audience and goals. The section on ethics alone will force you to question many of your perhaps unconscious performance choices. The real world applications he offers stage performers will, if applied artistically, take your audience’s experience of your mentalism and magic to a much deeper, potentially meaningful, level.
“If you are like most mentalists, you have considerable unused capacity that you have not turned to your advantage. At times you have had serious doubts as to whether you have done the right thing by spending your time and money on books full of cold reading scripts and rehashed Forer Statements. If you think that cold reading is all about The Barnum Effect or population stereotypes, you desperately need to read Brad Henderson’s book, The Dance. The 1st Edition of The Dance was a smart and important book and the Expanded 3rd Edition is better still. If you’re an independent thinker who has become dissatisfied by the restrictions and limitations of traditional readings, you will appreciate the intelligence and variety that Henderson’s book provides. Highly recommended.” – Michael Weber
Now 20 % Dancier
This new edition contains approximately 20% more content than the previous editions. In the extensive afterward Brad revisits the problems endemic within the modern skeptical movement, explores a new technique for expanding the accuracy of your readings within an entertainment setting, shares a personal revelation resulting from a one-on-one encounter with the greatest psychic entertainer who has ever lived, and offers a new approach to incorporating cold reading techniques in a theatrical performance environment.
“There have been many books and essays about Cold Reading, and I have slogged through most of them. One of the very few that I’ve liked is Brad Henderson’s The Dance. As with Brad himself, this book is articulate, opinionated, stubborn, and highly engaging.” — Max Maven
Here is your chance to obtain a copy of one of the most sought after books in the history of mentalism. Copies of the first edition exchanged hands for over $600 at the major magic auction sites when it first went out of print. Only a limited number of copies of the 3rd Expanded Edition are available. The information in The Dance is timeless. If you are interested in cold reading, this book must be in your library. SOFTBOUND
