Books/Ph.D

Written ideas, stories, experiences and thoughts from Julie Angel.
Published author & Doctorate from Brunel University, U
K.

Published by Quarto

Breaking the Jump

Available in hardback, paperback and e-book/kindle on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk
Breaking the Jump
The secret story of Parkour’s high-flying rebellion.

Breaking the Jump is part coming-of-age-story and part social history of exercise with a dash of memoir about my own improbable discovery of the beauty and wonder of movement for movement’s sake. It is the story of a fringe culture written for the mainstream. It charts the trajectory of nine youths from the Paris ghettos who start out going nowhere fast, and end up as international sports heroes with superhuman athletic abilities. Along the way their uncanny adventure draws in Hong Kong action movies; obscure 19th century sporting cults, award- winning stage shows, the world of Japanese Animation; the Vietnam war, and the history of postwar architectural movements, to name a few. It may seem complicated, but at its core Breaking the Jump is a simple tale about the desire to move.Released on June 16, 2016

Publisher: The Quarto Group 

REVIEWS

What they say

Christopher McDougall

Best Selling Author 'Born to Run'

“Julie Angel’s brilliant insight into Parkour is the reason it first began to fascinate me. I’ve devoured her films, and it made me hungry for a book about the origins of this strange, secret art. I couldn’t understand why no one had written it — and then I realized it could only be done by someone with Julie Angel’s personal access and penetrating intelligence. I can’t wait to plunge into it.”

Mike Christie

TV & Film Director- Jump London

“Julie takes a scalpel to the possibility of Parkour, its place in time and history, and her own initial resistance (and ultimate submission) to the discipline, slices it clean down the middle and exposes the nerve that connects mind to body to soul to world. This personal account of her own journey of discovery made even me want to try the freedom enjoyed in the movement of others I’ve observed for so long -and perhaps thanks to Julie I might just finally do that…

John Sharkey

Clinical Anatomist & Neuromuscular Therapist

“One of the pleasures of Julie Angel’s storytelling is that each sentence has oxygen fueling a narrative born out of a love for the beauty that is Parkour. The reader will be surprised that the form and structure of Parkour are not limited to motion, strength, agility or even being brave. On reading this book it becomes apparent that Parkour is a way of life. Parkour helps each human to build a foundation upon which they can contribute and share in a meaningful way to family and community and do so with love and goodwill. Angel in her effortlessly eloquent prose demonstrates a verve and panache that informs the reader that this is a book about the story of living, about human and personal evolution. Elsewhere Angel combine’s accurate, here before untold, history of Parkour, personal knowledge of the key players and first-hand experience of same placing her in a unique position to tell this story. Breaking the jump is a triumph.”

Amazon rating

4.6 Stars on 119 ratings:     79% 5* reviews

This is the Parkour book I've been waiting for. It deals with the most interesting, and least well-documented, period of Parkour's history and does a great job balancing the historical narrative with fun and inspiring anecdotes from the founders' training. It also tells a very different story from the one many people know, and covers the separation of David, Seb, and the Yamak like nothing else ever has. It's a seriously invaluable resource for anyone that is interested in the story behind Parkour.
I've never read a book that tempted me to get up in the middle of the night and go train the way this one did. The spirit, passion, and strength of character that the original practitioners had shines through in this book at a time when we as a community definitely need a reminder of it. No cameras, no bulls***, no fancy cross-training programs...just a bunch of friends pushing themselves as hard as they could every single day.
The book does a good job avoiding the pitfall of nostalgia, which is always hard to do in Parkour. It also felt like a VERY accessible read, even to non-practitioners or practitioners who may not align themselves with the values of the original group.
If you've been wavering over whether or not you should purchase this book, stop now. Anyone who feels passionately about Parkour, freerunning, or Art Du Déplacement should consider this an absolutely essential read. It's the first "real" (in that it isn't a guide or handbook but delves into the history, psychology, and culture of the movement and individuals who created it) Parkour book to me, so go check it out. It's an amazing contribution to the community and overall body of Parkour knowledge available.

-Max Henry

Choreographic Dwellings-Kinaesthetic Topologies

Practising Place (New World Choreographies)

Publisher: Palgrave

I contributed a chapter on parkour to the publication:
Choreographic Dwellings is a part of New World Choreographies Series (launched 2014)

“The series NEW WORLD CHOREOGRAPHIES presents advanced yet accessible studies of a rich field of new choreographic work which is embedded in the global, transnational and intermedial context of the present. It introduces artists, companies and scholars who contribute to the conceptual and technological rethinking of what constitutes movement, blurring old boundaries between dance, theatre and performance. The series considers new aesthetics and new contexts of production and presentation, and discusses the multi-sensory, collaborative and transformative potential of these new world choreographies.”

why we do it

Ciné Parkour

BUY HERE:


Ciné Parkour is a cinematic and theoretical contribution to the understanding of the practice of parkour. It is the result of Julie Angel's six-year PhD film and research adventures into the exciting, challenging, fascinating and at times contradictory world of parkour. Its aim is to understand the essence of the everyday of parkour as experienced by those who were involved in creating it.

Self Published 2011


cine parkour by julie angel book cover

Ph.D

Ciné Parkour:
A Practise Based PhD

Title: Ciné Parkour: a cinematic and theoretical contribution to the understanding of the practice of parkour.

Supervisors: Professor Michael Wayne, Dr. Alisa Lebow
Location: Brunel University’s Screen Media Research Centre, UK
Completion: 2011

Due to my research I was invited to be part of an international consutation committe for the United Nations Article 31 General Comment on Article 31, the Child’s Right. Jan. – Dec. 2012. Since completing my Ph.D I have presented my work at various festivals and exhibitions all over the world as well as participating in academic conferences.

 

Research interests have included: collaborative filmmaking processes, participant observation, shared cinema, activism, creativity, space, place, identity, phenomenology, mediatisation, sportification, body cultures.
The completed PhD involved the production of a DVD as well as the written thesis.

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