BOOK CATEGORIES
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The Great History of the Russian Ballet: Its Art and Choreography
Although the techniques of classical ballet were invented by French and Italian masters two hundred years ago, the Russian Ballet refined these techiques, thus enhancing its already superb performances. In 1738, the first professional school of dance opened in St. Petersburg. During the 18th century, the Russian Ballet became known for its tragic and its comic ballets. The Russian Ballet reached is apogee during the 19th century. The second half of the 19th century was marked by the collaboration of Petipa, the French choreographer, withe the Russian composer Tchaikovsky. In the early 20th century, Diaghilev delighted audiences in the West by presenting his Ballets Russes with suprememly talented choreographers, dancers, compers, and set deisgners. The book offers an encyclopedic overview of the entire history of the Russian Ballet, written by a team of scholars.
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Ballet 101 : A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving the Ballet (Paperback) by Robert Greskovic
Robert Greskovic's enthusiasm for ballet is infectious. The combination of ideal bodies moving into wondrous shapes, beautiful music, and often fantastic sets and costumes makes it, in his opinion, a near perfect art form. Still, many art lovers who regularly visit museums and galleries and think nothing of an evening at the opera or theater practically panic at the thought of sitting through a ballet. Ballet 101 should ease those people's fears. Greskovic starts off with a lively but solid history of ballet, then covers the training of a dancer. These two elements alone offer an excellent foundation for understanding what's going on on-stage. The book also includes clear information about the logistics of a performance--from the conductor's arrival in the orchestra pit to the final curtain call, no pique, glissade, or arabesque is left unexplained. After covering these basics, Greskovic examines 14 ballets in great detail--most are classics like Les Sylphides, but a number of modern treasures like Balanchine's Apollo are also covered. For readers yearning to take in more dance than their local ballet company offers in a season, the book includes an extensive videography as well as excellent suggestions for further reading. The tone of Ballet 101 is serious without being dry and informative without being condescending--a great find for anyone anxious to learn more about this often under-appreciated art form.
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Writings on Ballet and Music (Studies in Dance History) by Fedor Lopukhov
Although little-known in the West, Fedor Lopukhov was a leading figure in Russia's dance world for more than sixty years and an influence on many who became major figures in Western dance, such as George Balanchine. As a choreographer, he staged the first post-revolutionary productions of traditional ballets like Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty as well as avant-garde and experimental works, including Dance Symphony, Bolt, and a highly controversial version of The Nutcracker. This first publication in English of Lopukhov's theoretical writings will give readers a clear understanding of his seminal importance in dance history and illuminate his role in the development of dance as a nonnarrative, musically based form.
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Dancing Through History by Joan Cass
Setting dance within a cultural context that is both understandable and interesting, this insightful reference captures the true art form of dance and traces the activity of dance as it existed down through the ages and all over the world. Beginning with the origins of dance and moving on to what takes place on Western dance stages today, this volume offers a sweeping overview of primitive, ethnic, and folk dance forms ... examines the major branches of Western dance art including ballet from its inception in 16th century Europe, modern dance, jazz, avant-garde, and the international eclectic contemporary scene ... tracks the repertory, technical training of performers, and creative theory of the many traditions that unify this art form ... includes discussions of significant dancers, their contributions, and the performers that inspired them; the background of period styles; pertinent ideas of major choreographers; capsule biographies of outstanding dance artists; effects of music and design on choreography; national characteristics of dance; the psychology of performers; and coverage on such concepts as Classic, Romantic, and Avant-garde to clarify trends and invoke thought on the Dance Art and society ... and makes many comparisons to current day events. Suitable for anyone involved or interested in dance history.
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Ballet Under Napolean by Ivor Guest
A vivid and definitive account which reveals Romanticism as a period of great significance in the development of ballet as a major theater art. This book covers the period from 1793-1819, and completes Dr. Guest's survey of ballet in France from 1770-1870.
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Ballet and Opera in the Age of Giselle by Marian Smith
Marian Smith recaptures a rich period in French musical theater when ballet and opera were intimately connected. Focusing on the age of Giselle at the Paris Opéra (from the 1830s through the 1840s), Smith offers an unprecedented look at the structural and thematic relationship between the two genres. She argues that a deeper understanding of both ballet and opera--and of nineteenth-century theater-going culture in general--may be gained by examining them within the same framework instead of following the usual practice of telling their histories separately. This handsomely illustrated book ultimately provides a new portrait of the Opéra during a period long celebrated for its box-office successes in both genres.
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Rethinking the Sylph: New Perspectives on the Romantic Ballet (Studies in Dance History) by Lynn Garafola
This collection of original essays brings together a distinguished group of international scholars to illustrate the importance of Romantic ballet within the broad context of Western theatrical dancing. The wide variety of perspectives, from social history to feminism, from psychoanalysis to musicology, serves to illuminate the modernity of Romantic ballet in terms of vocabulary, representation of gender, and iconography. The collection highlights previously unexplored aspects of the Romantic ballet, including its internationalism, its reflection of modern ideas of nationalism through the use and creation of national dance forms, its construction of an exotic-erotic hierarchy and proto-Orientalist "other," its transformation of social relations from clan to class, and the repercussions of its feminization as an art form. This generously illustrated book offers a wealth of rare archival material, including prints, costume designs, music, and period reviews, some translated into English for the first time.
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The Ballets Russes and Its World by Lynn Garafola
This lavishly illustrated book surveys the dance, art, music, and cultural worlds of the Ballets Russes, the preeminent dance company that helped to define the avant-garde in the early part of the twentieth century. The book explores the life of founder Serge Diaghilev, his relationship with Igor Stravinsky and other famous artists who worked with the Ballets Russes, the legacy of the company in the United States and England, and much more.
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Alexander Pushkin: Master Teacher of Dance
At the great Kirov Ballet of St. Petersburg, Alexander Ivanovich Pushkin (1907-1970) danced many leading roles from 1925 to 1953. However, it was as a teacher at the Leningrad Choreographic School that he became a legend. Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov were his star pupils, but nearly all the leading male dancers of the Kirov Ballet from the 1940s through the 1960s were taught by him. Filled with personal photos, as well as others of his students and classes, this concise, insightful biography reveals to us the life and techniques of a master teacher.
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Costumes By Karinska by Toni Bentley
Of Barbara Karinska, George Balanchine said, "There is Shakespeare for literature and Karinska for costume." While any comparison to Shakespeare is hyperbole, Karinska was certainly among the greatest costume designers of her generation. She was one of Balanchine's closest collaborators, and her work for film, theater, opera, and dance helped define the look of an era. Among others, she worked with Agnes de Mille, Bronislava Nijinska, Jerome Robbins, Louis Jouvet, Franco Zeffirelli, Mike Todd, Victor Fleming, and George Cukor. One of the highest moments in her long career was the remounting of Firebird in 1970 for the New York City Ballet based on designs by Chagall. Entertainingly written by Bentley (Winter Season, A Dancer's Journal, LJ 8/82. o.p.), a former dancer with the New York City Ballet, this lavishly illustrated volume is recommended for costume, theater, and dance collections.
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