Dance anecdotes : stories from the worlds of ballet, Broadway, the ballroom, and modern dance

mindy Aloff, A Leading Dance Critic Who Has Written For the Nation, The New Republic , And the New Yorker , Has Brought Together Here A Marvelous Book Of Stories By And About Dancers—entertaining And Informative Anecdotes That Capture The Boundless Variety And Richness Of Dance As An Art, A Tradition, A Profession, A Pastime, An Obsession, A Reality, And, For The Dancer, An Ideal. George Balanchine Is Here, And So Are Fred Astaire, Margot Fonteyn, Rudolf Nureyev, Savion Glover, Martha Graham, And Lola Montez, And Also Stars From Other Arts—such As Akira Kurosawa And Bob Dylan—who Have Spoken About Dancing With Wit Or Illumination. There Are Stories About Irene And Vernon Castle, Cyd Charisse And Gene Kelly, Bob Fosse And Gwen Verdon, Paul Taylor And Mark Morris. We Read About The Charisma And Spontaneity Of Anna Pavlova, About The Secret To Vaslav Nijinsky's Success (i Worked Like An Ox And I Lived Like A Martyr), About George Balanchine Racing To A Union Dispute With A Bag Of Dimes. Many Of The Stories Are Amusing, But Some Are Rueful, Even Sad, And A Few Are Dark. Aloff Concludes The Volume With An Essay About How Dancing Has Been Able To Record Its Past, Sometimes Over Centuries, And About How The Art Of The Dancer, Apparently As Ephemeral In Performance As Cloud Patterns, Turns Out, When Conditions Are Hospitable, To Be Much More Hardy And Resilient Than Many People Suppose. A Glorious Promenade Of Stories That Stretch As Far Back As Classical Times And As Far Afield As Japan, India, And Java, This Superb Collection Will Be Treasured By Everyone Who Loves Dance, Whether Young Or Old. publishers Weekly esteemed Dance Critic Aloff Offers Up A Delicious And Provocative Pastiche Of Anecdotes From The World Of Dance. She Describes It As The Kind Of Collection That One Might Pick Up In A Country Inn On A Rainy Day And While Away An Hour Browsing Through, Which Is Too Modest: The Book Is Easy To Pick Up But Hard To Put Down. Those Who Want Salacious Gossip Will Have To Look Elsewhere; Aloff Eschews The Smirking Delights Of Shaudenfreude, Including Only Stories She Would Want To Tell... To Someone [she] Cared For. The Stories Are Insightful, Witty, Occasionally Juicy And Often Dark. Aloff Is Delightfully Subjective And Partial In Her Choices. There Are Dancers And Choreographers Represented, Of Course-petipa, Pavlova, Balanchine, Nureyev, Graham And Astaire. But Other Artists, Such As Shakespeare, Tchaikovsky, Dickens, Colette And Dave Barry (yes, Dave Barry) Also Figure In These Tales. This Volume Is Destined To Be Bedside Reading For Those Fond Of Backstage Insight And Intrigue. (may) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information. N.B (from Author).: This is a highly incomplete example of how the contents could be written for each category. All the categories, however, are represented here in order: Towering figures Marie Taglioni (Pierre Lacotte, August Bournonville, Hans Christian Andersen, Tamara Karsavina, Tamara Geva, Joseph Cornell, Marie Taglioni) Anna Pavlova (Muriel Stuart, A.H. Franks, Diwan Chamanlall, Hubert Storitts, Alicia Markova Sol Hurok, Anna Pavlova) Vaslav Nijinsky (Cyril Beaumont, Jean Cocteau, Marie Rambert, Henry Taylor Parker, Ninette de Valois Joan Acocella, Vaslav Nijinsky) Isadora Duncan (Isadora Duncan, Erick Hawkins, Gorgon Craig, Irma Duncan, Max Eastman Robert Benchley, Fredrika Blair, H.T. Parker, Arlene Croce) Martha Graham (Dorothy Bird, Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Francis Mason, Beate Gordon, Tony Randall, David Zellmer) Margot Fonteyn (Alastair Macaulay, Pauline Koner, Maxim Gershunoff, Martha Graham, David Vaughan, Lynn Seymour, Valda Setterfield, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Robert A. Gottlieb Keith Money, Meredith Daneman, Joy Williams Brown) Frederick Ashton (Frederick Ashton with Dick Cavett) George Balanchine (Tamara Geva, Mikhail Mikhailov, Lincoln Kirstein, George Balanchine, Moira Shearer, Aaron Copland, Edwin Denby, Yvonne Mounsey, Vera Krasovskaya, Bernard Taper, Robert A. Gottlieb, Maya Plisetskaya, Karin von Aroldingen, Susan Pilarre) Of steps and their authorship (Ekaterina Vazem on La Bayadre, Natalia Makarova on the dying swan, David Daniel on Suzanne Farrell and Balanchine's Nutcracker, Julian Mates on the hornpipe Michael Powell on Moira Shearer, Sally Banes on the origins of hip-hop) Music makes me (Fred Astaire on George Gershwin, Eudora Welty, John Cranko, Ellen Pearlman On Tibetan buddhist monks, Carl Carmer on dancing Alabama, A.P. Natarova on Riccardo Drigo, Ruth St. Denis on music visualization, Josef Kschesinsky on Lev Ivanov Parmenia Migel on Manuel da Falla, Charles Dickens on "La Carmagnole," Marcel Proust, Bob Dylan, Federico Garca Lorca, George Balanchine on Igor Stravinsky) The rehearsal room (Antony Tudor, Carolyn Adams on Paul Taylor, Benjamin Bowman on Jerome Robbins, Tony Stevens on Bob Fosse, Savion Glover, Ralph Lemon, Jesse McKinley on Harvey Fierstein, Lincoln Kirstein on George Balanchine, Dave Barry [attributed]) Coaches and teachers (Lillian B. Lawler on the Greek gods, Savion glover on the tap tradition, Jean Georges Noverre on ballet positions, A.Y. Golovachova-Panaeva on Charles Didelot Lillian Moore on dancing on Montesquieu in North America, Maria Tallchief on Caroline Kennedy, Mary Fanton Roberts on Isadora Duncan, Lynn Seymour on Margot Fonteyn, George Jackson on Katherine Dunham, Charles dickens, Mamie Dickens on her father, Timofei Alexevevich Stukolkin on Fanny Elssler, Andre Glevsky on Nicolas Legat, Gennady Albert on Alexander Pushkin, Paul Taylor on Antony Tudor, Deborah Jowitt on Bella Lewitzky, Ruth St. Denis and Doris Humphrey on one another, James Cagney on Anna Pavlova, Bill T Jones on his high school mentor, Martin Gottfried on Marilyn Monroe and Gwen Verdon Robert Greskovic on Suzanne Farrell) Hands and things that can fill them (Natalia Makarova, Rainer Maria Rilke, Xenia Narina, Shirley Temple, Paul Taylor, Bettie de Jong) Balletomania and other thrills (A.H. Franks, Théophile Gautier, King Ludwig I, Ruthanna Boris, Lillian Moore, Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Carl van Vechten) Inspiration (Tommy Tune, George Balanchine, Federico Garcia Lorca, Donald McKayle E. Louis Backman, Eudora Welty, Lynn Fauley Emery, Ruby Keeler, Ruth St. Denis, Diwan Chamanlall, Natalia Makarova, Lynn Seymour Ron Cunningham, Gelsey Kirkland) Seductions attempted, surmised, and completed (Geoffrey Gorer, Guglielmo Ebreo, Agnes de Mille, Meredith Daneman, Ernst Moritz Arndt, Giacomo Casanova) Critical lines Turning points From stage to page Fauna Scandals Touring The theaters Costumes, footgear, and hair do's and don'ts Make-up Conductors Dancing and related professions Dancing and the movies Injuries, maladies, misfortunes, and cures On partnering and partnerships A mark, a yen, a buck, or a pound Stagecraft. Mindy Aloff, A Leading Dance Critic Who Has Written For The Nation, The New Republic, And The New Yorker, Has Brought Together Here A Marvelous Book Of Stories By And About Dancers - Entertaining And Informative Anecdotes That Capture The Boundless Variety And Richness Of Dance As An Art, A Tradition, A Profession, A Pastime, An Obsession, A Reality, And, For The Dancer, An Ideal. Many Of The Stories Are Amusing, But Some Are Rueful, Even Sad, And A Few Are Dark. Aloff Concludes The Volume With An Essay About How Dancing Has Been Able To Record Its Past, Sometimes Over Centuries, And About How The Art Of The Dancer, Apparently As Ephemeral In Performance As Cloud Patterns, Turns Out, When Conditions Are Hospitable, To Be Much More Hardy And Resilient Than Many People Suppose. A Glorious Promenade Of Stories That Stretch A Far Back As Classical Times And As Far Afield As Japan, India, And Java, This Superb Collection Will Be Treasured By Everyone Who Loves Dance, Whether Young Or Old.--jacket. Towering Figures -- Marie Taglioni -- Anna Pavlova -- Vaslav Nijinsky -- Isadora Duncan -- Martha Graham -- Margot Fonteyn -- Sir Frederick Ashton -- George Balanchine -- Of Steps And Their Authorship -- Music Makes Me ... -- The Rehearsal Room -- Coaches And Teachers -- Hands And Things That Can Fill Them -- Balletomania And Other Thrills -- Inspiration -- Seductions Attempted, Surmised, And Realized -- Critical Lines -- Turning Points -- From Stage To Page -- Fauna -- Scandals -- Touring -- The Theaters -- Costumes, Footgear, And Hair Do's And Don'ts -- Makeup -- Conductors -- Dancing And Related Theatrical Professions -- Dancing The Movies -- Injuries, Maladies, Misfortunes, And Cures. Mindy Aloff. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [241]-249) And Index. Mindy Aloff, a leading dance critic who has written for "The Nation", "The New Republic", and "The New Yorker", has brought together here a marvelous book of stories by and about dancers - entertaining and informative anecdotes that capture the boundless variety and richness of dance as an art, a tradition, a profession, a pastime, an obsession, a reality, and, for the dancer, an ideal. George Balanchine is here, and so are Fred Astaire, Margot Fonteyn, Rudolf Nureyev, Savion Glover, Martha Graham, and Lola Montez, and also stars from other arts - such as Akira Kurosawa and Bob Dylan - who have spoken about dancing with wit or illumination. There are stories about Irene and Vernon Castle, Cyd Charisse and Gene Kelly, Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon, Paul Taylor and Mark Morris. We read about the charisma and spontaneity of Anna Pavlova, about the secret to Vaslav Nijinsky's success ("I worked like an ox and I lived like a martyr"), about George Balanchine racing to a union dispute with a bag of dimes. Many of the stories are amusing, but some are rueful, even sad, and a few are dark.; Aloff concludes the volume with an essay about how dancing has been able to record its past, sometimes over centuries, and about how the art of the dancer, apparently as ephemeral in performance as cloud patterns, turns out, when conditions are hospitable, to be much more hardy and resilient than many people suppose. A glorious promenade of stories that stretch as far back as classical times and as far afield as Japan, India, and Java, this superb collection will be treasured by everyone who loves dance, whether young or old Contents......Page 8 Preface......Page 10 Marie Taglioni......Page 14 Anna Pavlova......Page 19 Vaslav Nijinsky......Page 24 Isadora Duncan......Page 29 Martha Graham......Page 38 Margot Fonteyn......Page 44 Sir Frederick Ashton......Page 50 George Balanchine......Page 58 Of Steps and Their Authorship......Page 69 Music Makes Me . . .......Page 73 The Rehearsal Room......Page 85 Coaches and Teachers......Page 89 Hands and Things That Can Fill Them......Page 106 Balletomania and Other Thrills......Page 111 Inspiration......Page 115 Seductions Attempted, Surmised, and Realized......Page 123 Critical Lines......Page 129 Turning Points......Page 140 From Stage to Page......Page 145 Fauna......Page 152 Scandals......Page 157 Touring......Page 161 The Theaters......Page 167 Costumes, Footgear, and Hair Do’s and Don’ts......Page 172 Makeup......Page 181 Conductors......Page 184 Dancing and Related Theatrical Professions......Page 188 Dancing and the Movies......Page 192 Injuries, Maladies, Misfortunes, and Cures......Page 198 On Partnering and Partnerships......Page 206 A Mark, a Yen, a Buck, or a Pound......Page 218 Sets and Stagecraft......Page 227 Big Pictures......Page 231 Afterword: A Note on Anecdotes as Ingredients of Dance History......Page 243 Bibliography......Page 254 Acknowledgments......Page 264 Credits......Page 270 A......Page 272 B......Page 273 C......Page 274 D......Page 275 G......Page 277 H......Page 278 L......Page 279 M......Page 280 N......Page 281 R......Page 282 S......Page 283 T......Page 284 Z......Page 285 Choreographer, teacher, artistic director of several ballet companies, holder of a master's degree in arts and literature, and co-author (with Jean-Pierre Pastori) of the book, Tradition, Pierre Lacotte is best known internationally for his attempts to reconstruct works from the repertory of nineteenth-century ballet that were hitherto considered lost.