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Books : Entertainment : Performing Arts : Dance : Choreographers & Dancers
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Before "Fred and Ginger," there was "Fred and Adele," a show-business partnership and cultural sensation like no other. In our celebrity-saturated era, it's hard to comprehend what a genuine phenomenon these two siblings from Omaha were. At the height of their success in the mid-1920s, the Astaires seemed to define the Jazz Age. They were Gershwin's music in motion, a fascinating pair who wove spellbinding rhythms in song and dance.
In this book, the first comprehensive study of their theatrical career together, Kathleen Riley traces the Astaires' rise to fame from humble midwestern origins and early days as child performers on small-time vaudeville stages (where Fred, fatefully, first donned top hat and tails) to their 1917 debut on Broadway to star billings on both sides of the Atlantic. They became ambassadors of an art form they helped to revolutionize, adored by audiences, feted by royalty, and courted socially by elites everywhere they went. From the start, Adele was the more natural performer, spontaneous, funny, and self-possessed, while Fred had to hone his trademark timing and elegance through endless hours of rehearsal, a disciplined regimen that Adele loathed. Ultimately, Fred's dancing expertise surpassed his sister's, and their paths diverged: Adele married into British aristocracy, and Fred headed for Hollywood.
The Astaires examines in depth the
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Following the extraordinary success of MEETINGS WITH REMARKABLE TREES, Thomas Pakenham broadens his search for remarkable specimens around the world. From North and South America to Europe, from Asia and South Africa and Madagascar to Australia and New Zealand, he presents us with trees of personality and presence: Dwarfs, Giants, Monuments, and Aliens - the lovingly tended midgets of Japan; the massive 'General Sherman' of Sierra Nevada; the Mexican Tule Bald Cypress; the enormous strangler from India now romping about the University of Palermo in Sicily; and the 4,700 year old 'Old Methusalehs', the bristlecone pines discovered in the White Mountains of California. From ancient yews and ginkos to colossal redwoods and fairytale baobabs, this book is the fruit of Thomas Pakenham's search for the most remarkable trees of the world.
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The shattering story of a dream which became a heartbreaking nightmare for one of America's most famous ballerinas, Gelsey Kirkland, who chronicles her brilliant start as a dancer with George Balanchine, her legendary partnership with Mikhail Baryshnikov, her agonizing descent into drugs, and her struggles to rise again.
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Rudolf Nureyev had it all: beauty, genius, charm, passion, and sex appeal. No other dancer of our time has generated the same excitement, for both men and women, on or off the stage. With Nureyev: The Life, Julie Kavanagh shows how his intense drive and passion for dance propelled him from a poor, Tatar-peasant background to the most sophisticated circles of London, Paris, and New York. His dramatic defection to the West in l961 created a Cold War crisis and made him an instant celebrity, but this was just the beginning. Nureyev spent the rest of his life breaking barriers: reinventing male technique, “crashing the gates” of modern dance, iconoclastically updating the most hallowed classics, and making dance history by partnering England’s prima ballerina assoluta, Margot Fonteyn--a woman twice his age. He danced for almost all the major choreographers--Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Kenneth MacMillan, Jerome Robbins, Maurice Béjart, Roland Petit--his main motive, he claimed, for having left the Kirov. But Nureyev also made it his mission to stage Russia’s full-length masterpieces in the West. His highly personal productions of Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Raymonda, Romeo and Juliet, and La Bayadère are the mainstays of the Paris Opéra Ballet repertory to this day. An inspirational director and teacher, Nureyev was a Diaghilev-like mentor to young protégés across the globe--from Karen Kain and Monica Mason (now directors themselves), to Sylvie Guillem, Elisabeth Platel, Laurent Hilaire and Kenneth Greve.
Sex, as much as dance, was a driving force for Nureyev. From his first secret liaison in Russia to his tempestuous relationship with the great Danish dancer Erik Bruhn, we see not only Nureyev’s notorious homosexual history unfold, but also learn of his profound effect on women--whether a Sixties wild child or Jackie Kennedy and Lee Radziwill or the aging Marlene Dietrich. Among the first victims of AIDS, Nureyev was diagnosed HIV positive in 1984 but defied the disease for nearly a decade, dancing, directing the Paris Opéra Ballet, choreographing, and even beginning a new career as a conductor. Still making plans for the future, Nureyev finally succumbed and died in January l993.
Drawing on previously undisclosed letters, diaries, home-movie footage, interviews with Nureyev’s inner circle, and her own dance background, Julie Kavanagh gives the most intimate, revealing, and dramatic picture we have ever had of this dazzling, complex figure.
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The unique style of Cuban ballet is galvanizing the world of dance in the United States, Europe, Latin America, and beyond. This beautifully illustrated book explores the history of Cuban ballet by focusing on the life and career of the indomitable Alicia Alonso. It also spotlights many of the young dancers who are changing the face of ballet with their superb technique, impeccable work ethic, and spectacular performances: Lorena Feijoo, Lorna Feijoo, Joan Boada, Taras Domitro, Jose Manuel Carreo, Rolando Sarabia, and Carlos Acosta to name but a few.
While focusing on the artistry and spirit of Cuban dancers, both within and out of Cuba, Octavio Roca deftly explores the political realities artists face in Cuba and why so many need to leave their beloved home to reach their full potential, taking their grace, beauty, strength, and style with them. Cuba's loss has become the worlds gain.
A widely respected authority on the arts, Roca has served on the juries of dozens of international festivals and performing arts competitions, including the International Ballet Festival in Havana, his native city. Octavio Roca studied at Emory University and Georgetown University, has taught philosophy at the University of Miami and Barry University, and is now chair of the Arts and Philosophy Department at Miami Dade College. He lives in Miami Beach.
(20091101)
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Bob Fosse (19271987), the director and choreographer of Chicago and Sweet Charity, has never been more popular than he is right now. Here is the less-publicized side of his story-his surprising ascent from the world of sleazy Chicago strip joints to the glitter of Broadway. A legend's memory is preserved in this eloquent biography.
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Fred's better half chronicles her life, describing her childhood career in vaudeville, her break into films and stardom, her five marriages, her relationship with Astaire, her faith, and her work with Fonda, Monroe, Selznick, and others. Reprint.
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The foremost contemporary choreographer in the history of ballet, George Balanchine extended the art form into radical new paths that came to seem inevitable under his direction. He transformed movement and dance in classical and modern ballet, on the Broadway stage, and in the cinema.
George Balanchine chronicles the life and achievements of this visionary artist from his early, almost accidental career in Russia, where his lifelong collaboration with Igor Stravinsky was forged, to his extraordinary accomplishments in America. The editor and writer Robert Gottlieb, one of the most knowledgeable dance critics in America, offers a superb and loving portrait of a genius who, though married many times to many ballerinas, remained truest to his greatest love, Terpischore, the Greek Muse of dance.
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The first book to explore the distinctive technique of this modern dance pioneer.
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In the early 1960s, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater was a small, multi-racial company of dancers that performed the works of its founding choreographer and other emerging artists. By the late 1960s, the company had become a well-known African American artistic group closely tied to the Civil Rights struggle. In Dancing Revelations, Thomas DeFrantz chronicles the troupe's journey from a small modern dance company to one of the premier institutions of African American culture. He not only charts this rise to national and international renown, but also contextualizes this progress within the civil rights, women's rights, and gay rights struggles of the late 20th century.
DeFrantz examines the most celebrated Ailey dances, including Revelations, drawing on video recordings of Ailey's dances, published interviews, oral histories, and his own interviews with former Ailey company dancers. Through vivid descriptions and beautiful illustrations, DeFrantz reveals the relationship between Ailey's works and African American culture as a whole. He illuminates the dual achievement of Ailey as an artist and as an arts activist committed to developing an African American presence in dance. He also addresses concerns about how dance performance is documented, including issues around spectatorship and the display of sexuality, the relationship of Ailey's dances to civil rights
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Howard Hughes was a mysterious billionaire, heroic, tragic, brilliant, mad, pathological and extraordinarily wealthy. He was a great businessman or a terrible one; the jury is still out. But his life was fascinating and disturbing.
Orphaned at 18 and inheriting millions from his father's estate, Hughes headed to Hollywood where he dallied with Hollywood's most beautiful women including Jean Harlow, Billie Dove, Lana Turner, Jane Russell, Ida Lupino, Rita Hayworth, Ginger Rogers, Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Gene Tierney, Ava Gardner, Gloria Vanderbilt—only 17—and Kate Hepburn, the latter introduced to him by his friend, Cary Grant. He produced and directed many movies, including "Scarface," "Hell's Angels" and "The Outlaw," the latter a trailblazing sex-Western starring Jane Russell. He wanted a studio and purchased RKO from uber-financier Floyd Odlum.
At the same time Hughes was an industrialist and aviation pioneer. While his company Hughes Tool was generating hundreds of millions of dollars in profits annually, Hughes established aircraft companies and airlines, including TWA and Northeast Airlines. He was also a speed junkie who wanted to break world speed, endurance and altitude records. He crashed several times, one crash so severe he nearly died--and opiates administered during his lengthy recovery became a lifelong addiction.
When he sold TWA for $546 million he turned his attention to Las Vegas and began acquiring hotels and casinos the way a child plays the game of Monopoly. He bought the Desert Inn, the Sands, Castaways, New Frontier, Silver Slipper, Harold's Club, North Las Vegas Airport and all the surrounding lands—and nearly a fifth of all the gambling in Nevada. Many credited Hughes for wresting control of the city from the mob.
But the airplane crashes, the drug addiction and his childhood predilection for illness, real or feigned, turned him into a bizarre recluse who lived in darkness, naked, his waste kept in jars, refusing to cut his hair or nails, carried to the bathroom, and watching old movies day and night.
President Richard Nixon's collapse, brought about by the Watergate fiasco, centered around Hughes. Hughes left us with many legacies from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, with an endowment today of $17.5 billion and conducting some of the most far-reaching medical research, to the ubiquitous GPS. His Glomar Explorer raised a sunken Russian nuclear submarine and his Spruce Goose, the largest airplane ever built, remains an incomplete puzzle.
Award-winning author Daniel Alef brings to life the Howard Hughes story. [6,224-word Titans of Fortune Article with a timeline, bibliography and video links]]
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During her twelve years with Ballet Society and the New York City Ballet, Barbara Milberg worked under the direction of George Balanchine. She rose from corps de ballet to soloist, danced leading roles in Swan Lake and Illuminations, and performed in celebrated world premieres. In this observant and poignant memoir, she shares her recollections of Balanchine, his craft and his values, and lends insight into surprising aspects of his personality. Fisher gives readers a rare glimpse inside Balanchine's artistry, including vivid accounts of the makings of such important ballets as Schoenberg's Opus 34, AGON, and the world-famous Nutcracker. Told through the eyes of a young dancer in what seemed a truly magical place and time, In Balanchine's Company is ideal for ballet fans young and old. Rich in anecdote, insight, and humor, it offers a unique perspective on one of the twentieth century's cultural giants.
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The unique style of Cuban ballet is galvanizing the world of dance in the United States, Europe, Latin America, and beyond. This beautifully illustrated book explores the history of Cuban ballet by focusing on the life and career of the indomitable Alicia Alonso. It also spotlights many of the young dancers who are changing the face of ballet with their superb technique, impeccable work ethic, and spectacular performances: Lorena Feijoo, Lorna Feijoo, Joan Boada, Taras Domitro, Jose Manuel Carreo, Rolando Sarabia, and Carlos Acosta to name but a few.
While focusing on the artistry and spirit of Cuban dancers, both within and out of Cuba, Octavio Roca deftly explores the political realities artists face in Cuba and why so many need to leave their beloved home to reach their full potential, taking their grace, beauty, strength, and style with them. Cuba's loss has become the worlds gain.
A widely respected authority on the arts, Roca has served on the juries of dozens of international festivals and performing arts competitions, including the International Ballet Festival in Havana, his native city. Octavio Roca studied at Emory University and Georgetown University, has taught philosophy at the University of Miami and Barry University, and is now chair of the Arts and Philosophy Department at Miami Dade College. He lives in Miami Beach.
(20091101)
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"Blood Memory" is the story of Martha Graham, from a difficult childhood in the American West and her "wild" days in the Greenwich Village Follies to her own company that began with only two students. Her views on dance are interspersed with anecdotes about Charlie Chaplin, Louise Brooks, Indira Gandhi, Margot Fonteyn, Woody Allen, the Pope and Madonna including her collaborative relationships with Isamu Noguchi, Halston, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Louis Horst.
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Josephine Baker (1906-1975) was a dancer, singer, actress, author, politician, militant, and philanthropist, whose images and cultural legacy have survived beyond the hundredth anniversary of her birth. Neither an exercise in postmodern deconstruction nor simple biography, Josephine Baker in Art and Life presents a critical cultural study of the life and art of the Franco-American performer whose appearances as the savage dancer Fatou shocked the world.
Although the study remains firmly anchored in Josephine Baker’s life and times, presenting and challenging carefully researched biographical facts, it also offers in-depth analyses of the images that she constructed and advanced. Bennetta Jules-Rosette explores Baker’s far-ranging and dynamic career from a sociological and cultural perspective, using the tools of sociosemiotics to excavate the narratives, images, and representations that trace the story of her life and fit together as a cultural production.
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In the first full-scale biography of Rudolf Nureyev since his death from AIDS in 1993, Stuart tells Nureyev's story "with wit and grace" (Chicago Sun-Times). "No dancer in history has been so splendidly characterized in the written word."--Francis Mason, Ballet Review. of photos.
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For nearly sixty years choreographer Merce Cunningham has challenged and provoked audiences by stripping theatrical dance of its traditional narrative and by refusing to unify movement with sound and decor. After initial objections to his style, however, this controversial figure—who has collaborated with avant-garde musicians John Cage, Earle Brown, and David Tudor and artists Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, and Marcel Duchamp—is now revered as one of the most visionary artists of the century. Merce Cunningham gathers together the most important writings by and about the choreographer, including three classic essays by Cunningham, as well as articles and reviews by Cage; dancers Remy Charlip, Violet Farber, and Carolyn Brown; company archivist David Vaughan; and leading critics Arlene Croce, Jack Anderson, Marcia Siegel, and Edwin Denby. Tracing the development of Cunningham's career from 1944 to 1992, this valuable anthology showcases the tremendous and ever-evolving means of expression that this revolutionary choreographer created.