La Nijinska

La Nijinska is the first biography of twentieth-century ballet's premier female choreographer, shedding new light on the modern history of ballet, and recuperating the memory of lost works and forgotten artists, all while revealing the sexism that still confronts women choreographers in the ballet world.

"The first in-depth study of Vaslav Nijinsky's life-writing, this book combines textual analysis and literary theory with intellectual biography to elucidate the dancer's riffs on Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Nietzsche. This interdisciplinary study explores the modernist contexts from which the dancer-writer emerged at the end of World War I"--

Now in paperback, Bronislava Nijinska: Early Memoirs--originally published in 1981--has been hailed by critics, scholars, and dancers alike as the definitive source of firsthand information on the early life of the great Vaslav Nijinsky (1889-1950). This memoir, recounted here with verve and stunning detail by the late Bronislava Nijinska (1891-1972)--Nijinsky's sister and herself a major twentieth-century dancer and leading choreographer of the Diaghilev era--offers a season-by-season chronicle of their childhood and early artistic development. Written with feeling and charm, these insightful memoirs provide an engrossingly readable narrative that has the panoramic sweep and colorful vitality of a Russian novel.

Selected writings illuminate a century of international dance.

Tells the interwoven stories of revered dance teacher Timothy Draper, the Rochester City Ballet that he founded, and its predecessor, the Eastman Theatre Ballet, established in 1923 as the first professional ballet company in the United States.

Presents biographical sketches of 66 underappreciated ballet composers of the 19th and 20th centuries, plus briefer entries on 20 choreographers, and an introductory overview of the history of ballet. Entries encompass composers' contributions to ballet music as well as other aspects of their lives, and include plot summaries and excerpts from reviews of ballets. For ballet aficionados, music librarians, and musicians. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The efforts of the three collaborators resulted in a spectacle that bore little resemblance to ballet. During the premiere at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees on May 29, 1913, Parisians were incited to riot by the strange tension of the dancing and stark contrasts of the music and decor. The premiere of Le Sacre du Printemps became a legend overnight, and the notoriety of this event began immediately to distort the significance of the work, especially Nijinsky's choreography. He declared to the London Daily Mail on July 12, 1913, "I am accused, of a crime against grace."

This book discusses how an internationally renowned ballet company sustained itself without financial support for years because of the energy and manipulations of its charismatic founder, Serge Diaghilev, while also reshaping modern ballet and music.