The Authorized Bolshoi Ballet Book Of The Golden Age

The authorized Bolshoi Ballet book of The Golden Age, illustrated with 70 live-action color photographs taken by master photographer Vladimir Pchalkin during live performances at the Bolshoi in Moscow, Russia. Yuri Grigorovich, Ballet Master at the Bolshoi, discloses the history of The Golden Age ballet which he choreographed, and the music which Shostakovich wrote for it. The photographic scenes depict the entire story of the ballet, forming a complete libretto illustrated in color. The type size is large so that it can more easily be read in dimly lit halls during the performance. The synopsis of the story should be read before you see the ballet.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER For more than four hundred years, the art of ballet has stood at the center of Western civilization. Its traditions serve as a record of our past. Lavishly illustrated and beautifully told, Apollo’s Angels—the first cultural history of ballet ever written—is a groundbreaking work. From ballet’s origins in the Renaissance and the codification of its basic steps and positions under France’s Louis XIV (himself an avid dancer), the art form wound its way through the courts of Europe, from Paris and Milan to Vienna and St. Petersburg. In the twentieth century, émigré dancers taught their art to a generation in the United States and in Western Europe, setting off a new and radical transformation of dance. Jennifer Homans, a historian, critic, and former professional ballerina, wields a knowledge of dance born of dedicated practice. Her admiration and love for the ballet, asEntertainment Weekly notes, brings “a dancer’s grace and sure-footed agility to the page.” NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW • LOS ANGELES TIMES • SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE • PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

In this enthralling, definitive new history of the Bolshoi Ballet, sensational performances onstage compete with political machinations backstage. On January 17, 2013, a hooded assailant hurled acid into the face of the artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet, making international headlines. A lead soloist, enraged by institutional power struggles, later confessed to masterminding the crime. The scandal, though shocking, is not an anomaly in the turbulent and tormented yet magnificent history of the Bolshoi. Renowned music historian Simon Morrison reveals the ballet as a crucible of art and politics, beginning with the disreputable inception of the theatre in 1776 and proceeding through the era of imperial rule, the chaos of revolution, the oppressive Soviet years, and the recent $680 million renovation project. Drawing on exclusive archival research, Morrison creates a richly detailed tableau of the centuries-long war between world-class art and life-threatening politics that has defined this storied institution. As Morrison makes clear, as Russia goes, so goes the Bolshoi Ballet.

Documents a new production (1984) of the ballet based upon the original (1898) choreographed by Marius Ivanovich Petipa, music composed by Aleksandr Konstantinovich Glazunov.

However difficult the Soviet era was for the peoples of Russia, its seventy-four years represented a true golden age for classical ballet. It was characterised by a wholescale repurposing of the art form from being the 'golden rattle' of the tsars to the most potent cultural weapon in the Communist regime's armoury in its struggles with the West. The Golden Age presents a detailed overview of the development of ballet in Soviet Russia, from its fight for survival in the early years after the 1917 revolutions through the political demands of Stalin's rule, the shock of armed conflict with Germany and the onset of the Cold War. As the century progressed, Soviet ballet was not immune to outside influences hastened by the onset of cultural visits and exchanges; it also suffered the defection of dancers and ultimately opened up further with perestroika in the 1980s and the fall of Communist rule in 1991. Gerald Dowler sets the complex, shifting world of Russian ballet in its political and social contexts and explores the contributions of major choreographers, dancers and teachers in creating the phenomenon of what is celebrated around the world as 'Russian ballet'. Their achievements in creating the Soviet Golden Age were truly remarkable. Gerald Dowler has written about dance for over twenty years for Dancing Times, the Financial Times, Ballet 2000, Ballet Review and numerous specialist websites, and has worked extensively with the Voices of British Ballet oral archive. He read Modern History and Modern Languages at the University of Oxford. He taught for many years at the City of London School and sits as a presiding Justice of the Peace. He was the editor of Clement Crisp Reviews (2021). He lives and works in London.