6.1.3. Biography, Memoirs, and Specific Ballet and Modern Dance History Books
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This article is from the Ballet and Modern Dance FAQ, by Tom Parsons twp@panix.com with numerous contributions by others.
6.1.3. Biography, Memoirs, and Specific Ballet and Modern Dance History Books
Acocella, Joan. "Mark Morris". Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 1993, ISBN 0-
374-20295-8.
Anderson, Jack. "The One and Only, the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo".
Princeton: Princeton Books, 1981, 0-87127-127-3, out of print. Before
the Ford Foundation money, the Ballet Russes style was American ballet.
"The American Dance Festival". Duke University Press, 1987,
ISBN 0-8223-0683-2. History of the festival with a great index to
productions and teachers.
Ashley, Merrill. "Dancing for Balanchine". New York: Dutton, 1984, ISBN
0-525-24280-5. A memoir, but full of technical detail as well as the
usual reminiscences; explains why Balanchine thought "battement tendu"
so important. Required reading for any serious student.
Banes, Sally. "Democracy's Body: Judson Dance Theater 1962-1964". Duke
University Press, 1993, ISBN 0-8223-1399-5. Painstaking documentation
of a volatile period.
"Terpsichore in Sneakers". 2nd ed. University Press of New
England, 1987, ISBN 0-8195-6160-6. (Make sure to get the second
edition; it has an extended introduction with a wonderful pocket
analysis/description of postmodern dance.)
Bentley, Toni. "Costumes by Karinska". New York: Harry Abrams, 1995,
ISBN 0-8109-3516-3. A gorgeous coffee-table book about the
extraordinary designer who produced most of the costumes for the New
York City Ballet. Lavishly illustrated.
Blair, Fredrika. "Isadora Portrait of the Artist as a Woman". McGraw-
Hill, 1985, ISBN 0-07-005598-X, out of print. Probably the best of the
biographies.
Cohen, Selma Jeanne. "The Modern Dance: Seven Statements of Belief".
Wesleyan University Press, 1966, ISBN 0-8195-6003-0. Interviews seven
modern choreographers (including Nikolais, Limon, Sokolow), includes
their responses to a hypothetical commission (choreograph a work about
the Prodigal Son!)
Crowle, Pigeon (pseud.). Moira Shearer: Portrait of a dancer. London,
Faber and Faber, 1949, pre-ISBN.
De Mille, Agnes. "Dance to the Piper". Da Capo Press, 1980, ISBN 0-306-
79613--9. From California youth through "Oklahoma".
"Martha: the Life and Work of Martha Graham". New York: Random
House/Vintage, 1991, ISBN 0-679-74176-3 (paper).
Dunham, Katherine. "A Touch of Innocence". University of Chicago Press,
1994, ISBN 0-226-17112-4. Early life, how she got to Haiti,
Fokine, Michel. "Fokine: Memoirs of a Ballet Master". Boston: Little,
Brown, 1961.
Fonteyn, Margot. "Autobiography". Warner, 1977, ISBN 0-446-81380-X.
Descriptions of early Royal Ballet especially nice.
Garafola, Lynn. "Diaghilev's Ballet Russe". Oxford University Press,
1992, ISBN 0-19-507604-4. Thorough discussion of a complex and
influential part of dance history.
Graham, Martha. "Blood Memory". Pocket Books, 1992, ISBN 0-671-78217-7.
Green, Martin. "Mountain of Truth: The Counterculture Begins--Ascona
1900-1920". University of New England Press, 1986, ISBN 0-87451-365-0.
Genesis of Rudolph Laban's work (also beginnings of Germany's Green
Party).
Gruen, John. "People Who Dance". Princeton: Princeton Books (juvenile),
1988, ISBN 0-916622-74-6, out of print.
Guerrier, Claudine. Michael Denard : l'interpre`te et la creation Paris:
Chiron, 1992. ISBN 2-7027-0474-3. A book about Michael Denard's
career. The author often has a somewhat awkward style, but knows a lot
of things about Denard's career, and the Paris Opera Ballet in general.
Guest, Ivor Forbes. Le ballet de l'Opera de Paris : trois siecles
d'histoire et de tradition. Trans. Paul Alexandre. Paris: Theatre
national de l'Opera, c1976. ISBN not known. A very nice book about
the POB--very complete, including a list of its repertory until 1976,
a list of its ballet masters and main dancers, many anecdotes.
Hodgson, John, and Preston-Dunlop, Valerie Rudolph. "Laban: An Introduc-
tion to His Work and Influence". Princeton: Princeton Books, 0-7463-
0584-2, out of print. Just what it says.
Horosko, Marian: "Martha Graham: The Evolution of Her Dance Theory and
Training 1926-1991". Includes discussion of Graham technique by many
Graham dancers past and present from Bessie Schonberg to Christine
Dakin and a syllabus from the Graham school as well as a listing of
the dancers and works over the years. [Suzie Snyder]
Humphrey, Doris. "Doris Humphrey: An Artist First". University Press of
New England, 1972, ISBN 0-8195-6054-5, out of print. Humphrey's
autobiography, finished by Selma Jeanne Cohen.
Kahane, Martine. Les Ballets russes a` l'Ope'ra Paris : Hazan/
Bibliothe`que nationale, c1992. ISBN 2-85025-249-2. Published in
conjunction with the exhibit Les Ballets Russes a l'Opera, held at the
Bibliotheque-Musee de l'Opera in 1992. A very nice book, quite similar
to Richard Shead's book, except that it focuses on Paris seasons
(Shead's deals more with London seasons), and it includes pages about
all the ballets they danced (first cast, plot, etc.) and many excerpts
of reviews or books (of people such as Cocteau, Rodin, etc.)
Kain, Karen. "Movement Never Lies: An Autobiography". (with Stephen
Godfrey and Penelope Reed Doob). Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Inc.,
1995, ISBN 0-7710-4575-1. Her training and career with National Ballet
of Canada. "Rich in details of the dancer's life."--Steve Keeley
Karsavina, Tamara. "Theater Street". 2nd ed. Princeton: Princeton Books,
1981, ISBN 0-903102-47-1. Autobiography, description of life at the
Maryinsky as well as early Ballet Russe.
Kendall, Elizabeth. "Where She Danced: The Birth of American Art Dance".
University of California Press, 1984, ISBN 0-520-05173-4. With this,
the Blair and Shelton, excellent overview of the birth of American
Modern Dance.
Klosty, James, ed. "Merce Cunningham". Dutton, 1985, ISBN 0-8415-0372-9,
out of print. Hard to find, but great essays by many former
collaborators and company members.
Kochno, Boris. "Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes", translated from the French
by Adrienne Foulke. Alfred A. Knopf, 1970, no ISBN. Kochno was
Diaghilev's personal secretary during the final decade of the Ballets
Russes and was the company's official historian. A beautiful large-
format book loaded with photos, design illustrations for sets and
costumes, and reprints from the original programs, and the text
describes the genesis of each of Diaghilev's productions. (Note from
Tim Victor.)
Levieux, Francette and Duvernoy, Anne. Michael Denard danse l'Oiseau de
feu: ballet de Maurice Bejart Paris: Julliard, c1979. ISBN 2-260-00185-
8. A book about Bejart's version of "The Firebird" (premiered by the
POB in 1970, with Michael Denard in the main role), interesting mostly
because of its numerous beautiful photographs in black and white.
Lieven, Prince Peter. "The Birth of the Ballets Russes". Trans. by L.
Zarine. George Allen & Unwin, 1936. Reprint with new introduction by
Catherine Lieven Ritter. New York: Dover Books, 1973.
Livingston, Lili Cockerille. "American Indian Ballerinas". Univ. of
Oklahoma Press, 1997, ISBN 0-8061-2896-8. Rosella Hightower, Maria
Tallchief, and others.
Mannoni, Ge'rard. "Les 'Etoiles de l'Ope'ra de Paris; Paris: The'a^tre
national de l'Ope'ra de Paris". S. Messinger, 1981. ISBN 2-86583-010-
1. (Second edition, 1982, ISBN 2-86583-024-1.) Biographies of all the
POB "'etoiles" in 1981, with photos by Colette Masson.
Mason, Francis, editor. "I Remember Balanchine". New York: Doubleday
Anchor Books, 1991, ISBN 0-385-26611-1. Reminiscences of dancers and
others who worked with Balanchine. A good view of ballet in general
and 20th-century ballet history as well as of Balanchine.
Masson, Colette and Mannoni, Gerard. "Maurice Bejart". Second edition.
Paris: Editions Plume, 1995. ISBN 2-84110-033-2. About Bejart
(interviews of him, many photographs by Masson, chronology of all his
ballets.)
Mazo, Joseph. "Prime Movers". Princeton: Princeton Books, 1983, ISBN 0-
916622-27-4, out of print. History of American Modern Dance.
"Dance is a Contact Sport". Da Capo Press, Inc, 1976, ISBN 0-
306-80044-6. Account of a full year living with and observing the New
York City Ballet. A warts-and-all picture, now of considerable
historical interest.
McDonagh, Don. "Rise and Fall and Rise of Modern Dance". A Capella
Books, 1990, 1-55652-089-1. Some factual errors, but nice description
of transition in modern dance in the 60's.
Migel, Parmenia. "The Ballerinas: From the Court of Louis XIV to Pavlova".
Da Capo Press, 1980, ISBN 0-306-80115-9. Ballet history in biographic
vignettes, a charming read.
Mueller, John. "Astaire Dancing". Random House, 1991, ISBN 0-517-06075-2.
Excellent analysis and great photos.
Page, Ruth. "Class: Notes on Dance Classes Around the World 1915-1980"
Princeton: Princeton Book Co., 1984, ISBN 916622-29-0
Petit, Roland and Gerard Mannoni. "Roland Petit: un chor'egraphe et ses
danseurs". Paris: Editions Plume, 1992. ISBN 2-908034-38-7. A big
book about Roland Petit, including mostly photographs and bios of most
of the dancers he worked with (including Nureyev, Baryshnikov,
Plissetskaia, Makarova, Fracci, Guillem, Bruhn...) with Petit's
comments.
Scholl, Tim. "From Petipa to Balanchine: Classical Revival and the
Modernization of Ballet". Routledge, 1994, ISBN 0-415-09222-1. The
development of ballet in the 20th century, viewed as a continuation and
extension of Petipa's work.
Shead, Richard. "Ballets Russe". London: Quarto Publishing, 1989.
Reprint [apparently]. Secaucus (New Jersey): Wellfleet Press, n.d..
ISBN 1-55521-438-X. Lavishly illustrated coffee-table book with
intelligent and well-written accompanying text.
Shelton, Suzanne. "Ruth St. Denis: A Biography of the Divine Dancer".
University of Texas at Austin Press, 1990, ISBN 0-292-77046-4. She's
not taken as seriously as Duncan today, but St. Denis was immensely
influential.
Siegel, Marcia. "Days on Earth: The Dance of Doris Humphrey". Duke
University Press, 1993, ISBN 0-8223-1346-4. Excellent description of
work and explanations of Humphrey's theoretical underpinnings, great
sympathies for Humphrey as a humanist.
Solway, Diane. "A Dance Against Time: The brief, brilliant life of a
Joffrey dancer." Pocket/Simon & Schuster, 1994. ISBN 0-671-78894-9.
Relates the story of Edward Stierle, dancer with the Joffrey Ballet who
died of AIDS-related illness in 1991.
Sorrel, Walter. "Dance Has Many Faces". A Capella Books, 1992, ISBN 1-
55652-124-3.
Stanciu-Reiss, Francoise "Ecrits sur Nijinsky". Paris: Editions Chiron,
1992. ISBN 2-906204-09-9. A collective book about Nijinsky--texts of
various interest, some very interesting, and nice photographs.
Stevens, Franklin. "Dance As Life: a Season with American Ballet Theatre".
New York: Harper & Row, 1976, ISBN 0-06-014103-4. Out of print but
available from used-book dealers. This description of life in ABT is
prefaced with a vivid memoir of the author's own dance training which
brings the experience home to the reader as no other memoir I've read
does. Worth the price for that alone.
Stuart, Otis. "Perpetual Motion: the Public and Private Lives of Rudolph
Nureyev". New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995, ISBN 0-671-87539-6. Life;
loves and affairs; how he became a dancer; how he made all that money.
Swift, Mary Grace. "A Loftier Flight: the Life and Accomplishments of
Charles-Louis Didelot, Balletmaster". Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan
Univ. Press, 1974, ISBN 0-8195-4070-6. Very complete, very readable.
Draws heavily on Russian sources, especially Yuri Slonimsky.
Taper, Bernard. "Balanchine: A Biography". Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1984, ISBN 0-520-06059-8. Vivid and revealing;
provides some insight into Balanchine's working methods.
Taylor, Paul. "Private Domain". Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 1988, ISBN 0-
86547-322-6. Autobiography, very anecdotal (lots of good stories!).
Tharp, Twyla. "Push Comes to Shove". Bantam, 1993, ISBN 0-553-37264-5.
Autobiography, sounds the way her dances look.
Vaughan, David. "Frederick Ashton and His Ballets". Knopf, 1977, ISBN 0-
394-41085-8, out of print. Great biography and analyis of style, hard
to find.
Villella, Edward. "Prodigal Son". New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992, ISBN
0-671-79717-4. The story of a tough, ambitious, willful man who worked
with, loved, and frequently fought with George Balanchine. Gives a
feeling of what it's like to take classes and to find one's way in a
world-class company.
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