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THE JOFFREY BALLET

Name: THE JOFFREY BALLET
Author: Sasha Anawalt
ISBN: 0-684-19724-3

A HISTORY OF AMERICA'S PREMIER BALLET COMPANY

by Sasha Anawalt ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1996

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A vigorous, finely balanced reporting job on the late Robert Joffrey and his ever-popular dance company. Anawalt, a California dance critic, is an unabashed fan of Joffrey's, yet this volume is no encomium. Instead, her briskly written account of the company from its mythically modest beginnings in 1954 to Joffrey's death from AIDS in 1988 at the age of 59 collects and interprets suggestive facts at nearly every turn. Joffrey's obsession with ballet emerged early: He staged his first ballets when he was a child in Seattle, with costumes borrowed from a neighborhood dry cleaner. When he eventually launched his own company, it was a seat-of-the-pants affair: The fledgling group's no-frills tours of the US were made in a red and white station wagon, driven in breakneck fashion by a roguish stage manager; to save time and money after typical one-night-stand performances, the dancers washed their ballet duds ``by standing in the hotel showers with the tutus and tights still on, throwing laundry detergent over themselves, and then drying the smaller pieces out the next day on the car's interior door handles.'' In addition to her rich store of anecdotes, Anawalt is equally forthcoming in characterizing each stage of the company's struggle to survive and the artistic hallmarks of the evolving Joffrey style (``Learn the classical technique—then forget it,'' Joffrey advised) and mindfully eclectic repertory (Gerald Arpino, Joffrey's frequent collaborator and longtime companion, was successful because he ``made ballets for people who hate ballet,'' she succinctly notes). Unusual among dance critics, she never hides behind a professional dance vocabulary. She also ventures worthwhile observations on contextual issues, such as the uncomfortable coupling of dance with business in this country and the politics of American arts funding. An intelligent, fair, fascinating portrait of a seminal figure in American ballet. (16 pages b&w photos, not seen)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1996

ISBN: 0-684-19724-3

Page Count: 384

Publisher: Scribner

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.