Ballet Dancer

Find various books on being a Ballet Dancer, from fact, to fiction. SA Career Focus has assembled these titles for your convenience.

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A ballet dancer performances a formalized type of performance dance, which originated in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century French courts, and which was further developed in England, Italy, and Russia as a concert dance form. 

Rudolf Nureyev: The Life

Ballet's first pop icon, Rudolf Nureyev revolutionised an old art form, bringing a new young audience to opera houses, and sparking Rudimania across the globe. From his birth on a train in Siberia at the height of Stalin's Terrors, Nureyev's life was extraordinary. His career was decided at the age of 8 and nine years later, leaving his Tatar peasant family behind him, he realised his dream of studying at the Kirov's school. The account of Nureyev's Leningrad years has never been more compellingly told, focusing on a teacher of genius who moulded the late starter into a star; the guilty affair with his beloved mentor's wife; and the dancer's homosexual rite of passage, a secret liaison with an East German student who was the catalyst behind Nureyev's escape to the West. The 1961 defection was just the beginning. Nureyev spent the rest of his life breaking barriers, re-inventing male technique; 'crashing the gates' of modern dance; iconoclastically changing ballet's most hallowed classics; and making dance history by partnering England's prima ballerina Margot Fonteyn - a woman twice his age. Through previously unpublished letters the author traces Nureyev's passionate and deeply troubled relationship with the great Danish dancer Erik Bruhn, and tells the story of his poignant, on-off 'marriage' to a young American film student. Then there were the women; women of all ages were dazzled by the star, a few successfully seduced him, others simply enslaved themselves. Sex was a driving force for Nureyev, but conjoined to the sinner was always the saint, and it was this Byronic duality in himself of 'dirt and deity' that Nureyev used his ballets to explore. This definitive biography, nine years in the making, draws for the first time on private papers, diaries and home-movie footage, and includes reminiscences from scores of colleagues and friends, the closest of whom had hitherto refused to co-operate with any writer. Julie Kavanagh, herself a former dancer, examines with authority Nureyev's legacy as a choreographer and director (an inspirational Diaghilev figure to young protégés like Sylvie Guillem), and her memories of the star's greatest years creates a sense of the exultation and heart-bursting impact of watching Nureyev on stage.

Review by Kalahari.net

The Dancer's Book of Ballet Crafts: Dancewear, Accessories, and Keepsakes

The Dancer's Book of Ballet Crafts: Dancewear, Accessories, and Keepsakes is a romantic and practical collection of accessories that can be knitted, crocheted, beaded, hand-painted, embroidered, and quick-sewn from bun covers and warm-up sweaters, to beaded tulle tutus, and bejewelled tiaras. Beautifully illustrated with over 300 full-colour photographs of the dancer's world, The Dancer's Book of Ballet Crafts includes photographs of the easy steps needed to accomplish each of the over 25 gorgeous projects. Captured in intimate detail are the young dancers as they warm up, cool down, practice at the barre, and get ready for a performance, each exquisite photograph taken by Rosalie O'Connor, a frequent contributor for the American Ballet Theatre. Personal quotes and sayings with professional dancers and students are scattered through the pages. A separate diary/journal section concludes the collection.

Review by Kalahari.net

Dance Anecdotes: Stories from the Worlds of Ballet, Broadway, the Ballroom, and Modern Dance

Mindy Aloff, a leading dance critic who has written for The Nation, The New Republic, and The New Yorker, has brought together here a marvellous book of stories by and about dancers--entertaining and informative anecdotes that capture the boundless variety and richness of dance as an art, a tradition, a profession, a pastime, an obsession, a reality, and, for the dancer, an ideal. George Balanchine is here, and so are Fred Astaire, Margot Fonteyn, Rudolf Nureyev, Savion Glover, Martha Graham, and Lola Montez, and also stars from other arts--such as Akira Kurosawa and Bob Dylan--who have spoken about dancing with wit or illumination. There are stories about Irene and Vernon Castle, Cyd Charisse and Gene Kelly, Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon, Paul Taylor and Mark Morris. We read about the charisma and spontaneity of Anna Pavlova, about the secret to Vaslav Nijinsky's success ("I worked like an ox and I lived like a martyr"), about George Balanchine racing to a union dispute with a bag of dimes. Many of the stories are amusing, but some are rueful, even sad, and a few are dark. Aloff concludes the volume with an essay about how dancing has been able to record its past, sometimes over centuries, and about how the art of the dancer, apparently as ephemeral in performance as cloud patterns, turns out, when conditions are hospitable, to be much more hardy and resilient than many people suppose. A glorious promenade of stories that stretch as far back as classical times and as far a field as Japan, India, and Java, this superb collection will be treasured by everyone who loves dance, whether young or old.

Review by Kalahari.net

Dance Body Workout

Sculpted and defined, slim and toned, perfect and posture - What does Darcey Bussell do to maintain her fabulous body? Ballet, unlike other forms of exercise, does not bulk the body up, but rather defines and sculpts it. In this beautifully illustrated book, Darcey Bussell, one of the world's leading ballerinas, shows how you too can develop a body like a dancer. Combining Pilates, Floor Barre and stretching, this is Darcey's daily exercise programme that keeps her in shape and ready for the stage. Pilates - strengthens, lengthens and tones muscles. Floor Barre - a full body-conditioning workout that targets the abdominals, the glutes, thighs, calves and arms. Stretch - keeps the body flexible and supple, boosts energy and improves posture. Follow Darcey's unique workout and you too can gain the poise and figure of a true performer.

Review by Kalahari.net