Featuring an eight-page gallery of full-color illustrations, here is a major new biography of Serge Diaghilev, founder and impresario of the Ballets Russes, who revolutionized ballet by bringing together composers such as Stravinsky and Prokofiev, dancers and choreographers such as Nijinsky and Karsavina, Fokine and Balanchine, and artists such as Picasso, Matisse, Bakst, and Goncharova.
An accomplished, flamboyant impresario of all the arts, Diaghilev became a legendary figure. Growing up in a minor noble family in remote Perm, he would become a central figure in the artistic worlds of Paris, London, Berlin, and Madrid during the golden age of modern art. He lived through bankruptcy, war, revolution, and exile. Furthermore he lived openly as a homosexual and his liaisons, most famously with Nijinsky, and his turbulent friendships with Stravinsky, Coco Chanel, Prokofiev, and Jean Cocteau gave his life an exceptionally dramatic quality. Scheijen's magnificent biography, based on extensive research in little known archives, especially in Russia, brings fully to life a complex and powerful personality with boundless creative energy.
A New York Times Editor's Choice

"Golden Autumn 2" is the second installment in composer/pianist Fariborz Lachini's celebrated series of piano albums called Golden Autumn that includes his original writings for solo piano, some of which were originated from the themes he created for film scores. This is the companion songbook for Fariborz Lachini's CD with the same name. Dance of Leaves Memories of Autumn Whirlwind in Autumn Silence of Stars Loneliness Desire to Stay Childhood I Remember Staring in a Mirror Stranger Trail of Loneliness What Must Have Been Autumn Slumber Reincarnation Shadow

ISMN: 979-0-706060-01-9 Corresponding MP3s: http: //www.amazon.com/Golden-Autumn-2-Pieces-Piano/dp/B003XSZATW Single Sheet Music or complete downloadable eBook, compatible with Kindle/iPad/other eBook readers, in PDF format is available from artist's official website for download using your same amazon.com account: http: //www.lachini.com

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900's and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Drawn partly from the scattered remnants of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and partly from extraordinary new talent, Colonel W. de Basil's company of dancers kept alive the heritage of the Russian ballet for a period spanning virtually twenty years. De Basil's Ballets Russes, under various titles, and initially founded in association with Rene Blum, director of ballet at Monte Carlo, not only preserved the greatest of the Diaghilev ballets but mounted many new ones, among them major works by Balanchine, Fokine, Massine, Nijinska and Lichine -the company's one home-grown choreographer. It provided a brilliant showcase for great dancers such as Danilova, Woizikovsky and Massine, whose reputations were already made, and for many younger dancers including the remarkable 'baby ballerinas'. De Basil launched not only the original trio -Toumanova, Baronova and Riabouchinska - but a whole succession of teenage dancers of outstanding natural ability whose superb training had made of them finished artists of the highest quality well before their eighteenth birthdays. Among many other dancers whose careers were influenced by de Basil - a White Russian Cossack officer who emigrated to Paris in 1919 and whose gifts were entrepreneurial rather than artistic - were Tchernicheva, an ex-Diaghilev dancer whom he brought out of retirement to become a leading performer again in her maturity, and Kirsova, suddenly thrust into stardom by rapturous Australian audiences. The story of the de Basil ballet is one of glamour, mystery and the obsessive dedication without which no art form can achieve excellence. Its locations are many - Europe, the USA, Central and South America and Australasia were toured by the company, which appeared not only in the great capitals but in places where classical dance had rarely if ever been seen before. Travelling through the countryside, this multi-national troupe would climb out of their coach to hold class in a wayside field, using the wire fences as barres; and no matter what conditions they had to face backstage, on stage these dancers would create magic. Kathrine Sorley Walker's researches for this eminently readable book have taken her on a tour of duty hardly less exhausting than those of the de Basil company. The result is a riveting account of these little-documented years, by one of Britain's best dance historians and critics, that fills a conspicuous gap in the literature of the ballet.

"Golden Autumn 4" is the fourth installment in composer/pianist Fariborz Lachini's celebrated series of piano albums called Golden Autumn that includes his original writings for solo piano, some of which were originated from the themes he created for film scores. This is the companion songbook for Fariborz Lachini's CD of the same name. 1. Whisper in the Wind 2. Raindrops 3. Forever Autumn 4. Moonlight Memories 5. Morning Dews 6. Lonely Leaf 7. As Dusk Falls 8. Bare Branches 9. Distant Dawn 10. Days Gone By 11. Words to Say 12. Sunlight Through the Mist 13. Reflections 14. A Leaf's Caress 15. Autumn Theme ISMN: 979-0-706060-03-3 Corresponding MP3s: http: //www.amazon.com/Golden-Autumn-4-Pieces-Piano/dp/B003XSXV66 Single Sheet Music or complete eBook, compatible with Kindle/iPad/other eBook readers, in PDF format is available from artist's official website for download using your amazon.com account: http: //www.lachini.com

The Diaghilev Ballet existed from 1909 to 1929; and from its beginningto its end Serge Grigoriev acted as r gisseur-that is to say he was responsible for every aspect of the venture save its finance. In theearly 1950s he began reading back among the "logs" of the Ballet'smany seasons, and decided that he would write what no one elsecould write-the story of Diaghilev's extraordinary enterprise as seenby one of its major participants. His book offers a chronology of the Ballet's history, beginning withthe first preparations in St. Petersburg, through triumphs and setbacks in Paris, disaster in the United States, revolution in Portugal, tothe last phase when, cut off from Russia, the Ballet found an official home in Monte Carlo. Almost without exception, the leading European practitioners of music and painting came to collaborate with Diaghilev. Add the names of the dancers, and virtually all the famous figures in theartistic world of the period find a place in Grigoriev's record. Of Diaghilev himself-the strange genius behind this fabulous adventure, the creative artist who could only create in collaboration with dancer-choreographers-a vivid portrait emerges. He underwent every kind of fortune, good and bad, deserved andundeserved, finally refusing to regard himself as a sick man, gambling with death and losing his stake.

"Golden Autumn 3" is the third installment in composer/pianist Fariborz Lachini's celebrated series of piano albums called Golden Autumn that includes his original writings for solo piano, some of which were originated from the themes he created for film scores. This is the companion songbook for Fariborz Lachini's CD of the same name. Fall in Love Again Silver Winter A Thousand Leaves Forever in My Dreams Sepidar Autumn Whispers It's Snowing Leaves of Light Fragments of Autumn Blue Sky Autumn in My Heart Calling Out for You Signs of Rain On the Wind Autumn Eve

ISMN: 979-0-706060-02-6 Corresponding MP3s: http: //www.amazon.com/Golden-Autumn-3-Pieces-Piano/dp/B003YBM18G Single Sheet Music or complete eBook downloads, compatible with Kindle/iPad/other eBook readers, in PDF format is available from artist's official website for download using your same amazon.com account: http: //www.lachini.com

In the current dance scene, performers contend with choreography that involves extreme dance, multiple techniques, and acrobatic moves, exemplified in the popular reality television show, "So You Think You Can Dance." The dilemma for aspiring professionals is that dance class no longer provides sufficient preparation for performing at this level. Dancers who want to achieve their best, avoid injury, and perform at their peak will welcome the insight and advice in the pages of "The Dancer's Way."

The world-renowned New York City Ballet developed their proven wellness program to help dancers reach their potential without compromising their health. As one of the key designers of this program, former dancer and clinical psychologist Linda Hamilton, Ph.D. provides the essential principles of wellness that will help you achieve your goals in all levels and forms of dance. These include keeping yourself physically healthy, nutritionally sound, and mentally prepared as a dancer. New York City Ballet's celebrated program, here for the first time in book form, highlights every tool you'll need to stay in great shape.

From adagio to voyage, over 800 steps, movements, poses, and concepts are fully defined. A pronunciation guide and cross-references to alternate names for similar steps and positions that vary from the Russian to the French or Italian schools are also invaluable aids.

"Golden Autumn 1" is the first installment in Iranian/Canadian composer/pianist Fariborz Lachini's celebrated series of piano albums called Golden Autumn that includes his original writings for solo piano, some of which were originated from the themes he created for film scores. It was first released right after the dark years of Iran/Iraq war. Crossing all barriers, the album quickly became the most popular album in Iran and made Lachini's a household name. Since then his solo piano books have been taught by music teachers in Iran. This is the companion songbook for Fariborz Lachini's CD with the same name. Autumn, Autumn, Autumn 'Twas a Soft Autumn (/Autumn Lightness) Autumn Was Lost in the Leaves In Autumn the Leaves Came to Our House 'Twas Uprising of the Leaves, 'Twas Autumn Perplexed, I Reached the Edge of Autumn Faces Lost in the Autumn Leaves In My Little Autumn, the Trees Had Only One Leaf In A Corner Of the Sky Were the Leaves of Autumn Confused, the Leaves Went to the Sea 'Twas the Morning of the Leaves, 'Twas Autumn You Were a Guest in Our House in Autumn The Autumn Leaves Went Towards Winter The End of Autumn Without Autumn

ISMN: 979-0-706060-00-2 Corresponding MP3s: http: //www.amazon.com/Golden-Autumn-1-Pieces-Piano Single Sheet Music or complete downloadable eBook, compatible with Kindle/iPad/other eBook readers, in PDF format is available from artist's official website for download using your same amazon.com account: http: //www.lachini.com

Originally published in 1899, this is a comprehensive study of the art of Dancing throughout history. It goes into great detail about dancing through the ages, including musical notation, right up to the start of the 1900s. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Hesperides Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork. Contents Include - The Natural and Origin of Dancing - Dancing in Ancient Egypt - Dances of the Greeks - Dancing in Ancient Rome - Religious, Mysterious, and Fanatical Elements in Dancing - Remarkable Dancing of Later Times - The Minuet - Modern Dancing

A companion guide to one of the bestselling Limelight Edition titles, this book by Asaf Messerer, a founder of what has become known as the Bolshoi School, is one of the most celebrated manuals of classic dance instruction in the world. Messerer has gained an international reputation for his classes in classical technique-models of invention and well-rounded exercise, stressing both precision and fluid artistic control. Nearly 500 photographs of principal Bolshoi dancers illustrate the positions and steps indicated, and an introductory section by Messerer outlines his basic plan and philosophy of teaching.

Dance is a uniquely significant art form, whose primary material is not simply the 'body', but energy as it is used and experienced in movement. Energy is central to discourses of modernity and modernism, in which choreographers and dancers can actively intervene through their innovative uses of energy. Mary Wigman, Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham are key choreographers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, whose rhythmic innovations challenged established norms of energy usage in their socio-cultural contexts, enabling their contemporaries to engage differently with dominant economies of energy. This book explores their rhythmic innovations by combining discussion of cultural contexts with close analysis of specific dance works. Uses of energy in dance are described and analysed with the aid of concepts drawn from Rudolf Laban's writings, and are theorized with reference to historical, social and cultural contexts and to phenomenological and post-structuralist approaches to the embodied subject, constructing the argument that choreographical innovation - including recent work using digital technologies - involves a process of 'kinesthetic imagination'.

Newly edited and engraved. The composer considered an orchestral suite from his great ballet, but never got around to extracting it. An unknown editor compiled the first version, which was issued by Jurgenson in 1900. The Soviet state publishers produced their own version in 1954, adding 3 dance movements and omitting the finale from the original suite. This new score includes all the movements found in the two different versions of the suite.

The art of character dancing in classical ballet is now almost lost, but when this unique book was first published in Russia in 1939 it still thrived. The authors, all brilliant character dancers themselves, were teachers at the Kirov Ballet and its school, and were establishing a five-year course in character dance at the Kirov School. The first part of the book is devoted to class character exercises and the second part gives specific character dances in various national styles. "Character Dance" has been translated and adapted by Joan Lawson, a noted specialist in the subject, who herself studied in Leningrad in the 1930's and was for many years a teacher at he Royal Ballet School in London.

1925. Also the pictures of Holbein etched in the author's time, to which are added Mr. Angarola's conception of the period and drawings by way of contemporary comment by Gene Markey. The Praise of Folly is the best known work of the greatest of the renaissance humanists, Erasmus of Rotterdam. Originally meant for private circulation, it scourges the abuses and follies of the various classes of society, especially of the Church. It is a deliberate attempt to discredit the Church and its satire and stinging comment on ecclesiastical conditions are not intended as a healing medicine but a deadly blow. It ends with a straightforward and touching statement of the Christian ideals which Erasmus shared notably with his English friends, John Colet and Thomas More. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.

A lively discussion of North America's favorite ballet-its history, productions, and significance The Nutcracker is the most popular ballet in the world, adopted and adapted by hundreds of communities across the United States and Canada every Christmas season. In this entertainingly informative book, Jennifer Fisher offers new insights into the Nutcracker phenomenon, examining it as a dance scholar and critic, a former participant, an observer of popular culture, and an interviewer of those who dance, present, and watch the beloved ballet. Fisher traces The Nutcracker's historyfrom its St. Petersburg premiere in 1892 through its emigration to North America in the mid-twentieth century to the many productions of recent years. She notes that after it was choreographed by another Russian immigrant to the New World, George Balanchine, the ballet began to thrive and variegate: Hawaiians added hula, Canadians added hockey, Mark Morris set it in the swinging sixties, and Donald Byrd placed it in Harlem. The dance world underestimates The Nutcracker atits peril, Fisher suggests, because the ballet is one of its most powerfully resonant traditions. After starting life as a Russian ballet based on a German tale about a little girl's imagination, The Nutcracker hasbecome a way for Americans to tell a story about their communal values and themselves.

In 1930, dancer and choreographer Martha Graham proclaimed the arrival of "dance as an art of and from America." Dancers such as Doris Humphrey, Ted Shawn, Katherine Dunham, and Helen Tamiris joined Graham in creating a new form of dance, and, like other modernists, they experimented with and argued over their aesthetic innovations, to which they assigned great meaning.

Their innovations, however, went beyond aesthetics. While modern dancers devised new ways of moving bodies in accordance with many modernist principles, their artistry was indelibly shaped by their place in society. Modern dance was distinct from other artistic genres in terms of the people it attracted: white women (many of whom were Jewish), gay men, and African American men and women. Women held leading roles in the development of modern dance on stage and off; gay men recast the effeminacy often associated with dance into a hardened, heroic, American athleticism; and African Americans contributed elements of social, African, and Caribbean dance, even as their undervalued role defined the limits of modern dancers' communal visions. Through their art, modern dancers challenged conventional roles and images of gender, sexuality, race, class, and regionalism with a view of American democracy that was confrontational and participatory, authorial and populist.

"Modern Bodies" exposes the social dynamics that shaped American modernism and moved modern dance to the edges of society, a place both provocative and perilous.

"Undoubtedly, Choreography and Narrative is an important contribution to dance history research." Nineteenth-Century French Studies

"This work is a landmark in the field and belongs in all libraries serving undergraduate, graduate, and faculty researchers in dance." Choice

"Invents a new method for writing the history of performance: Foster has found an innovative way of appealing directly to the kinesthetic imagination of her readers, evoking the elusive styles of the pieces she reconstructs." Joseph Roach

"An impressive work of scholarship, this elegantly staged study... uses the concept of a culturally constructed, historically specific body to cut across disciplinary boundaries..." Library Journal

Foster examines the development of ballet, and conceptions of the dancing body, as ballet separated from opera and emerged as an autonomous art form during the turbulence of 18th-century French society and history."

A leading advocate for the arts in America and recent recipient of the 1997 National Medal of the Arts, the 1997 Kennedy Center Honors, and the George Abbott Carbonell Award for Achievement, Edward Villella was recently inducted into the State of Florida Artist Hall of Fame. Villella also received the Frances Holleman Breathitt Award for Excellence for his contributions to the arts and to education, the thirty-eighth annual Capezio Dance Award, and Award for Lifetime Achievement, becoming only the fourth dance personality to receive National Endowment for the Arts advisory artistic director of the Miami City Ballet, which has won worldwide acclaim under his direction.

'School of Classical Dance' is the official textbook of the Vaganova School in St. Petersburg, and takes the student and teacher from the basic concepts of the syllabus to the most complex exercises taught at the end of the eight-year course. A thorough and logical presentation of the classical vocabulary, from its basic forms to advanced variations, is followed by a sample lesson for a senior class. The eight-year syllabus of the Vaganova School, now adopted by almost all Russian ballet schools, is then given in full. The authors were both long-time teachers at the Vaganova School. "A book which is to be treasured, one of the great technical manuals of our time" - the Dancing Times.

After a distinguished career as a dancer, Nicolai Serrebrenikov became one of the leading teachers at the Vaganova Choreographic School in St. Petersburg. In this major work on pas de deux, the students and teachers are taken step by step through the fundamentals of double work to the most complex enchainements of the classical repertoire. The translator and editor, Joan Lawson, studied dance with Margaret Morris and Serafina Astafieva, and later became of of the first English ballet dancers to study in Soviet Russia, subsequently becoming a distinguished and much-loved teacher at the Royal Ballet School in London.