This addition to the Royal Ballet Yearbook series includes extra editorial features and exclusive behind-the-scenes content - in addition to the usual selection of beautiful ballet images. This lavish book opens with a Welcome note by Royal Ballet Director Kevin O'Hare, followed by the company's news and promotions. There follows numerous superb photographs of the 2017-18 Season, which included a tribute to choreographer Kenneth MacMillan, marking the 25th anniversary of his death. As well as featuring well-known starts such as Natalia Osipova, Lauren Cuthbertson and Steven McRae, it also includes images of newer members and visiting companies such as Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. Finally the Yearbook offers lively and informative articles, including an article on the company's history by Sarah Crompton. The addition of rehearsal shots and headshots of the entire company make this is a richly illustrated companion to The Royal Ballet, its history, repertory, dancers and staff.

American-Soviet Cultural Diplomacy: The Bolshoi Ballet's American Premiere is the first full-length examination of a Soviet cultural diplomatic effort. Following the signing of an American-Soviet cultural exchange agreement in the late 1950s, Soviet officials resolved to utilize the Bolshoi Ballet's planned 1959 American tour to awe audiences with Soviet choreographers' great accomplishments and Soviet performers' superb abilities. Relying on extensive research, Cadra Peterson McDaniel examines whether the objectives behind Soviet cultural exchange and the specific aims of the Bolshoi Ballet's 1959 American tour provided evidence of a thaw in American-Soviet relations. Interwoven throughout this study is an examination of the Soviets' competing efforts to create ballets encapsulating Communist ideas while simultaneously reinterpreting pre-revolutionary ballets so that these works were ideologically acceptable. McDaniel investigates the rationale behind the creation of the Bolshoi's repertoire and the Soviet leadership's objectives and interpretation of the tour's success as well as American response to the tour. The repertoire included the four ballets, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, Giselle, and The Stone Flower, and two Highlights Programs, which included excerpts from various pre- and post-revolutionary ballets, operas, and dance suites. How the Americans and the Soviets understood the Bolshoi's success provides insight into how each side conceptualized the role of the arts in society and in political transformation. American-Soviet Cultural Diplomacy: The Bolshoi Ballet's American Premiere demonstrates the ballet's role in Soviet foreign policy, a shift to "artful warfare," and thus emphasizes the significance of studying cultural exchange as a key aspect of Soviet foreign policy and analyzes the continued importance of the arts in twenty-first century Russian politics.

On a freezing night in January 2013, an assailant hurled acid in the face of the artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet, Sergei Filin. The crime, organized by a lead soloist, dragged one of Russia's most illustrious institutions into scandal. Under Vladimir Putin, the Bolshoi Theatre has been called on to preserve Russia's lengthy artistic legacy and to mirror its neo-imperial ambitions. As renowned musicologist Simon Morrison shows in his tour-de-force account, the attack, and its torrid aftermath, underscored the importance of the Bolshoi to the art of ballet, to Russia, and to the world. With exclusive access to state archives and private sources, Morrison sweeps us through the history of the ballet, tracing the political ties that bind the institution to the varying Russian regimes, and detailing the birth of some of the best-loved ballets in the repertoire. From its disreputable beginnings in 1776, the Bolshoi became a point of pride for the tsarist empire after the defeat of Napoleon in 1812. After the revolution, Moscow was transformed into a global capital; meetings of the Communist Party were hosted at the Bolshoi, and the Soviet Union was signed into existence on its stage. Recently, a GBP450 million restoration has returned the Bolshoi to its former glory, even as prized talent has departed. The Theatre has been bombed, rigged with explosives and reinforced with cement. Its dancers have suffered unimaginable physical torment to climb the ranks. But, as Morrison reveals, the Bolshoi has transcended its own fraught history, surviving 250 years of artistic and political upheaval to define not only Russian culture but also ballet itself.

Hope in a Ballet Shoe tells the story of Michaela DePrince. Growing up in war-torn Sierra Leone, she witnessed atrocities that no child ever should. Her father was killed by rebels and her mother died of famine. Sent to an orphanage, Michaela was mistreated and saw the brutal murder of her favourite teacher. Then Michaela and her best friend are adopted by an American couple, and Michaela begins to take dance lessons. But life in the States isn't without difficulties. Unfortunately, tragedy can find its way to Michaela in America, too, and her past can feel like it's haunting her. The world of ballet is a racist one, and Michaela has to fight for a place amongst the ballet elite, hearing the words 'America's not ready for a black girl ballerina.' And yet . . . Today, Michaela DePrince is an international ballet star, dancing for The Dutch National Ballet at the age of nineteen. This is a heart-breaking, inspiring autobiography by a teenager who shows us that, beyond everything, there is always hope for a better future.

JOS RAFAEL VILAR VIAJE A TRAV S DE LA HISTORIA DE LA DANZA Este peque o libro surgi de la falta de un texto, accesible y en castellano, para que mis alumnos de historia de la danza pudieran ampliar sus conocimientos, por lo que ste podr servir a muchos lectores, artistas en formaci n o profesionales o s lo ne fitos con inter?'s en este hermoso arte, para conocer y disfrutarlo mejor, porque cuando se conoce de d nde surge una obra o c mo era su entorno, se la disfruta mejor. La danza es un arte que est siempre presente en nuestras vidas, desde las cuevas en la comunidad primitiva, y ha estado indisolublemente ligada a cada etapa de la historia, ya sea como danzas religiosas, de sal n o de escena o, sencillamente l dricas. En este libro viajaremos por sus or genes en la prehistoria, cuando el gesto y la necesidad de comunicarnos se unieron; conocerernos la danza m gica y "Los Misterios"; recorreremos el Renacimiento y los bailes de sal n; pasearemos por el barroco hasta llegar al Ballet comique de la Reine; encontraremos a Noverre y Angiolini; llegaremos con La filie mal gard e al Romanticismo y seguiremos con Giselle, ou Les willis; iremos a Rusia con el Clacisismo y Petipa y Tschaikovsky, disfrutando de El lago de los cisnes y Don Quixote; despu s, asistiremos a la revoluci n de Diaghilev-Fokin-Nijinsky-Stravinsky y admiraremos Petrushka y La consagraci n de la primavera y conoceremos las distintas escuelas; y concluiremos nuestro viaje en las danzas moderna y contempor nea. Este libro es escrito para Ud., para que disfrute la danza. Es mi mejor deseo.

Insights and guidelines for teaching the best students "Not since Noverre and Fokine has a master teacher sought to clarify the present state of ballet. The goals John White sets for each level of training, the psychological philosophies he sets forth for teachers, the emphasis on a positive approach to teaching and forming relationships with students and parents can be read over and over again throughout a teacher's career."--Charles Flachs, Massachusetts Academy of Ballet "It has been an inestimable privilege to have worked with John White for more than ten years. This book, along with his first, provides an outstanding opportunity for generations of teachers to learn from him as well. Bravo "--Michele MacDonald, St. Louis Center of Creative Arts Staying true to the Russian Academy of Ballet (St. Petersburg) pedagogy he has taught for forty years, "Advanced Principles in Teaching Classical Ballet" is a continuation of the work John White began in his first book. Designed for teachers, company directors, and advanced dancers, the book explores the importance of disciplined dancing, choreography, acting, conditioning, and performance. White's writing style is as straightforward as he is unyielding in his insistence on excellence. White also confronts serious issues dealing with the future of classical ballet and what is needed to maintain its rightful place as an important theater art. He argues that theatergoers with high expectations deserve nothing less than masterful choreography performed by superior dancers. Decidedly not a primer, "Advanced Principles in Teaching Classical Ballet" is a must-read for anyone serious about teaching and performing ballet. John White, former soloist and ballet master of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba and interim ballet master of the Pennsylvania Ballet Company, is codirector of the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet.

Multi-disciplined artist Mihail Chemiakin's exquisitely drawn costume sketches, stage sets and production design come to life in this extraordinary record of the two-act ballet premiered in St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theater in 2005. Based on "The Story of a Hard Nut" from the Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E.T.A. Hoffmann, "The Magic Nut" is a ballet conceived by artist Mihail Chemiakin as a prologue to "The Nutcracker" in which we learn how the Nutcracker comes to be. Here Chemiakin tells the story of The Nutcracker's origins creating a fairy tale with a cast of bird-people, sea monsters, satyrs, cats, jellyfish, and, of course, a whole society of rats. In this phantasmagorical interpretation of Hoffman's tale the audience discovers the kind and heroic qualities of young Drosselmeyer, fated to be turned into a Nutcracker for his virtuous deeds. The story contains many of the elements of the classic fairy tale but the anticipated happy ending is ultimately postponed - until the story continues in the Tchaikovsky ballet. The book leads the reader through the ballet, scene by scene, with detailed sketches of the sets, costumes, masks and props created for the production. A virtuoso of invention, of expression through color and unexpected interpretation, the work of Chemiakin could not be better fitted to fairytales. Humorous and engaging, the colorful drawings featured here will delight ballet fans, costume designers, students of theater and art lovers alike.

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.

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.

A beautiful gift book packed with pictures from over twenty productions from the year 2017-18 at The Royal Ballet - a richly illustrated companion to The Royal Ballet company.

The Royal Ballet Yearbook series is back, with extra editorial features and exclusive behind-the-scenes content - in addition to the usual selection of beautiful ballet images. Featuring lavish photographs of last Season's performances, a special preview of the new Season and lively and informative articles, The Royal Ballet 2016/17 is a richly illustrated companion to The Royal Ballet, its history, repertory, dancers and staff.

London during the Blitz was a time of hardship, heroism and hope. For Gillian Lynne - a budding ballerina - it was also a time of great change as she was evacuated from war-torn London to a crumbling mansion, where dance classes took place in the faded ballroom. Life was hard, but her talent and dedication shone through and an astonishing journey ensued, which saw Gillian dancing a triumphant debut in Swan Lake, performing in the West End with doodlebugs falling and touring a devastated Europe entertaining the troops. A Dancer in Wartime paints a vivid and moving picture of what life was really like during the hard years of the Blitz and brings to life a lost world.

Pioneering a distinctly American style that combined modern dance and ballet with a traditional folk idiom, Agnes de Mille popularized what had been an elitist art and irrevocably changed the American musical theater. During a life that spanned most of the twentieth century, de Mille worked and played with a fabulous cast of characters, from her uncle (the legendary Cecil B. de Mille) to Charlie Chaplin, Martha Graham, Cole Porter, NoA"Coward, Rebecca West, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Drawing on unpublished papers and extensive interviews with friends, colleagues, relatives, and de Mille herself, Carol Easton takes us behind the scenes of de Mille's extraordinary life: struggling to establish a reputation, surviving a series of disastrous love affairs, meeting the conflicting demands of ambition and motherhood, and dealing with a devastating illness. She unforgettably brings to life the combination of intelligence, artistry, and humor that was Agnes de Mille.

In the history of twentieth-century ballet, no company has had so profound and far-reaching an influence as the Ballets Russes. Under the direction of impresario extraordinaire Serge Diaghilev (1872-1929), the Ballets Russes radically transformed the nature of ballet--its subject matter, movement idiom, choreographic style, stage space, music, scenic design, costume, even the dancer's physical appearance. From 1909 to 1929, it nurtured some of the greatest choreographers in dance history--Fokine, Nijinsky, Massine, and Balanchine--and created such classics as "Les Sylphides, Firebird, Petrouchka, L'Apres-midi d'un Faune, Les Noces," and "Apollo." Diaghilev brought together some of the leading artists of his time, including composers Stravinsky, Debussy, and Prokofiev; artists Picasso, Braque, and Matisse, and poets Hoffmansthal and Cocteau. "Diaghilev's Ballets Russes" is the most authoritative history of the company ever written and the first to examine it as a totality--its art, enterprise, and audience. Combining social and cultural history with illuminating discussions of dance, drama, music, art, economics, and public reception, Lynn Garafola paints an extraordinary portrait of the company that shaped ballet into what it is today.

This text presents an integrated approach to the study of rhythm and movement notation. These subjects, usually studied in isolation, are here combined to enhance the study of each. A complete course in rhythm notation is provided, along with cross-references to Labanotation, which are designed to help the reader learn both subjects more quickly and thoroughly. The text is punctuated with maxims to help readers consolidate their learning, and "symbol cluster", a technique for reading music notation and Labanotation with increased speed and overall comprehension. Assignments in each chapter, featuring integrated work in rhythm and dance, point readers towards varied applications of their learning, moving them beyond theoretical understanding. The assignments begin simply, with studies in beat division and walking, and progress to work with a variety of metres, and cross-phasing of movement and music. More advanced assignments include music and dance phrasing; rhythmic and movement composition, and the step-by-step analysis of a complete work of dance and its relation to music. A CD accompanies the book.

Written with the full backing and expertise of the renowed Royal Academy of Dancing and following new international examination syllabus, this is a completely new edition of the bestselling BALLET CLASS. From the basic positions of the feet to exercises for the mostadvanced grades. STEP-by-STEP BALLET CLASS is an essential companion for everyone who is learning ballet. It gives a comprehensive selection of exercises taken from each of the examination grades, beginning with Pre-Primary and working up to Grade Five, the most advanced. Clear step-by-step illustrations and explanatory text take the dancer through each exercise in turn and there are checklists of important points to remember. Topics such as how to find a good ballet school, dressing for dance and taking an examination are also included. This important new book will ensure that dancers of all ages get the most out of their ballet tuition, both in and out of the classroom.