Jennifer Homan's book is really two separate books in one. The first is a long, fairly comprehensive history book about ballet. Even if more seasoned balletomanes are already familiar with the basic storyline, Homans is still an excellent historian with a sharp eye for detail. The book is best when talking about the history of ballet: as a court dance in the French royal court, Marie Taglioni's dancing on the tips of her toes to give her an eternally ethereal look, the great era of Petipa at the Mariinsky B..
Put everything down and read this book! It will hold you spellbound. A beautifully written and produced history of ballet, this is a book that will be treasured by the ballet lover. The author covers ballet's earliest history in 16th century court dance up to the present. There are plentiful illustrations and photographs, and the author's commentary (she is dance critic for The New Republic) is incisive and informed. She writes glowingly of Balanchine and describes his major work. Though I knew much of the ..
From everything I heard and read prior to receiving and reading this book for myself I expected to be irritated by it. It is extremely well written and some obscure details the author brings out with great clarity. I enjoyed everything except the epilogue and even that is not as bad as what I'd feared. The author clearly thinks that the present moment in ballet is the final death knell. Print matter is supposed to be dead, the theatre is supposed to be dead, classical music is supposed to be dead... It is j..
