Author: Jacques D'Amboise Publisher: Knopf ISBN: 0307595234 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 465
Book Description
“Who am I? I’m a man; an American, a father, a teacher, but most of all, I am a person who knows how the arts can change lives, because they transformed mine. I was a dancer.” In this rich, expansive, spirited memoir, Jacques d’Amboise, one of America’s most celebrated classical dancers, and former principal dancer with the New York City Ballet for more than three decades, tells the extraordinary story of his life in dance, and of America’s most renowned and admired dance companies. He writes of his classical studies beginning at the age of eight at The School of American Ballet. At twelve he was asked to perform with Ballet Society; three years later he joined the New York City Ballet and made his European debut at London’s Covent Garden. As George Balanchine’s protégé, d’Amboise had more works choreographed on him by “the supreme Ballet Master” than any other dancer, among them Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux; Episodes; A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream; Jewels; Raymonda Variations. He writes of his boyhood—born Joseph Ahearn—in Dedham, Massachusetts; his mother (“the Boss”) moving the family to New York City’s Washington Heights; dragging her son and daughter to ballet class (paying the teacher $7.50 from hats she made and sold on street corners, and with chickens she cooked stuffed with chestnuts); his mother changing the family name from Ahearn to her maiden name, d’Amboise (“It’s aristocratic. It has the ‘d’ apostrophe. It sounds better for the ballet, and it’s a better name”). We see him. a neighborhood tough, in Catholic schools being taught by the nuns; on the streets, fighting with neighborhood gangs, and taking ten classes a week at the School of American Ballet . . . being taught professional class by Balanchine and by other teachers of great legend: Anatole Oboukhoff, premier danseur of the Maryinsky; and Pierre Vladimiroff, Pavlova’s partner. D’Amboise writes about Balanchine’s succession of ballerina muses who inspired him to near-obsessive passion and led him to create extraordinary ballets, dancers with whom d’Amboise partnered—Maria Tallchief; Tanaquil LeClercq, a stick-skinny teenager who blossomed into an exquisite, witty, sophisticated “angel” with her “long limbs and dramatic, mysterious elegance . . .”; the iridescent Allegra Kent; Melissa Hayden; Suzanne Farrell, who Balanchine called his “alabaster princess,” her every fiber, every movement imbued with passion and energy; Kay Mazzo; Kyra Nichols (“She’s perfect,” Balanchine said. “Uncomplicated—like fresh water”); and Karin von Aroldingen, to whom Balanchine left most of his ballets. D’Amboise writes about dancing with and courting one of the company’s members, who became his wife for fifty-three years, and the four children they had . . . On going to Hollywood to make Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and being offered a long-term contract at MGM (“If you’re not careful,” Balanchine warned, “you will have sold your soul for seven years”) . . . On Jerome Robbins (“Jerry could be charming and complimentary, and then, five minutes later, attack, and crush your spirit—all to see how it would influence the dance movements”). D’Amboise writes of the moment when he realizes his dancing career is over and he begins a new life and new dream teaching children all over the world about the arts through the magic of dance. A riveting, magical book, as transformative as dancing itself.
Author: Haruki Murakami Publisher: Vintage ISBN: 0307777685 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 417
Book Description
Dance Dance Dance—a follow-up to A Wild Sheep Chase—is a tense, poignant, and often hilarious ride through Murakami’s Japan, a place where everything that is not up for sale is up for grabs. As Murakami’s nameless protagonist searches for a mysteriously vanished girlfriend, he is plunged into a wind tunnel of sexual violence and metaphysical dread. In this propulsive novel, featuring a shabby but oracular Sheep Man, one of the most idiosyncratically brilliant writers at work today fuses together science fiction, the hardboiled thriller, and white-hot satire.
Author: Hal Banfield Publisher: ISBN: 9781950279104 Category : Performing Arts Languages : en Pages : 100
Book Description
Award-Winning Journalist and Photographer Hal Banfield brings this photographic series to life in the pages of his first published book capturing the grace, beauty, and strength of black dancers in motion. I Am Dance: Words and Images of the Black Dancer shines a spotlight on dancers from the concert to the commercial world of dance, and infuses stories from dancers, in their own words, about the space they hold in the world of dance, what dance means to them primarily and what being a dancer of color represents to them, especially. I Am Dance is an intimate encounter with dancers that will leave you not with just beautiful images to behold, but will also share with you a love and appreciation for the art of dance, with insight into the talent, passion, heart and revelations of dancers of color.
Author: Haas, Jacqui Greene Publisher: Human Kinetics ISBN: 1492545171 Category : Performing Arts Languages : en Pages : 272
Book Description
Dance Anatomy is a visually stunning presentation of more than 100 of the most effective dance, movement, and performance exercises, each designed to promote correct alignment, improved placement, proper breathing, and prevention of common injuries.
Author: Jess Grippo Publisher: ISBN: 9781699051726 Category : Languages : en Pages : 107
Book Description
Have you been feeling creatively stagnant or distanced from dance? Meet your new rectangular dance partner. A whisper from the creative muses. "The Artist's Way" in dance form. A calling to get back to dance and get back to YOU. Because starting to dance - again or for the first time - is often easier said than done. (Cue the intimidation, body image issues, time constraints, etc.) But dancing regularly is a proven source of happiness and healing, and for many it's a way to revive a lost part of our souls. This book is meant to be danced with, alone in your room to start, with a series of inspiring stories and directive prompts that you can do anytime. No more need for excuses or endlessly searching for the perfect class... make your bedroom your dance studio and DANCE WITH THIS BOOK. Side effects may include: making more space for yourself, reconnecting to your body, boosting your creative energy, releasing stress and stuck emotions, and feeling less alone. No leotards or expensive leggings required.
Author: Padma Venkatraman Publisher: Penguin ISBN: 0698158261 Category : Young Adult Fiction Languages : en Pages : 322
Book Description
Padma Venkatraman’s inspiring story of a young girl’s struggle to regain her passion and find a new peace is told lyrically through verse that captures the beauty and mystery of India and the ancient bharatanatyam dance form. This is a stunning novel about spiritual awakening, the power of art, and above all, the courage and resilience of the human spirit. Veda, a classical dance prodigy in India, lives and breathes dance—so when an accident leaves her a below-knee amputee, her dreams are shattered. For a girl who’s grown used to receiving applause for her dance prowess and flexibility, adjusting to a prosthetic leg is painful and humbling. But Veda refuses to let her disability rob her of her dreams, and she starts all over again, taking beginner classes with the youngest dancers. Then Veda meets Govinda, a young man who approaches dance as a spiritual pursuit. As their relationship deepens, Veda reconnects with the world around her, and begins to discover who she is and what dance truly means to her.
Author: Chloe Angyal Publisher: Bold Type Books ISBN: 1645036723 Category : Performing Arts Languages : en Pages : 298
Book Description
A reckoning with one of our most beloved art forms, whose past and present are shaped by gender, racial, and class inequities—and a look inside the fight for its future Every day, in dance studios all across America, legions of little children line up at the barre to take ballet class. This time in the studio shapes their lives, instilling lessons about gender, power, bodies, and their place in the world both in and outside of dance. In Turning Pointe, journalist Chloe Angyal captures the intense love for ballet that so many dancers feel, while also grappling with its devastating shortcomings: the power imbalance of an art form performed mostly by women, but dominated by men; the impossible standards of beauty and thinness; and the racism that keeps so many people of color out of ballet. As the rigid traditions of ballet grow increasingly out of step with the modern world, a new generation of dancers is confronting these issues head on, in the studio and on stage. For ballet to survive the twenty-first century and forge a path into a more socially just future, this reckoning is essential.
Author: Jill Krementz Publisher: Yearling Books ISBN: 9780440492122 Category : Juvenile Nonfiction Languages : en Pages : 112
Book Description
Photographs of a ten-year-old student in George Balanchine's School of American Ballet, supplemented by her descriptions of her feelings and experiences, provide insight to the excitement and hard work involved in auditioning and rehearsing for and playin
Author: Emmaly Wiederholt Publisher: ISBN: 9780998247816 Category : Languages : en Pages : 154
Book Description
Breadth of Bodies seeks to investigate and dismantle the language and stereotypes often used to describe professional dancers with disabilities. Spearheaded by dancer/writer Emmaly Wiederholt and dance educator Silva Laukkanen with illustrations by visual artist Liz Brent-Maldonado, the team collected interviews with 35 professional dance artists with disabilities from 15 countries, asking about training, access, and press, as well as looking at the state of the field.
Author: Jane Feldman
Author: Jacques D'Amboise
Author: Haruki Murakami
Author: Hal Banfield
Author: Haas, Jacqui Greene
Author: Jess Grippo
Author: Padma Venkatraman
Author: Chloe Angyal
Author: Jill Krementz
Author: Emmaly Wiederholt