bookshelf

SHADOWPLAY

Name: SHADOWPLAY
Author: Donna Perlmutter
ISBN: 0-670-83937-X

ANTONY TUDOR'S LIFE IN DANCE

by Donna Perlmutter ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 1991

bookshelf

Antony Tudor was born to a working-class family in London in 1908. By the time of his death in New York in 1987, he was universally recognized as one of the major forces in the development of modern American ballet. In the ballet world, he was equally recognized as one of the most emotionally manipulative, at times even cruel, of choreographers to work with. Perlmutter (dance critic for The Los Angeles Times) herein argues that this was the flip side of Tudor's contribution to dance: His fervent interest in intense emotion and human reaction was the cornerstone both of his ballets and of his working methods. She traces Tudor's development from his beginnings in London, where he was student, dancer, administrator, and general dogsbody with Marie Rambert's fledgling company. He emigrated to the US just before WW II at the invitation of what was then called simply Ballet Theatre (later, A.B.T.). Perlmutter describes the emotional backdrop for the creation of his ballets: Jardin Aux Lilas (1936), Pillar of Fire (1942), and Dark Elegies (1937) among the most enduring. Throughout, she stresses the impact of Tudor's lifelong, tangled, tempestuous relationship with dancer Hugh Laing (portrayed here as being wildly unstable), calling him Tudor's ``lover, his Doppelganger-Muse-Soulmate, the only one with whom he shared his innermost thoughts.'' And on the inevitable comparison to Balanchine, Perlmutter quotes Tudor himself: ``George concerns himself with motion and I concern myself with emotion.'' Other differences stand out: In spite of a long association with A.B.T. and its precursors, Tudor never found the kind of home, support, and financial backing that Balanchine did at the New York City Ballet. Certainly, it is the Balanchine style that is in vogue now. But to see a well-performed Tudor ballet is to realize anew the haunting impact and drama of his work. Perlmutter provides some real insights into the atmosphere in which Tudor's ballets were born.

Pub Date: July 1, 1991

ISBN: 0-670-83937-X

Page Count: 448

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1991

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

bookshelf

NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

bookshelf

This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

bookshelf

TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

bookshelf

An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.