Book Description

This revelatory biography of Folies Bergere dancer Josephine Baker (1906-1975) is a study of struggle, truimph and tragedy. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A fond, passionate portrait of a hard-to-pin-down woman
Josephine Baker was enigmatic during her lifetime and even more so after her death. A chanteuse, a sex symbol, the mother of 12 adopted children, French Resistance heroine, Baker reinvented herself as often as necessary to stay at the top of her trade - whatever that trade was at any given moment. Jean-Claude Baker (one of her 'adopted' children) chronicles her life in this engaging biography with a mix of love, admiration, and incredulity. The lady had balls, and while not a tell-all book, The Hungry Heart does her ample justice.

Fantastique!
A perfectly balanced expose of this legendary and highly complex superstar: Amoral in extremis, manic and delusional, but blessed with indomitable human spirit. Excellent historical perspective throughout.

A beautifully written biography which does not succumb to the tawdry, despite its detailed narrative of Josephine Baker's pathologically decadent lifestyle.

Absolutely the best biography of J.B., bar none. A Must Read for Paris cabaret enthusiasts.

THE inside scoop on Miss Josephine
This is a biography of LaBaker written by one of her many adopted children. He gives the inside dish on his mom, including that both she and his adopter father were gay. He points out too that she did have some self-loathing issues regarding her race as well. This book has a great photo section. It helped me to see the ugly side of Josephine that wasn't fully presented in the great movie by HBO. I am not sure it is the best work out there, but it is a must-read for any Josephine fans and scholars. In addition, people that study Black Americans abroad or French naturalized citizens should read this. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Excellent read
I am a dancer in Edward Villella's acclaimed Miami City Ballet and I would like to say (as biased as it may seem) that this is a must read. If you are a ballet dancer, or even a ballet fan, please purchase this book. It is a unique look at how men thrive in this dance world and still come out looking like men. It takes you deep into the world of ballet..the parts that most people don't see. Edward explains all of the secrets past the pink tutus and pointe shoes and shows what it's really like the be a part of our world. He is an amazing man with a facinating career and I urge you to buy this book because of that. You won't regret it!

an Important Work
Although not a literary masterpiece, it is an easy read. It was important historically to write this book. It helped put much into perspective, and documented an impactful life. As a late babyboomer child, I adored watching him dance on television. He made ballet interesting and exciting. I also met him at Illinois Wesleyan University in the late 70s when he was on the speaker's circuit. Now I know why he was lecturing at that time. His openness about his own weaknesses was delivered well without being too specific or tacky. Villella's strengths, however, were very well portrayed. As a long-time fan, it was important for me to see that he grew/integrated into not just a talent, but a good man/husband/father/mentor.

The Rocky of the ballet
Mr Villella in this book try really hard to potrait himself like Rocky Balboa, but instead to became a boxer became a dancer. 90% of the book he critizice Mr Balanchine, and at the end declare his eternal love to him, no wonder thanks to Balanchine he have a book out and an artistic directorship in Miami. He repeatedly mention his troubling relantionship with Mr Balanchine because he never like Mr Balanchine's classes, I wonder how the situation with classes in Miami City Ballet?

Fascinating!
I was so enchanted with the story of Edward Villella's life that I found it impossible to put the book down and it prompted me to write my first review! He not only tells you about an exciting time in ballet of which he was a part of - you also feel each moment with him. His hard work, the competitiveness, the disappointments, his success all flows into a story that leaves you no doubt of the love and passion that he has for dance. It's a fitting ending to know that he's now passing this on to other dancers. I'm just sorry I never saw him dance...

From a dancers perspective...
This was a wonderful book! It was so well written that it was almost as if Edward Villella were sitting in front of me telling me his life story. It was honest and heartfelt. I was glad that he not only told of his experiences with Balanchine but also of his life. In doing so, it personalizes his experiences and helps the reader to see him as a real person. This is not some stuffy biography! It is easily one of the best books I have read in years! I could not put it down. ... Read more

Book Description

Dancer and actress Joan McCracken (1917–1961) commanded a pioneering career that influenced some of the greatest artists on Broadway and in Hollywood.An overnight sensation for her 1943 comedic role as "The Girl Who Falls Down" in the groundbreaking musical Oklahoma!, McCracken established the prototype dancer-comedienne, headlining in ballet, stage, film, and television productions before her life was tragically cut short by complications from diabetes.

Derived from extensive interviews with McCracken's friends, family, and colleagues, this is the first biography of the charismatic dancer.Lisa Jo Sagolla paints a complex portrait of the petite, blue-eyed, and sprightly entertainer as a woman exploiting her mesmerizing beauty and magnetism to succeed in the man’s world of entertainment, yet always retaining the persona of childlike pixie she portrayed on stage.McCracken’s comic exuberance and athleticism also epitomized a new ballet form that married the European ideas of aristocratic grace and movement with a uniquely American spirit and style.

From her beginnings in Philadelphia and New York, to her meteoric rise to fame, to her life long struggle with the little understood and devastating effects of diabetes, The Girl Who Fell Down chronicles McCracken’s spirited yet poignant life, including her training at Balanchine’s seminal School of American Ballet, her blossoming as a "ravishing talent" with a "crackerjack dance technique" under Agnes de Mille, her supremacy as a performer, her marriages to acclaimed choreographer Bob Fosse and novelist Jack Dunphy, and her ultimate diagnosis with heart disease.Touching yet inspiring, Sagolla's account describes McCracken’s lasting influence through her nurturing of husband Fosse’s provocative career, her dramatic coaching of actress Shirley MacLaine, and her inspiration for the many dancer-comediennes that followed—Gwen Verdon, Carol Haney, and Sandy Duncan, to name a few. Rich with the social and cultural history of a golden age in show business and teeming with colorful choreographers, dancers, and entertainers, this comprehensive and carefully researched biography will introduce Joan McCracken to a new audience of dance enthusiasts. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Juicy read for theater buffs
This extremely readable, informative biography is both the hauntingly sad tale of an enchanting brief candle of a performer and an inside, knowing evocation of the New York theater world of the 40s and 50s. Joan McCracken's singing and dancing eight times a week on Broadway while diabetic, and her premature demise no doubt accelerated by her stage exertions, are heartbreaking to read. The author's explanations of dance steps and narrative accounts of ballets and show choreography are extraordinarily well done in converting dancer shop talk into something palpable and understandable for the lay reader. This book is a reminder that history, artistic and otherwise, is made not just by the superfamous. A show business career like McCracken's is more typical, and more illuminating to read about, than made-to-order rehashes of Stars A to Z. In the retrospect of fifty years, it is fascinating to read Sagolla quoting McCracken commenting on early television being too "commercial" and the servant of too many masters. Sagolla's book becomes not just a portrait of a singular performer but an oblique statement about changing times in the American entertainment industry. A well researched, engaging read to the end. ... Read more

Amazon.com

From the moment of his first, spectacular North American appearance--in 1974, at the age of 26--Mikhail Baryshnikov was viewed as one of ballet's great virtuosos. But few could guess that his experimental spirit would lead him from princely roles in the classics to trailblazing collaborations with modern dance choreographers. Baryshnikov in Black and White reveals key moments of the dancer's artistic evolution from 1974 to 2000 in more than 175 starkly expressive black-and-white photographs. Glimpses of performances with American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, and the White Oak Dance Project join a few well-chosen studio rehearsal shots. They demonstrate Baryshnikov's enormous range, from the classical purity of Apollo to the improvisational HeartBeat: mb, from partnering Natalia Makarova to partnering a folding chair. Joan Acocella's introduction deftly and authoritatively sketches the dancer's career. Unfortunately, Robert Greskovic's annotated captions are segregated from the photos, requiring constant paging back and forth. --Cathy Curtis ... Read more

Book Description

Cholly Atkins´s career has spanned an extraordinary era of American dance. He began performing during Prohibition and continued his apprenticeship in vaudeville, in nightclubs, and in the army during World War II. With his partner, Honi Coles, Cholly toured the country, performing with such jazz masters as Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, and Count Basie. As tap reached a nadir in the fifties, Cholly created the new specialization of "vocal choreography," teaching rhythm-and-blues singers how totheir music by adding rhythmical dance steps drawn from twentieth-century American dance, from the Charleston to rhythm tap. For the burgeoning Motown record label, Cholly taught such artists as the Supremes, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, the Temptations, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and Marvin Gaye to command the stage in ways that would enhance their performances and "sell" their songs.tells of Cholly´s boyhood and coming of age, his entry into the dance world of New York City, his performing triumphs and personal tragedies, and the career transformations that won him gold records and a Tony for choreographingon Broadway. Chronicling the rise, near demise, and rediscovery of tap dancing, the book is both an engaging biography and a rich cultural history. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Class Act is No "Act"
This is a great read from start to finish. The life of Cholly Atkins, a surprisingly unsung pioneer who should be a legend in his own time. It relieves readers of their ignorance about the many ways his influence has been in their lives all along, and how much they have to thank him for regarding many features of American popular dance culture that are traced right back to his doorstep. Great inside stories about many American music and dance icons. The only thing missing in having the entire book written in his (very colorful and endearing) voice is hearing more quotes and tales others might have to tell about what it was/is like to work under him, with him, and to be taught by him. Room for a sequel? Well and thorouhly researched by the co-author. Warm and genuine. There is something here for anyone with a pulse. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Good Resource
This book is a good read. I recommend it for the individuals interested in history, collaborative arts and innovative ideas and techniques in the performing arts.

A perfect reference for American Modern Dance
Art Performs Life is a unique and authouritive guide to the works and view points of todays most prominent 3 American Choreographers. It emphasizes on the collision of dance and life. Their view points on the gendering of dance and technique are stated clearly.The political and social agenda the choregraphers use and their individuality in representing life on stage using major issues is brilliantly represented in this book. It is a must have for anyone interested in modern dance ... Read more

Book Description

His legendary shows included Fiddler on the Roof, The King and I, West Side Story, Gypsy, and Funny Girl. His celebrity colleagues included Barbra Streisand, Bette Davis, Stephen Sondheim, Natalie Wood, Ethel Merman, and Montgomery Clift. His private demons included sexual and religious conflicts, scandalous betrayals during the McCarthy hearings, and an insane drive for perfection that bordered on the sadistic.

Based on hundreds of interviews with his closest friends and enemies, this groundbreaking biography of "nightmare genius" (Tony Walton) Jerome Robbins, provides the first complete portrait of the man and the artist. It's a harrowing, heartbreaking, and candid look at life backstage.

"Comprehensive and lively." (Publishers Weekly)

"Contains plenty of dish." (The Wall Street Journal) ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Exhausting
I basically enjoyed the book, but I wish it had been about a hundred pages shorter. I would have preferred a book that really focused on the Broadway career. I have very little interest in ballet and a lot of the book was about ballet. It assumes the dancers mentioned are household words, but aside from Villella, Nureyev, Baryshnikov, Suzanne Farrell and a couple of others, I had no idea who these people were and what they said was not particularly interesting. This is an ambitious book and I admire its ambition, but Robbins was a part of many worlds and in order to do all these worlds justice the whole is diluted. It could have been several books - one dealing with his early life and Jewish heritage, another dealing with his sexual nature, another with his Broadway career, another with his career in dance, and yet another dealing with his early flirtation with and later repudiation of Communism. This book tries to cover all the bases and ends up being exhausting. As I said the ballet part didn't really interest me and it took up most of the last half of the book. As a result I found the last hundred pages really tough going. But I did learn a lot that interested me, like how Robbins wanted John Latouche and Arthur Laurents to write the lyrics and book for ON THE TOWN. Bernstein wanted Comden and Green. ...

Interesting Oral History
Greg Lawrence is less an author than a complier of an oral history of the life of Jerome Robbins in Dance With Demons. This is by no means a true biography but it does fill a certain need until that volume is written. It gives almost everybody Jerome Robbins met in his life a chance to speak, sometimes briefly and sometimes at length, about working with or knowing him. No aspect of his life is left untouched. This book is almost less about Jerome Robbins as a person than it is about the ways in which he touched people. All the nastiness is there but also all the good things people had to say about him. There is nothing defintive about this book but it makes for a fascinating read and is a testament to power of this difficult genius.

Tedious and vulgar
Very little to do with dance, this book is mostly personalities and scandal. The not-very-subtle subtext is Robbins' homosexuality, and its relation to the HUAC affair. Strictly for celebrity hounds.

Thorough, gossipy, undefinitive -- maybe unnecessary
Despite, or because of, its inclusion of hundreds of interviews, much of Greg Lawrence's biography amounts to uncorroborated hearsay. Given the backbiting and jealous atmosphere of the theatre world, a more rigorous biographer would have carefully weighed and vetted the reliability of the sources. Lawrence apparently was not given access to Robbins' own papers and therefore the man himself is decidedly absent from these pages, as has been pointed out by reviews in The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, and elsewehere. It's gossipy and full of facts and opinions, but curiously empty.

Another customer reviewer here compares Lawrence's book with Christine Conrad's compendium of photographs and Robbins quotes (Jerome Robbins,That Broadway Man, That Ballet Man), to Lawrence's benefit. Seems to me you get a stronger sense of Robbins the man AND the artist from Conrad's book, even though it doesn't pretend to be a biography.

I've read that two other full-scale biographies are in the works whose authors have been allowed to see Robbins's archives; hopefully they will provide a deeper and more balanced view of the man. If anyone still cares.

FASCINATING DEMONS
When I reviewed Christine Conrad's book on Jerome Robbins ("Jerome Robbins: That Broadway Man, That Ballet Man") I wrote that the book on Robbins had yet to appear. Well, that book is here.

Greg Lawrence's fascinating DANCE WITH DEMONS is so painstakingly researched and so fair-minded, so interestingly written that it speeds along as if it were a novel, that it will, I believe, in years to come, be regarded as a very important document of life in the Theatre and the Ballet from the 1930's to the 1990's.

None of Robbins' "psychological problems" are glossed over and none of his matchless successes as a classical choreographer and as a director and choreographer of Broadway mega-hits is given short shrift.

Any reader with an interest in life in the New York City Ballet, under George Balanchine and then under Peter Martins, or in the Golden Age of Broadway's Musical Comedies, can afford to miss this book. Years and years of research obviously went into its writing. Just a very few examples of people quoted at length about Robbins, the artist, are his collaborators on WEST SIDE STORY (Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Harold Prince), his collaborator and boss on THE KING AND I (Oscar Hammerstein,2), his dancers on Broadway (Yuriko, Robert La Fosse, Charlotte D'Amboise, Grover Dale, et al) and his dancers in the ballet world (Peter Martins, Suzanne Farrell, Bart Cook, Violette Verdy, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Rudolf Nureyev, et al). We also get to read what the critics said about the various works when they premiered.

What makes the book terrific reading is that time and time again, through the years, we read of no one who has anything negative to say about Robbins, the artist. And yet, over and over we read of peers being crushed, other artists being "named" in the HUAC hearings, friends and lovers being used and abused.
Demons, indeed.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

A Strippers Eye View
Having spent a few nights in the Gold Club, one with a college coach and a couple of NBA players, I had to read this book for a bit of nostalgia. This book is about the Gold Club as seen through this lady and about the life of Ms. Bush. But I'm not sure she is capable of giving anything but a very narrow viewpoint.

Ms. Bush describes herself as the top dancer and most beautiful woman that everyone falls in love with. Well, from the looks of the picture, she was not one of the most beautiful. Evidently she had a good relationship with the owner and began to use this trump card as she openly challenged the local manager. The book is all about her and how everyone loved or hated her. And of course, she didn't perform any sex acts but she knew who to include from the other dancers if that was needed. As it relates to the Gold Club and the legal proceedings, this book does not offer compelling evidence of guilt although written from a lady with minimal educational training, it's difficult to know what she is trying to convey other than, "I'm the Greatest". She does however manage to drop some names, athletes and other assorted celebrities, which will satisfy some readers.

In addition to detail of the Gold Club, Ms. Bush thought we would be interested in her life story. It's not only not interesting, it's depressing and helps to document what many people view as a stripper stereotype. Her mother is a drug addict. Father is a womanizing wife beater. She marries young and has kids. Leaves her husband after he becomes a womanizing wife-beater and then must take care of her kids on her own. She drifts into stripping and the rest is history.

This is not a literary masterpiece. And frankly, it's not a good retelling of the fascinating history of the Gold Club. It's an opportunity for Ms. Bush to retell her story and have her 15 minutes of fame and I guess I have no problem with that. But you probably shouldn't waste your money on it unless you have some specific interest in the Gold Club or Ms. Bush.

"FALSE ADVERTISEMENT"
WHEN I READ THE BACK COVER OF THE BOOK IT SAID THE READER WOULD FIND OUT ABOUT THE OCCURENCES OF PROFESSIONAL BALLPLAYERS ACTORS AND POLITICIANS INSIDE THE GOLD CLUB. BUT WHEN I READ THE BOOK I QUICKLY LEARNED THAT SHE KEEPS ALL OF THESE PEOPLE NAMELESS EXCEPT FOR HERSELF AND FORMER GOLD CLUB EMPLOYEES. AND WHEN A CELEBRITY DOES ENTER THE CLUB SHE REFERS TO THEM AS A BIG SPENDER WITHOUT EVEN GIVING YOU A DECENT CLUE WHO THEY ARE. I KNOW THAT PEOPLE READING THIS BOOK ARENT NEARLY AS INTERESTED IN FINDING OUT ABOUT JACKLYN "DIVA" BUSH AS THEY ARE IN THE CELEBRITY ESCAPADES THAT WENT ON IN THE CLUB. BE CAREFULL BECAUSE THIS BOOK ISNT GONNA TELL YOU ANYTHING AS FAR AS THATS CONCERNED.

Taking It All Off
THE GOLD CLUB" THE JACKLYN"DIVA" BUSH STORY: HOW I WENT FROM GOLD ROOM TO COURT ROOM details her life as a dancer and her time spent on trial. This book was very interesting and educational. I learned that stripping is more than undressing; it's an art that has been parlayed into big business. At times the story was a bit confusing and hard to follow because Ms. Bush kept switching between past and present. Still it was an entertaining, eye opening read.

Reviewed by Simone A. Hawks
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Complete review can be found on our website...

Excellent story of survival!
This was a wonderful portrayal of one woman's experience and perspective as an entertainer at the Gold Club, and, as the subtitle indicates, it is also about Ms. Bush's life. There is nothing sleazy or ghetto about this book.

Ms. Bush is an example of a survivor. She cleverly integrated chapter snapshots of her past as though reflecting, at times, on her hard upbringing or comparing how far she had come from her deprived past. It doesn't take a Ph.D to follow and appreciate the creative flair she incorporated. I certainly would not have been interested in this story had she depicted it frame-by-frame from infancy to adulthood. This is a well-written story (I think all of the negative comments are from those fellow dancers she mentioned who didn't like her).

Ms. Bush doesn't claim to be perfect, in fact, in the end, she states that it is her hope that others can learn from her mistakes.

I especially recommend this book for young women who may be tempted by notions of making fast money.

Thanks for sharing your story, Ms. Bush. You've shown that one is never too old to learn from mistakes or develop a new chapter in life.

EMBARASSING!
Although I have not read the entire contents of this book I read enough for it to give me a pounding headache because it is indeed very painful to read. Who published this book? Jerry Springer Publishers.

Being an exotic dancer myself and a very intellegent one at that I was embarassed that the stripper community has been so badly misrepresented by Ghetto Queen.

This book is not only badly written, it is a big joke. This book has very little value. I would not even use it for a coaster.

Barbee ... Read more

Reviews (1)

What a life of dance is truly like
Katherine Dunham: Dancing A Life is the in-depth biography of Katherine Dunham, a truly talented, remarkably gifted, and influential twentieth century dancer, choreographer, and founder of the first self-supporting African American dance company. Incorporating Dunham's published memoirs, archival documents, and extensive interviews with Dunham's colleagues, students, and dance company members, Katherine Dunham: Dancing A Life by Joyce Aschenbrenner (Professor Emerita of Anthropology, Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville) is a meticulously researched, objectively presented, accessibly written, biographically based revelation of what a life of dance is truly like, as well as revealing the heart and soul behind the graceful movements on stage. ... Read more

Book Description

Sammy Davis, Jr. (1925-90) rose from childhood stardom on the vaudeville stage to become one of the most famous African American entertainers of the 1950s and '60s (and the only black member of Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack).At the same time, he spent most of his career surrounded by controversy and ridicule--over his affairs with white film stars, his 1960 marriage to Swedish actress May Britt, his conversion to Judaism, his closeness to the Kennedys (and later Richard Nixon), and his problems with alcohol and drugs.

When Davis published his first memoir, Yes, I Can, in 1965, it was a critical and popular success--acclaimed for a candor and thoughtfulness rare in celebrity autobiographies and for its painful evocation of life as a black peformer in segregated America.Davis's 1980 memoir, Why Me?, laid bare Davis's troubled relationship to the Kennedys, his ambivalence toward the Black Pride movement, the end of his marriage to Britt (and his complex open marriage with Altovise Davis), and his flamboyant, self-loathing misbehavior, from ruinous extravagance to flirtations with Satanism.

Davis's co-writer Burt Boyar has revised Davis's memoirs, incorporating material from unpublished interviews, and has added a new introduction and epilogue.The result is a testament to an unacknowledged--often uncomfortable--leader in the struggle for racial equality.
... Read more

Reviews (3)

Poorly edited-Read "Yes I Can" instead
For beginners, this isn't bad. But those who are familiar with "Yes I can" and "Why Me?" (the Davis bios that this book was edited from) will not be happy. Too much of the good stuff from "Yes I Can" is missing, such as Sammy's guilt over his treatment of James Dean and his own mistreatment at the hands of other children and teenagers. Those were some of the most moving parts of that book and they should be included here. Oh well, you can always read the original.

Sammy: an autobiography of giant!
I gladly give the life of Sammy Davis Jr. 5 stars, however, the Boyers have done this bright icon who came into their lives a disservice by simply expanding on Sammy's two previous autobiographies with more & longer details without any attempt to focus his memories or put order into the reading & that is why I give the book only 2 stars.

Sammy Davis Jr. rose from childhood stardom in vaudeville to become one of the most famous African-Americans of the 1950s & 1960s. At the same time his career, friends & lifestyle were surrounded by controversy & his experiences as a black performer in segregated America.

Of all the celebrities in the American star-studied panoply, Sammy Davis Jr., crossed over more lines. He converted to an unpopular religion; he had no fear of dating & marrying beautiful white women; he was close to the Kennedys & the Nixons; he was a member of Frank Sinatra's notorious Rat Pack & he played with alcohol & drugs.

It's amusing to read his opinions of the two songs he liked the least as they became best-sellers - going platinum to his amazement.

I think an Index of his best-selling songs, his legendary Las Vegas performances, his world-wide concerts & his movies & television shows should have been included. Sammy Davis Jr., was also a spokesperson for his people & an Index of the movers & shakers of the Civil Rights Movement & the politicians of his time with whom he consulted & for whom he worked, is vital.

There isn't even a curriculum vitae! Do check out my full review of this & other biographies.

Sammy A review
This book tries to cram together Yes I Can and Why Me? and in the process the humor and emotions which made those books great, especially Yes I Can, is lost. There is VERY LITTLE new material here. This book is a waste of time to anyone who already knows about Sammy and if they don't this isn't the place to start. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A wonderful story of a life dedicated to beautiful music.
A story I have tried to locate and read for a number of years. Wonderfully written with love and respect. I feel so fortunate to have this book - it took so long to be released and I am now reading it for the second time. Chan gives the average fan a better understanding of the artist (Bird) who forever changed the music of our lives. Many details of her life and the exciting time of her youth are included. I almost felt like I was there myself - you can feel the music in the air. A huge thank you to the author - I am so grateful to have this piece of history and am even more passionate about the music of the great Charlie Parker. A must read for any jazz fan.... ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A lively portrait about a trailblazer of American dance.
This is a thorough, often riveting and eminently readable book about a trailblazer of American dance. A lively, affectionate and intimate portrait of this in every respect strongly gifted man who created the American Dance Theater. The dance critic and reporter of the New York Times, Jennifer Dunning has written a compelling book about this multifarious figure who wrote by himself a full chapter of American cultural history. For the first time, the life and work of Alvin Ailey, one of the most beloved figures in modern dance, is entertainingly told, taking into account the often adverse personal and social circumstances he had to contend with for the 58 years of his life. When Alvin was born in Southeast Texas in 1931, public facilities were segregated, white children went to school and black children picked cotton. Yet he managed to overcome these social handicaps because " he was tremendously bright-terribly intelligent-intuitive-sharp". He was not ill at ease physically either:"beautiful, strong, wonderful smile with a perfect body and with the technique of dance well welded into his system".Homosexuality dit not simplify his life, as were episodes of manic depression and substance abuse.Alvin Ailey was a splendid artist, and his unique merits and talents are all the more appreciable because he had constantly to wrestle with a lot of heavy burdens, even when they were often self-inflicted. A doctoral thesis was written as early as 1973 about the life and works of this creator of the highest caliber, but we had to wait till now to have this enjoyable, splendidly written, sumptuously printed and well-illustrated book.I recommend strongly this "Life in Dance". Jan Mortelmans. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Symbolist poets rhapsodized over her, artists jostled to paint her, sculptors strove to capture her evanescent image in art nouveau bronze and glass. But it wasn't long after dancer Loie Fuller's golden age in 1890s Paris that dance fans relegated her to novelty status. Now, two biographers, Richard Nelson Current and Marcia Ewing Current, are determined to rehabilitate her memory and restore her place as one of the pioneers of modern dance. The American-born Fuller was untrained in classical dance, but her spirit moved her to whirl amid yards of floating cloth, illuminated in brilliant colors by the newly discovered electric light. "La Loïe's" talents as a businesswoman, self promoter, artistic rebel, and star of her own personal tragedy make her a complex and fascinating character. Her rediscovery and renewed appreciation makes this book a real event in dance biography. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Loie Swirls Again!
Goddess of Light was a wonderful story of the life of Loie Fuller, an oft-overlooked but important innovator of lighting and other theatrical effects with great influence in the world of dance. Loie was not only a movement artist and an inventor but a businesswoman, who promoted other artists (i.e. Rodin) in addition to herself.

Loie was successful because she was experimental, resourceful, and persistent. As this book describes in detail events in all areas of her life, we can come to appreciate this woman who capitalized on her ideas and opportunities, to know her personal pathos as well as her enthusiasm for her art. As a woman, I can appreciate the obstacles she worked through and the endurance it required. Thank you, Loie! Buy this book! ... Read more

Book Description

One of the most accomplished names in dance, Nureyev was known for his leaps and fast turns that mesmerized the audience. A charismatic performer and personality, he is credited for expanding the audience for ballet. For the first time, photographer Ralph Fase will offer his intimate images of the famed dancer taken in Paris from 1974-1982.

As chronicled as his career was, these photographs have never been published. Taken on and off the stage, they offer a personal glimpse of the dancer during the most successful years of his career. The book is organized by ballet, offering Nureyev fans specific focus and ballet fans more general ballet history.
... Read more

Book Description

In theatre, dance and film, Jerome Robbins had one of the most significant and sustained creative careers of the 20th century.His ability to convey emotion and drama through movement is unrivalled and his artistic breakthroughs in form and content in these media are now seen everywhere.This illustrated book of his life and work is a visual exploration and evocation of a creative journey.

As well as a chronology of his life, the book also explores the important threads running through Robbin's work: his influences, the joys and frustrations, his working methods, his fight for recognition, his collaboration with people such as Leonard Bernstein, fame and its effects.A sense of immediacy is conveyed by the use of Robbin's own words, which capture his tone and often irreverent wit.

The friendship between Robbins and Christine Conrad began in the mid-Sixties and lasted until his death.

He left behind a vast collection of material from his long career which he wanted to share with others and a wealth of photographs, art works, posters, personal drawings, and interviews [now in the New York Public Library], have been made available for the book, in addition to exclusive access to personal journals and private letters.The result is a book that is a delight to the mind, the eye and the soul.

Access to personal journals, previously unpublished

A unique celebration of Jerome Robbins and his contribution to 20th-century dance and theatre: pictorial, visceral and accessible to all ... Read more

Reviews (5)

A STUNNING PORTRAIT OF A GREAT ARTIST AT WORK
Jerome Robbins is brought to vivid life in this amazing and stunning pictorial biography. Using hundreds of rare, fascinating, never-before-seen photographs; Robbins' personal journals; Robbins' own words about work; combined with Conrad's insightful narrative, this book shines a light on the man behind the image and takes us inside his working process and his daily life. He was obviously a very private man who shielded his personal life, but Conrad takes us behind the austere public image. Because of her longstanding relationship with Robbins, Conrad was given access to previously unseen early childhood and early dance photographs and Robbins' own drawings and writings. Any creative person in any field will be grateful for the descriptions of his unique working methods. Conrad doesn't gloss over his disappointments or personal failures - the story behind his firing from the film of West Side Story is fascinating - but she chooses to concentrate on illuminating his artistic process and bringing the man to life, with all his quirks, his humor, his fierce dedication to work -- and the great personal sacrifices he made for that work. Don't miss out on a wonderful and original reading experience! I loved it... an absolute treasure.

A TRIBUTE
What an amazing tribute this book is -- not only to the genius of one of the greatest choreographer's in the history of dance and theater, but to the process of creativity as well. In this brilliant biography of Jerome Robbins, Christine Conrad has given us a work that can speak to every artist, working in every medium, about the passion and commitment it takes to create. Robbins is so eloquently captured on these pages, both in images, and in his own words, that I came away from the book feeling as if I had known him. And, feeling nothing but admiration for his courage, and his determination to excel. He truly was THAT BROADWAY MAN. It was so refreshing to read a biography about a famous person that focused on his work, and his success, instead of just dishing the dirt. I was not particularly interested in his failures; we all have them. I was interested in how he pushed through them and kept going...to give us a body of work so entertaining, and innovative, it literally takes your breath away. The book is absolutely fascinating. Cheers to Ms. Conrad for her intimate, insightful, and intuitive presentation of this extraordinary man.

INVALUABLE PHOTOGRAPHS, NOT TEXT
Sure, Jerome Robbins was one of the few genius innovators in theatre and ballet. But, perhaps, a book written by someone interested in the man's flaws as well as his accomplishments, his failures as well as his triumphs, might have been better reading. Cristine Conrad says in her author's note that she was Robbins' friend for more than 30 years. To my way of thinking, her friendship gets in the way of good reporting. I'm not necessarily looking for a hatchet job on Robbins, but a writer less interested in (what we used to call) brown-nosing, would, most likely, have written a richer book.

Why did I give it even four stars? The huge, varied collection of photographs in this book is fascinating and invaluable for anyone interested in Musical Theatre or 20th Century American Ballet.

The real, full version of Robbins' life is yet to be written/published.

A magical look at a genius at work
If a picture -- in that old cliché -- is worth a thousand words, this gorgeous book is worth any number of doorstop-sized biographies. Using hundreds of never-before-seen photographs of Jerome Robbins and his friends, family, and associates (Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, George Balanchine, Mary Martin, Irving Berlin, etc. etc), Christine Conrad has put together a stunning visual record of a great life in the theater, the first about Robbins ever to appear. Here are backstage and rehearsal pictures, family snapshots, rare clippings, production photographs, even reproduced pages from Robbins's own illustrated journals, with captions drawn from Robbins's published quotations; all are given context and coherence by Conrad's spare and perceptive text, which takes the form of introductions to the chronologically-arranged sections of the book. Her privileged, inside view of Robbins (she was, she tells us, a close friend of more than thirty years' standing) is never mawkish, cloying, or self-important; but in the end it is moving the way Robbins's own art, from "Dances at a Gathering" to "On the Town" to "West Side Story," is moving -- because it is funny, tender, and beautiful.

JEROME ROBBINS COMES TO LIFE
A lot has been written about Broadway legend Jerome Robbins, and much of whatbiographer Christine Conrad says has already been written. However, this book towers above any others in one respect. It is literally a pictorial biography of the theatre's greatest choreographer. From his birth to his death in 1998 the man is revealed in every aspect. Rare photos of the shows he has worked on and photographs reflecting his private life are throughout the book. Conrad does not go into excruciating detail on the problems some of his productions face: his well known temper; upbraiding actors in front of the cast; or the tantrum he had while "West Side Story" was trying out in Washington DC and Robbins, in a fit of pique, backed up and fell into the orchestra pit much to the delight of the actors. However, she does include all the highlights of his career and his early childhood. The book blew me away with the bevy of photographs. It is beautifully laid out and edited. A bit spendy but worth every penny. Any musical theatre fan will want this book on their shelves. Put your order in now ... Read more

Amazon.com

Telling a story from one point of view is so much easier than from two. Or five. Or, goddess forbid, 30. But there are some events and people that demand many points of view. Dancer/choreographer Martha Graham was utterly different to different people in different circumstances and at different times in her sweeping career. In Robert Tracy's oral history, Goddess: Martha Graham's Dancers Remember, Graham's passion and creativity are recalled by 30 of her dancers from the 1920s to the 1990s, including many who became international stars: Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, Rudolf Nureyev, Anna Sokolow, and more. This Rashomon-style approach allows her many contradictions to stand out vividly, but all the respondents seek to analyze the spark that was the source of her creativity. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

It gives a very close idea of who Martha was...
If you know, who Martha Graham was, then it's time to find out what people who worked with her really think about her work, and their experience for their life. Names such as ,Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, Pearl Lang, and more, are in the book, and they are saying what they think . Robert Tracy, the Author, meet all of them, and through his writing, it's your turn to meet them, have a good reading... ... Read more

Book Description

Death of a Dancer focuses on the true-life events of the author's never-ending Tango with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and the disturbing effects of PCOS on the lives of women and their families.A detailed and informative reader. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Extremely disappointing
I was excited to find a book on PCOS that was a full-length personal account, but this book was surprisingly disappointing. Like the previous reviewer mentioned, there are numerous typing and grammar mistakes that distract the reader. I could ignore one or two, but there are several per page. I also found the book to be poorly organized (not by aspect of disease, not even chronologically!). It offers very little in the way of factual information; in fact, the author makes some unsubstantiated assertions that could be dangerous if readers take them as fact.

The book was neither informative nor enjoyable. Women would be better off reading some of the more biomedically-based books, intimidated or not. I had high hopes for "Death of a Dancer", but it fell short.

disappointed
I was kind of upset when I got this book in the mail today. I got my hopes up from the previous person who reviewed the book. I do agree that high school girls might benefit from reading this, but only if more techincal information had been included. I am not exactly sure how the book was even published, being that there are approximately 3 typos that are blatantly obvious due to the large print and triple spacing. I myself have PCOS and was looking for something/someone to identify with and this was definitely not the answer. I am very sorry that I wasted $13 on something I read in 25 minutes.

Should be required reading for Jr/Sr High School girls
There are a couple of good things about this book - number one, it's a short read. You can give it to your doctor, husband, boyfriend, parents, etc., if they are unfamiliar with PCOS - it explains the devastating effects that PCOS can have on a woman's life in an easy to read format.

Number two, it's like no other book on the market about PCOS - in other words, it's non-technical. It won't intimidate.

Many women with PCOS get the "street level" diagnosis of being fat (i.e., out of control) lazy (why do the two necessarily have to go together - like there's no such thing as a lazy skinny person?) and lacking in ambition - even by medical professionals, who should know better. This book will explain why that perception is totally off-base and how PCOS can devastate a woman's life.

I was surprised at the author's discovery of Diane 35 as a remedy for her symptoms. Apparently Diane has been in use in Europe for the management of PCOS, but not in the US, where it has not been approved by the FDA. Of course, any medication should be investigated before use - not all work the same way with everyone - but I am going to give Diane a try. ... Read more

Book Description

They were two of the most explosive dancers of the twentieth century, dazzling audiences with daredevil splits, slides, and hair-raising flips. But they were also highly sophisticated dancers, refining a centuries-old tradition of percussive dance into the rhythmic brilliance of jazz tap at its zenith. They were Fayard and Harold Nicholas, two American masters masterfully portrayed in this new dual biography by Constance Valis Hill.

In Brotherhood in Rhythm, Hill interweaves an intimate portrait of these great performers with a richly detailed history of jazz music and jazz dance, both bringing their act to life and explaining their significance through a colorful analysis of their eloquent footwork, their full-bodied expressiveness, and their changing style. Hill vividly captures their soaring careers, from Cotton Club appearances with Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, and Jimmie Lunceford, to film-stealing big-screen performances with Chick Webb, Tommy Dorsey, and Glen Miller. Drawing on a deep well of research and endless hours of interviews with the Nicholas brothers themselves, she also documents their struggles against the nets of racism and segregation that constantly enmeshed their careers and denied them the recognition they deserved. And to provide essential background to their career and the development of their art, she also traces the three-hundred-year evolution of jazz tap, showing how it emerged in the Southern colonies in the 1700s, as the Irish jig and West African gioube mutated into the American jig and juba.

More than a biography of two talented but underappreciated performers, Brotherhood in Rhythm offers a profound new understanding of this distinctively American art and its intricate links to the history of jazz. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

What a disappointment!
How anyone could take the most facinating subjects in the world (the Nicholas Brothers) and make it dull, dead, BORING is beyond me! But this author has done it. I hope she has another career goal, because her writing is just awful and she conveys NO excitement, fun or even history. She glosses over Fayard & Harold's actual history and instead focuses on describing each tap step of each routine--and even to me, as a tap dancer, DULL! I want to hear their stories, for goodness' sake. I KNOW their dancing!

A scholarly analysis, but not a biography
I would recommend purchasing Ms. Hill's treatise on the dance and historic origins of the Nicholas Brothers' dance styles and choreography. However, those who seek a detailed biography will be disappointed, as this book was aimed to be a scholarly work, not a biographical one. The book has little mention of their personal life, marriages, divorces, activities apart and completely ignored many foreign films they made in the 1950's. Harold's marriage to Dorothy Dandridge is mentioned only in passing, and his extensive career in Paris for a decade was only lightly researched. No personal family interviews were apparently done. Although excellent as a dance resource, those seeking a more well-rounded insight on the personality and life of these two genious entertainers will be better served by a biography, which Ms. Hill's book does not aim to be. It will make a great companion work to a still much-needed in-depth look at their lives. ... Read more