Ballet books and ballet films and documentaries

[Amelia]

Dolin, Anton. Olga Spessivtseva. The Sleeping Ballerina, Dance Books Ltd.,  1966

Dandre V. Anna Pavlova in Art and Life. Ayer Co Pub, 1970.

 

These two books are very much trustworthy because their authors were close to and played a very important role in the life of these outstanding ballerinas. I failed to buy Dolin’s book but, luckily, it is available in reading rooms at the British Library.

 

Apart from J.Mackrell’s ‘The Bloomsbury Ballerina’ there is a wonderful book:

 

Lydia & Maynard. Letters between Lydia Lopokova and John Maynard Keynes, PAPERMAC, 1992

[Fiz]

What lovely news! Thank you both!

[Fiz]

Now ordered from Waterstones. Whatever would we do without this this forum?

[Lisa O`Brien]

 

Dolin, Anton. Olga Spessivtseva. The Sleeping Ballerina, Dance Books Ltd.,  1966

Dandre V. Anna Pavlova in Art and Life. Ayer Co Pub, 1970.

 

These two books are very much trustworthy because their authors were close to and played a very important role in the life of these outstanding ballerinas. I failed to buy Dolin’s book but, luckily, it is available in reading rooms at the British Library.

 

Apart from J.Mackrell’s ‘The Bloomsbury Ballerina’ there is a wonderful book:

 

Lydia & Maynard. Letters between Lydia Lopokova and John Maynard Keynes, PAPERMAC, 1992

 

You should see if you can get yourself a copy of Victor Dandre's book in its original 1932 edition.[The year after she died]. I have three copies !!

Edited June 1, 2016 by Lisa O`Brien

[Fiz]

I read "Letter's from Lydia" when I had a really awful cold and throat infection and she was making me laugh out loud. "I send you quivers of affection". Dear Lydia.

[Amelia]

You should see if you can get yourself a copy of Victor Dandre's book in its original 1932 edition.[The year after she died]. I have three copies !!

 

Thank you, Lisa. I do have Dandre's book but could not buy one by Dolin. Enjoyed so much when reading it.

 

I read "Letter's from Lydia" when I had a really awful cold and throat infection and she was making me laugh out loud. 

Lydia was famous and loved for her sense of humour and charming laughter. Ashton remembered that once a taxi-driver refused to accept the payment from him and said: "Nothing could make my day better than this lady's laughter."

Edited June 1, 2016 by Amelia

[jmhopton]

I treasure my ex-library copy of A Circling Star I have had since the 1970s. Mind you some of the 'discipline' the young girls were subjected to makes Black Swan look like a picnic!

 

At the moment I'm re-reading my Drina dances series by Jean Estoril (Mabel Esther Allan) for the 450th time (approx.!) the old ones are the best.

[Lenore]

Thank you, Lisa. I do have Dandre's book but could not buy one by Dolin. Enjoyed so much when reading it.

You can find copies of Dolin's The Sleeping Ballerina on eBay & amazon for somewhat reasonable prices, although it's definitely more expensive than other out of print books... Amazon currently has one being sold for ~£11 plus their standard shipping. A really interesting read.

[loveclassics]

That sounds cheap compared to 'Circling Star' which Abebooks lists at prices from £67 to an incredible £237!   Thank goodness it's being republished.

 

In fairness I should add that Abebooks have often come to the rescue when both Amazon and the London-wide library reservation service have failed me.

 

Linda

[Amelia]

Amazon currently has one being sold for ~£11 plus their standard shipping. A really interesting read.

 

 

Thank you, sylph. Done it. Another copy was for the shocking £100.

[Pulcinella]

 At the moment I'm re-reading my Drina dances series by Jean Estoril (Mabel Esther Allan) for the 450th time (approx.!) the old ones are the best.

So nice to hear of someone else who loves the Drina books as much as I do. They had a profound influence on me when I was growing up as they made me want to visit all the places Drina went to (a lot of which I have since been to but not all) and introduced me to art, especially the Impressionists and plays.

[Alice Shortcake]

"Specter of the Rose" (1946), written and directed by Ben Hecht, has to be one if the strangest ballet films ever made. It's very loosely based on Nijinsky's life story and features some less than stellar dancing:

 

https://m.youtube.com/?hl=en-GB&gl=GB#/watch?v=k8PoUnNvRPA

[pianolady]

So nice to hear of someone else who loves the Drina books as much as I do. They had a profound influence on me when I was growing up as they made me want to visit all the places Drina went to (a lot of which I have since been to but not all) and introduced me to art, especially the Impressionists and plays.

I absolutely love the Drina books- the characterisation is so vivid and I really identified with her struggles as a child. I love the determination of the heroines of Estoril, Lorna Hill and Streatfeild-character-building stuff! I think the early Lorna Hill Sadlers Wells books are the best- a couple of the later ones verge onto the unlikely plot-wise.Has anyone read Estoril's The Ballet Family and its sequel? I enjoyed these as a child and managed to get a second hand copy and they have also been reprinted. I also enjoyed the Royal Ballet School Diaries- lovely tales and characters although they still can't, for me, beat the Drina books in terms of rounded characters. 

[jmhopton]

I'm glad I'm not the only one still reading and enjoying the Drina books. I think they are an amazing legacy of Mabel Esther Allan; fascinating characters and details of a ballet student's life and wonderful to follow Drina's progress from a young child to budding ballerina. However, am I the only person to be slightly disappointed there wasn't a follow-up to Drina Ballerina? I know it is the logical place to end the series and indeed was written several decades after the rest of the series. I still remember the thrill and feeling of disbelief when I saw it in a bookshop in the early 90s and realise I would now know what happened to Drina now she was in the Dominic Ballet Company. However, we are left with several items of unfinished business such as Rose's relationship with Igor and Drina's with her mother-in-law. I know real life is full of unresolved situations; still it would be good to know.

I like the 2 Ballet Family books also but not quite as much as the Drina ones. She also wrote The Ballet Twins also set in a school in Bloomsbury which is ok but I don't think is in the same league as the others.

Rumer Godden wrote a great ballet book called Thursdays Children  about a Billy Elliot type boy success and Veronica Tennant wrote On Stage, Please, but I still keep returning to the Drina books.                                                                                      

[pianolady]

Yes, I keep on returning to the Drina books too- even over and above the Streatfeild and Lorna Hill ones. I'm with you that I didn't find the Ballet Family titles quite so compelling although I continue to enjoy them. Rumer Godden has written a couple of other ballet titles too. There are some interesting fan fiction follow ups to Drina- offhand I can't remember the site but a search should find it- with fascinating ideas about what happens to Rose and young Igor, Drina's feelings about her ensuing retirement, and her own daughter's views about becoming a dancer.

 

I notice that Drina Ballerina was published in 1991, and Estoril died in 1998. I don't know why there was such a gap between this title and the others in the series.

[alison]

Not fanfiction.net?

[bridiem]

I loved (and love) The Ballet Family and its sequel - the characters, the plots, the settings (and the ballet!) all had a huge effect on me (I suppose c 1970). The depiction of Paris thrilled me as the epitome of excitement and romance, and has coloured my picture of the city ever since. For some reason I only discovered the Drina books when I was quite a bit older, and although I enjoyed them they didn't have the same impact. Perhaps by then I was too old to really identify with Drina, whereas I loved all the members of the Ballet Family in different ways and was fascinated by their interaction and all their activities.

 

I also loved (and love!) Noel Streatfeild: Ballet Shoes, Curtain Up and the Gemma books for the ballet/theatre/family settings (and Curtain Up for its really vivid depiction of wartime London) and others for the way they showed children training for very specialised activities (skating, tennis etc) or just learning and growing up (e.g. The Growing Summer, Caldicott Place, The House in Cornwall). Interesting looking back that I was clearly mysteriously drawn to ballet long before I ever saw one!

[alison]

Interesting that you should say that, bridiem.  I also find it interesting that, so early on in my life, I read those books on tennis, ballet and athletics, all of which have since become major interests of mine

 

I didn't find the Gemma books nearly as good as Ballet Shoes or White Boots - I think they were written late 60s/early 70s?  Certainly that's how they looked to me from what I remember of the covers.

[Fiz]

Seconded, Bridiem and Alison. I think the Gemma books are very poor in comparison with Noel Streatfeild's earlier books but she was getting old and I think her attempt to throw in modern idiolect has dated them badly.

[Fiz]

I wish the Drina and Sadlers Wells series would be republished. I can no long remember the proper series order for either of them and Amazon's now very unreliable search engine refused to produce them too.

[ambros1a]

I wish the Drina and Sadlers Wells series would be republished. I can no long remember the proper series order for either of them and Amazon's now very unreliable search engine refused to produce them too"

Fiz

This Wikipedia article lists the Drina books in publication order and provides a synopsis for each: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mabel_Esther_Allan

I've double-checked against some library catalogues and it seems accurate as to dates.

 

 

edited to correct typo

Edited June 13, 2016 by ambros1a

[ambros1a]

I wish the Drina and Sadlers Wells series would be republished. I can no long remember the proper series order for either of them and Amazon's now very unreliable search engine refused to produce them too.

 

Sadlers Wells series

1. A Dream of Sadlers Wells (1950)
2. Veronica at the Wells (1951)
3. Masquerade at the Wells (1952)
4. No Castanets at the Wells (1953)
5. Jane Leaves the Wells (1953)
6. Ella at the Wells (1954)
7. Return to the Wells (1955)
8. Rosanna Joins the Wells (1956)
9. Principal Rôle (1957)
10. Swan Feather (1958)
11. Dress-Rehearsal (1959)
12. Back-Stage (1960)
13. Vicki in Venice (1962)
14. The Secret (1964)

From Wikipedia : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorna_Hill#Sadlers_Wells_series

[Fiz]

Thank you so much, Ambros1a!

[alison]

I never realised that Mabel Esther Allen and Jean Estoril were one and the same! If I'd been asked, I'd have said she was the one who wrote the athletics/tennis/ballet books I referred to above, if anything.

[Fiz]

I meant to say that I am very grateful to Ambros1a for typing those lists. It must have taken ages.

[pianolady]

I've found the link for the Drina fan fiction http://archiveofourown.org/tags/Drina%20Series%20-%20Jean%20Estoril/works

 

Spent an entertaining half hour reading them last night!

 

Streatfeild's Gemma books are interesting- they do seem to elicit a rather Marmite-like response among readers and I've read some really negative comments about them in accounts of her work. Personally I really enjoy them. I read them as a child growing up in the 70s and I think they strike a period feel (although they were published in the 60s I still see my childhood when I read them now and I love the characters and how they grow and develop.

 

Girls Gone By publishers have republished the first Sadlers Wells book, and the two Ballet Family titles as well as some of Mabel Esther Allen's other, non-ballet work. Another Allen/Estoril one I enjoyed (2nd hand via Amazon) was the Ballet Twins. It's intriguing that she uses her creation of the Lingeraux ballet school in this, and the Ballet Family, which crops up in some of the Drina books.

[alison]

I did wonder about AO3, but thought Drina might be a bit ... tame ... for it, to judge by some of the stuff I've seen on there

[bridiem]

I've found the link for the Drina fan fiction http://archiveofourown.org/tags/Drina%20Series%20-%20Jean%20Estoril/works

 

Spent an entertaining half hour reading them last night!

 

Streatfeild's Gemma books are interesting- they do seem to elicit a rather Marmite-like response among readers and I've read some really negative comments about them in accounts of her work. Personally I really enjoy them. I read them as a child growing up in the 70s and I think they strike a period feel (although they were published in the 60s I still see my childhood when I read them now and I love the characters and how they grow and develop.

 

Girls Gone By publishers have republished the first Sadlers Wells book, and the two Ballet Family titles as well as some of Mabel Esther Allen's other, non-ballet work. Another Allen/Estoril one I enjoyed (2nd hand via Amazon) was the Ballet Twins. It's intriguing that she uses her creation of the Lingeraux ballet school in this, and the Ballet Family, which crops up in some of the Drina books.

 

I loved the Gemma books too, and still do, though when I read them now I realised that Lydie is quite appallingly self-centred and selfish!! At the time I thought she was just determined and talented etc (and so excused her behaviour). (Shades of Nureyev?!). But I still love her, and the others including Philip and Alice who to me were the epitome of good, caring parents trying to deal fairly with growing children including an unexpected newcomer. Although Gemma was obviously the main focus, Lydia's ballet was for me the most thrilling part...

[jmhopton]

I've found the link for the Drina fan fiction http://archiveofourown.org/tags/Drina%20Series%20-%20Jean%20Estoril/works

 

 

many thanks for this Pianolady. Read and enjoyed all of them. Even though it did provide 2 alternate scenarios for Rose's romantic future; either was believable. I did think The Breton Wedding as a ballet was rather vulnerable with only the one main dancer. We've seen at the ROH recently the problems, even cancellations that can happen through illness or injury. Pity the story didn't go on to say how Rose's attempt was received. It must have been a little like Sylvie Guillem when she first took on Margot Fonteyn's iconic Marguerite which Ashton didn't intend to be danced by anyone else. Anyway, well done all the story tellers.

 

Going back to the original thread of ballet books I don't know if anyone has mentioned Elsie J. Oxenham. She did a mini series featuring Damaris that is linked to the better know 'Abbey' series. Some are very rare and I've never read the first one 'Damaris at Dorothy's' where Damaris discovers her talent for ballet. However, there is little money to indulge it and she keeps if for an occasional 'party piece' until she is given a chance of serious training in 'Damaris dances'. I love this book and it is a great favourite, especially as Damaris is dancing without the knowledge or approval of her guardian, Maidlin. Damaris' story continues in A Dancer from the Abbey but Damaris Dances is the best ballet story and can be read as a stand alone.

[FLOSS]

Has anyone read Sir Peter Wright's autobiography yet? If you have read it would you like to comment on it? Is it any good? I have only read one account of it so far. It was written by an American blogger who was very dismissive of it and its author. He/She seemed to think that Sir Peter was "monstrously egocentric" and that his book "bubbled over with barely hidden resentment that he has never been given the worship and adulation he considered his due".I have to say this sounds somewhat unlikely to me. 

Edited July 12, 2016 by FLOSS

[cavycapers]

I work part time in North Somerset library service, and wondered if those of you looking for a particular book, but don't want to pay an exorbitant amount, had thought of using the Inter Library Loans service, available at all libraries big and small, which will search the whole country for a copy of a book. You would be amazed what we have lingering in basements in libraries (and I have often braved the dust and the spiders to search them) It's about a fiver and takes a few weeks, but there is usually a copy somewhere, and it gets sent to a branch of your nomination. We even shake the spiders out (sometimes).

 

Ps no book no payment.

 

Also, our standard reservation service is only about £1, varies with area, but will get a new copy of something like Peter Wright autobiography sent to your branch.

Edited July 12, 2016 by cavycapers

[alison]

My local library now does reservations for free because they can't justify charging you postage when they're notifying you by email now.  I do think that's maybe a bit much, though (or a bit little?!), given that it does take time and effort for a book to be rerouted

 

Is the British Library service at Boston Spa too specialised for this sort of thing?

[balletyas]

Coming very late to this thread but have you seen Center Stage - dir by Nicholas Hytner? Set in NY - a bit like Black Swan but not quite as silly...

 

Also mad about Lorna Hill, Mabel Esther Allan, all the Drinas...can't think of any others at the moment.