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I stumbled upon a book by Philippe Grimbert on Saturday that mentioned Nureyev in its title ("Rudik l'autre Noureev") and that seemed to show Nureyev on its cover. I was intrigued and thought that it might be a book about someone with the same name, someone who pretended to be Nureyev, etc. I turned the book round to read the description and realised that it is indeed about Nureyev - it seems that following a visit to Russia, he contacted a Paris-based psychoanalyst. A review in Le Figaro states that the book is not a biographical exercise even though the sources are reliable and the reality always comes through ("Mais il ne s'agit pas là d'un exercice biographique même si les sources sont solides et la réalité toujours affleure") http://www.lefigaro.fr/livres/2015/03/05/03005-20150305ARTFIG00025-noureev-sur-le-divan.php.

I did a search for a UK publication of the book by Grimbert and can't find any. Does anyone happen to know whether the book has been published in the UK & I just can't find it on the web? Thanks in advance.

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Oh,tell me about it! There's a German history book which was a massive best seller on the continent about the wife of Grand Duke Rudolf of Mayerling fame. I am desperate to read it but I don't speak or read German and of course it hasn't been translated. Grr!

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Hello Fiz, I don´t know any English language book about Crown Prince Rudolf´s wife Stephanie but (in case you don´t know it already) there is a very good big biography about his mother the Empress Elisabeth that has been translated, I think the English title is The reluctant Empress, by Brigitte Hamann. The author is a historian and expert for the time and place. I read this in German and thought it was very well written, comprehensive,  accessible but profoundly researched.

 

edited to add: Brigitte Hamann also wrote a similarly good and well-reviewed biography about Rudolf himself that I believe to be the best one there is. Unfortunately it has not been translated yet.

Edited by Katharina
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You rarely read autobiographies of people who have spent most of their careers as ballet coaches. Here are the details of a book which fills that gap and also tells the reader a great deal about ballet training at the Vaganova school in the early post war period and quite a bit about dancing at the Kirov in the period before the defections.The author was a classmate of Nureyev. They graduated in the same year. I was going to say that she knew Rudi before he became Rudi  but that would be wholly inaccurate as he seems to have been Rudi from the moment he entered the school. She has very interesting things to say about some of the greatest roles in nineteenth century repertory. 

 

The book is called " Dancing on Water. A life in ballet from the Kirov to the ABT" by Elena Tchernichova. It's a co-written with with Joel Lobenthal.

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Don't forget your public library - even if they don't stock a book they can borrow it from another library for you :-)

For those based in and around London, it's worth mentioning Westminster Reference Library's extensive collection of ballet and dance books, although I don't think they are available to be borrowed.

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I'm just preparing for tomorrow's links and I came across a review for a new book.  Ostensibly it is a biography of Patricia Wilde of NYCB but "in truth the author uses her career to chart the unfolding of the New York City Ballet’s signature style and the creation of the prototypical “Balanchine dancer.”"

 

The book is by Joel Lobenthal and is called Wilde Times:

 

http://www.wsj.com/articles/at-the-birth-of-modern-ballet-1471031487

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For those based in and around London, it's worth mentioning Westminster Reference Library's extensive collection of ballet and dance books, although I don't think they are available to be borrowed.

 

Further to this comment, I now understand that it is possible to become a member of Westminster libraries (and beyond) as long as you have an address somewhere in the UK, and can provide suitable ID.  I don't know how much of the collection is available for loan, but it looks as though even the Reference Library will now let you borrow some of its theatre books.

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I just came across this topic, and it was nice to read of other Drina fans.

 

The Drina series of books were my absolute favourite series as a child.

 

I loved these books and thought that they were such lovely looking books as well as being good to read, with slightly larger format books and different pastel colours for the covers. I remember seeing that they had been republished in the nineties, but were smaller and darker covers, with Drina looking more grown up on the the front covers. They did not look as appealing to me, but I am sure the stories were the same and just as good to read.

 

I have been looking for high quality photos for the covers of Drina Ballerina and also Drina Ballerina, as I had lost me copy and bought a used book, but with damage to the front and back covers and I was hoping to print out a 'repaired' version, but so far the only places people have uploaded images are low quality and would not print.

 

I have recently begun to read them again, and have been pleasantly surprised how well they've stood the test of time. There are obviously parts of the stories that 'date' them, but all the same I am loving reading them again and still find the books very addictive.

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Bettyb  I have been looking for high quality photos for the covers of Drina Ballerina and also Drina Ballerina, as I had lost me copy and bought a used book, but with damage to the front and back covers and I was hoping to print out a 'repaired' version, but so far the only places people have uploaded images are low quality and would not print.

 

 

Hi Bettyb Always good to hear from another Drina fan! I'm currently starting the Drina series for the 688th time (approx.!) and still enjoying them. I think the early titles were originally published in hardback by Hodder, starting in the late 1950s and going up to 1965 with Drina goes on Tour (published by Brockhampton) when the series ended. Jean Estoril (Mabel Esther Allan) then published Drina Ballerina in 1991. I think it was only published as a paperback as, by then, children's hardbacks weren't too plentiful unless you were a major author like Roald Dahl. My (almost falling to bits copy) is a large paperback pub. by Simon and Schuster edged in a sort of dark lavender colour with a picture of Drina and Igor dancing in The Breton Wedding. There was another series of small paperbacks also pub. by Simon and Schuster in1992 with red spines with the series No. on them. The are not very attractive looking. Also they do slightly edit words and phrases to make them more 'up-to-date'. Also, for some bizarre reason in Drina dances in New York they change the order at the start of the book and have Drina agreeing to go to new York before she hears about Jenny's father's bankruptcy. I don't see the point in this at all.

 

When you say you're looking for high quality photos for Drina ballerina (and which other title?) you don't mean copies of the original covers do you? I may be able to do a scan of my large p/b Drina ballerina if you're interested. it's not that large; 7 and three quarters by 5'' just larger than the smaller, newer versions. My other copies are a mixture of hardbacks with 1 or 2 of the large paperbacks. I've also got Drina's Dancing year in a Collins Ballet Library hardback, 1975. Some other Drina titles are listed so they may have published more of them. it seems to be an original text, not updated. I bought quite a few of the small paperbacks years ago when the Works was selling them for 99p each. Being so small they're good to pack away for holidays. Joan

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Just out in the US, it seems, a glossy coffee-table volume from New York.  Extracts here:

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ballet-photographs-ballgowns_us_581a3984e4b0c43e6c1da83a

 

Amazon UK has it for release in the UK from 24 November, at £40 - and it seems there will also be a KIndle edition at £9.99;

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Movement-Ken-Browar/dp/0316318582

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Hello Bettyb and welcome to the Forum!  I hope we'll hear more from you.

 

Thanks for the welcome, I am enjoying looking around the site.

 

Bettyb  I have been looking for high quality photos for the covers of Drina Ballerina and also Drina Ballerina, as I had lost me copy and bought a used book, but with damage to the front and back covers and I was hoping to print out a 'repaired' version, but so far the only places people have uploaded images are low quality and would not print.

 

 

Hi Bettyb Always good to hear from another Drina fan! I'm currently starting the Drina series for the 688th time (approx.!) and still enjoying them. I think the early titles were originally published in hardback by Hodder, starting in the late 1950s and going up to 1965 with Drina goes on Tour (published by Brockhampton) when the series ended. Jean Estoril (Mabel Esther Allan) then published Drina Ballerina in 1991. I think it was only published as a paperback as, by then, children's hardbacks weren't too plentiful unless you were a major author like Roald Dahl. My (almost falling to bits copy) is a large paperback pub. by Simon and Schuster edged in a sort of dark lavender colour with a picture of Drina and Igor dancing in The Breton Wedding. There was another series of small paperbacks also pub. by Simon and Schuster in1992 with red spines with the series No. on them. The are not very attractive looking. Also they do slightly edit words and phrases to make them more 'up-to-date'. Also, for some bizarre reason in Drina dances in New York they change the order at the start of the book and have Drina agreeing to go to new York before she hears about Jenny's father's bankruptcy. I don't see the point in this at all.

 

When you say you're looking for high quality photos for Drina ballerina (and which other title?) you don't mean copies of the original covers do you? I may be able to do a scan of my large p/b Drina ballerina if you're interested. it's not that large; 7 and three quarters by 5'' just larger than the smaller, newer versions. My other copies are a mixture of hardbacks with 1 or 2 of the large paperbacks. I've also got Drina's Dancing year in a Collins Ballet Library hardback, 1975. Some other Drina titles are listed so they may have published more of them. it seems to be an original text, not updated. I bought quite a few of the small paperbacks years ago when the Works was selling them for 99p each. Being so small they're good to pack away for holidays. Joan

 

Hi,

 

Thanks for your reply.The books do go back a long way yes, I actually saw a picture of one that was published in America in 1958 recently and it was the first book. It was hardback, light blue and had a what would appear to be a hand embroidered image of Drina on it - it was really nice.

 

I was surprised they had changed the stories slightly in the later publications - all of mine are the larger colourful ones that were published in the late eighties and early nineties. They are either Simon and Schuster or MacDonald.

I have only recently decided to re-read them having read them such a lot as a child, but then not for 20 years. I was really pleased that I still loved them, I would've been upset if I had spoilt such treasured childhood memories of them by reading them again and finding I no longer thought they were wonderful, this did not happen however and I still found them highly readable.

 

It is kind of you to offer to scan in the covers of your copy of Drina Ballerina, that would be much appreciated. I had copies of all the books, and I do not remember ever giving them away, but as I can not find them I decided to buy used copies to fill in the gaps in my set. The Drina Ballerina one has got damage on it, a label has been peeled off and damaged Drinas face, which might not bother some people, but I thought I could try to repair it if  I  got a good quality image and printed it out - the front and back - to make a dust jacket sort of cover. The only one that I could get that wasn't a completely stupid price was this one, so I bought it - and even with the damage I still prefer it to the later HodderWayland covers as they are very dark and not how I picture the character.

 

The other book cover, that for similar reasons I was looking for is Drina goes on Tour

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As a very happy recipient of an Amazon gift voucher and after a certain amount of deliberation (!) I've just ordered 'Dancing on Water' by Elena Tchernichova. There are so many books available that I would love to buy and I was particularly torn between this one and Sir Peter Wrights autobiography...

 

The book should arrive by the 6th of Feb ! I'll let anyone who is interested know my opinion !

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As a very happy recipient of an Amazon gift voucher and after a certain amount of deliberation (!) I've just ordered 'Dancing on Water' by Elena Tchernichova. There are so many books available that I would love to buy and I was particularly torn between this one and Sir Peter Wrights autobiography...

 

The book should arrive by the 6th of Feb ! I'll let anyone who is interested know my opinion !

 

"Dancing on Water" is absolutely one of the best ballet memoirs ever written. Tchernichova saw so much -- the Communist era of the USSR, the ABT under the Baryshnikov era, and her memories of some of the most famous names in ballet are priceless. Natalia Dudinskaya, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Alla Shelest, Natalia Makarova, etc. are all very vivid figures in her book. It's not just a ballet book, the memoir is also an unsentimental look at Cold War Russia. Really a great read.

 

Also this book benefited from some tight editing. It's one of those books where you wonder which stories got edited out because it's such a compelling read.

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"Dancing on Water" is absolutely one of the best ballet memoirs ever written. Tchernichova saw so much -- the Communist era of the USSR, the ABT under the Baryshnikov era, and her memories of some of the most famous names in ballet are priceless. Natalia Dudinskaya, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Alla Shelest, Natalia Makarova, etc. are all very vivid figures in her book. It's not just a ballet book, the memoir is also an unsentimental look at Cold War Russia. Really a great read.

 

Also this book benefited from some tight editing. It's one of those books where you wonder which stories got edited out because it's such a compelling read.

Thank you Ivy Lin and everyone who contributed to this thread ! It was thanks to this that I sought out Tchernichova's book. Of course I would have loved to order many others as well, but as seemingly Sir Peter Wright will be releasing a revised version of Wrights and Wrongs, the Suzanne Farrell biography has various copies still, (ditto the Volkova book) available and Dancing on Water only had one available copy I bit the bullet and ordered ! Second to dance, history is one of my great interests - especially Russian history- So I'm very much looking forward to the read. x

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I've just got home from seeing the animated film Ballerina.  I enjoyed it but please don't go expecting insights into ballet training in Paris!

 

The story is of an orphan in an orphanage in Brittany who dreams of escaping to Paris to dance there.  She and her friend do escape from the orphanage and she does get to go to classes by borrowing another girl's identity.  During auditions for Clara her deception is uncovered and she is sent back to the orphanage.

 

There is a part of the story that is not to my mind resolved.  We see her with a music box containing a revolving ballerina that was left with her when she was abandoned as a baby. It is obviously very significant to her and makes several appearances in the storyline.

 

On the end credits the choreography is attributed to Aurelie Dupont and Jeremie Beilngard.

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I've just got home from seeing the animated film Ballerina.  I enjoyed it but please don't go expecting insights into ballet training in Paris!

 

The story is of an orphan in an orphanage in Brittany who dreams of escaping to Paris to dance there.  She and her friend do escape from the orphanage and she does get to go to classes by borrowing another girl's identity.  During auditions for Clara her deception is uncovered and she is sent back to the orphanage.

 

There is a part of the story that is not to my mind resolved.  We see her with a music box containing a revolving ballerina that was left with her when she was abandoned as a baby. It is obviously very significant to her and makes several appearances in the storyline.

 

On the end credits the choreography is attributed to Aurelie Dupont and Jeremie Beilngard.

I've seen the trailer Janet and time permitting intend to watch it, thank you for your insight. Another one I was thinking of watching was 'La Danseuse' but having read the reviews I'm thinking that I'll save myself for La La Land. :)

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Having had a dig around through my ballet books from when I was a child, I came across my mum's Princess Ballet Book (no.3). Princess produced ballet annuals and these little treasures were continued after the merge with Tina magazine. I had a bit of a hunt online and tracked down some copies from the 70s which are a wonderful treat - lots of snippets of Royal Ballet history and they feature many famous names who are still in the ballet world today. The pictures are great too!

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A documentary I can thoroughly recommend is 'Violette et Mr B', which follows Violette Verdy coaching dancers in Balanchine and Robbins roles. It shows her working with Elisabeth Platel, Nicholas le Riche, Lucia Lacarra and many others. Her insights are absolutely fascinating, she had little stories behind the simplest gestures. Just watching her demonstrate an arm or a breath is a joy.

 

The Turning Pointe is a good film (with a rather cheesy story) in that it features some great footage of Baryshnikov, Antoinette Sibley and some glimpses of Suzanne Farrell, Marcia Haydee and ABT company dancers of the 70s.

I'd echo that Center Stage has some good ballet content.

 

Edited to add: I LOVED Flesh and Bone the TV series. It was rather over the top, but had some great dancing and was more realistic than Black Swan!

Edited by _emeralds
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Loved the Princess Tina ballet annuals-I so wish I'd kept my copies. Having finally got a chance to watch the excellent Sir Peter Wright documentary,in the clips of the training at Sadlers Wells  I recognised several of the photographs from the book, Dancers of Tomorrow by Naomi Capon which were stills from the documentary she did of the Sadlers Wells School in the 1950s. I'd lost my copy but had managed to get another -it's a really entertaining read, a sort of novelised documentary giving a lovely account of the training through the eyes of Anne, a would-be ballerina, telling about her journey from year one to performing with the company. What is especially interesting is that it's an account of a girl who, it turns out, is likely to be a 'useful' dancer but not a great one-as opposed to the conventional ballet fiction about rising dance geniuses.

Edited by pianolady
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Yes, I have fond memories of the Princess and Princess Tina ballet annuals. I remember the Princess Tina comic used to feature a regular ballet page ( can you imagine that happening in a weekly children's comic now?) I believe the photographer largely responsible for the excellent photography in th annuals was Mike Davis. I don't know anything about him or whether there is a photo archive of his many photo shoots - what a treasure house that would be.

 

Edited to add that I bought copies of the annuals quite cheaply a few years ago - worth every penny.

Edited by Odyssey
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A friend sent me this link. Has anyone read it? Not the best-written review but could be an interesting read.

 

http://ballettothepeople.com/2017/01/16/bronislava-nijinska-revealed-in-the-chosen-maiden-new-masterpiece-of-historical-fiction/

 

I have read this book, The Chosen Maiden by Eva Stachniak, a historical novel based on the life of Bronislava Nijinska. Eva is a friend of mine, so I won't give a review, but it is definitely very readable and plunges you into the world of the Imperial Theatre, the Ballets Russes, Russia during the Revolution, etc. The review to which Sim links calls Stachniak a "Polish" author, which she is but she has lived in Toronto for decades. The book was written in English. You may be familiar with Eva's bestselling novels about Catherine the Great, The Winter Palace and Empress of the Night.

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