News from Dance Books

[alison]

I thought I might as well make a general thread for these occasional emails from Dance Books, so here's the latest one:

 

"We are happy to announce a reprint of Cyril Beaumont's 'The Diaghilev Ballet in London', a vivid recollection of performances seen and friendships forged with company members.

 

And a recent warehouse tidy has revealed a stock of new copies of Maurice Leonard's hardback biography of Alicia Markova, listed at £20 whch we're happy to order for just £4.99.

 

You'll find full details and ordering facilities on our web site, www.dancebooks.co.uk

 

Finally, we're auctioning a collection of ephemera from days gone by on ebay, with new items constantly added. At the time of writing items on offer include material relating to Diaghilev, Massine, Karsavina, Pavlova, Nureyev and others. Details at:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/araf22/m.html?_ipg=50&_sop=3&_rdc=1"

[alison]

"Dear Customers,

We've recently published a 72 page catalogue listing, with detailed annotations, nearly 200 books which we publish or distribute. You can download a free pdf copy by clicking on the link below, or copying it and pasting it into your web browser's url bar.

If you have a download manager installed on your computer the catalogue will download automatically; if not, wait until it has loaded and then use your browser's SAVE AS function to save it your your desk top or other folder.

https://www.dancebooks.co.uk/download/Dance_Books_Catalogue_2017.pdf

 

[alison]

Like what sometimes appears to be every other company worldwide, Dance Books are asking anyone who wishes to (continue to) receive emails from them to sign up on their site (home page, left-hand column, some way down)

[alison]

"We've recently published a new book on the dancer/choreographer/actor/director Robert Helpmann, which includes a DVD containing interviews with people who worked with him and a documentary about David Drew's attempt to revive Helpmann's ballet 'Miracle in the Gorbals'.

You'll find full details and ordering facilities on our web site, www.dancebooks.co.uk"

[alison]

"1. In 1958 the great ballerina Tamara Karsavina began work on a second volume of autobiography, covering her life after she had left Russia in 1918, but discouraged by her publishers she completed only the first five chapters.

These have happily survived, and her typescript is reproduced in full in this new book, which also includes much background detail about how these chapters came to be written.

You'll find details of the book (which is produced in a limited edition of only 300 copies) and ordering facilities on our web site: www.dancebooks.co.uk

(American customers please note that the book is available in the USA from Quail Creek Editions tough we are of course happy to supply you should you prefer to purchase from us.)"

[alison]

"A couple of months ago we sent you details of a new unfinished autobiography by the great ballerina Tamara Karsavina. This is now, sadly, sold out, but I'm happy to announce that our colleagues at the Noverre Press have trumped this by producing a facsimile reprint of Valerian Svetlov's very rare 1922 study of Karsavina's life and work. The original was produced in an edition of only 350 copies, and has never before been reprinted.

You'll find details of the book and ordering facilities on our web site: www.dancebooks.co.uk"

[Andrew F]

A minor point about Karsavina's "second autobiography" - she certainly did complete the book. The first 5 chapters were based on the reminiscences she sent to friends in letter form (those recently published) and the finished text ran to 24 chapters. After the document failed to find a publisher, she recycled much of the work as a series of articles for Dancing Times, covering her memories of Mariinsky roles, teachers she had worked with and the various partners she had danced with over her career.

[alison]

 

"Dear Customers,

1. Although we officially gave up selling second-hand and out of print material several years ago, we do occasionally handle such material, and we're currently selling on ebay a collection mostly of old photographs, ranging from early 20th century up to the 1980s.

If you're interested in such things, you'll find them at: 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/araf22/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from "

[alison]

"Dear Customers,

Dance Books is pleased to announce the publication of 'Dance Fields: Staking a Claim for Dance Studies in the Twenty-First Century', a book reflecting the exciting moment in 2017 when the dance research community gathered in London for the first major international conference on dance studies in the UK for twenty years. Emerging out of that conference, this volume marks the significant ‘moment in time’ in the history and development of Dance Studies as an academic discipline. Collectively, the chapters provide a valuable insight into the concerns of dance scholars, artists, and educators and reflect the blurring of boundaries between scholarly, writerly and material-based artistic practices that are an enduring characteristic of the discipline. Themes covered in the twelve chapters include the documentation of overlooked or emerging histories of dance, new critical insights, initiatives and embodied perspectives in dance (including inventive dissemination platforms), and fresh interdisciplinary exchanges. The 2017 conference was co-convened by three leading centres for Dance Studies in the UK at the Universities of Coventry, De Montfort and Roehampton, and the collection edited by three academics from those respective universities.

The book will appeal to the Dance Studies community, including students at undergraduate, post-graduate taught and research level, educators at further and higher education level, and researchers. Because chapters intentionally blur the boundaries between academic research and artistic practice, it will be of interest to dance artists and professionals. It will be of relevance to those situated in related disciplines such as theatre and performance studies, and where dance is developing synergies with other disciplines, such as philosophy, anthropology, philosophy, cultural studies, sociology, and will provide a valuable addition to what remains a rather under-resourced field.

As always you'll find details of this and other new titles on our website:

www.dancebooks.co.uk"

[alison]

"Dear Customers,

In these sultry days of summer, what better way to relax than being in a cool corner with a good book?

A good book you're unlikely to have read is Cyril W. Beaumont's A History of Ballet in Russia, first published in a small edition in 1930 at the then high price of 21/- (£1.05) and now reprinted for the first time by our friends at The Noverre Press. (If you're keen to own a copy of the original edition, there's one on offer on Amazon for £892.00.)

Most books on Russian ballet focus on the Petipa and post-Petipa eras, but Mr. Beaumont casts his net wider and earlier, covering the period from 1613 - 1881, with reports of much mayhem and murder.

It's a fascinating read, and as always you'll find full details of this book on our website:

www.dancebooks.co.uk"

[alison]

" Dear Customers,

Our colleagues at the Noverre Press have been busy and produced two important reprints which we are happy to distribute on their behalf.

The first is a reprint of George Barbier's exquisite collection of twelve colour drawings of Nijinsky, first published in 1913 in an edition of only 390 copies, and never before reprinted. (If you are keen to have a copy of the original, Antiquarian Book Exchange is offering one for £5,000.)

And the second is a reprint of Victor Dandré's biography of his wife, the great ballerina Anna Pavlova, first published in 1932 and, again, never before reprinted.

As usual, you'll fine details of the books and ordering facilities on our web site:

www.dancebooks.co.uk"

[alison]

"Dear Customers,

Our colleagues at the Noverre Press have not been idle over the Christmas and New Year period and have produced two important reprints which we are happy to distribute on their behalf.

The first is a reprint of one of the rarest of twentieth-century dance publications, George Barbier's exquisite collection of twelve colour drawings of Tamara Karsavina, first published in 1914 in an edition of only 512 copies, and never before reprinted. And the second is the first in a series of reprints of books on European folk dance, this one of the dances of Greece.

As usual, you'll find details and ordering facilities on our web site:

https://www.dancebooks.co.uk/

And if you're a collector of dance ephemera you might like to know that we are currently disposing of a large collection of old photographs, programmes, etc. on ebay.  There are too many items to list all at once, so we are adding new ones every day, and it's worth checking regularly to see what's new.

You can access the site by clicking here, or by pasting

https://tinyurl.com/y7gm62mp

into your browser.

Finally, all of us at Dance Books wish you a very happy new year with hopes that 2021 will be a much better year than 2020."

 

 

[alison]

"Dear Customers,

Our colleagues at The Noverre Press have come up with a real cracker, a reprint of one of the scarcest of all dance/theatre books: Valerian Svetlov's 'Inedited Works of Bakst'.

Leon Bakst died in 1924 at the age of only 58 and two years later a group of his friends, under the editorship of Valerian Svetlov, produced this beautiful book in tribute to him. It was printed in a limited edition of only 600 copies, and has never since been republished. As well as the written tributes it contains full colour reproductions of 30 of Bakst's drawing and theatre designs. 

You'll find full details on the Dance Books web site: www.dancebooks.co.uk"

 

[alison]

This one sounds as though it ought to be sumptuous:

 

Dear Customers,

Our colleagues at the Noverre Press have published another important reprint, 'Leon Bakst's Designs for The Sleeping Princess', a selection of the designs Bakst made for the famous 1921 Diaghilev production.

The book was first published in 1921 in a limited edition of 1,000 copies, and has never previously been reprinted with the designs in colour.

As usual, you'll find full details and ordering facilities on our web site: www.dancebooks.co.uk

[Scheherezade]

20 hours ago, alison said:

This one sounds as though it ought to be sumptuous:

 

Dear Customers,

Our colleagues at the Noverre Press have published another important reprint, 'Leon Bakst's Designs for The Sleeping Princess', a selection of the designs Bakst made for the famous 1921 Diaghilev production.

The book was first published in 1921 in a limited edition of 1,000 copies, and has never previously been reprinted with the designs in colour.

As usual, you'll find full details and ordering facilities on our web site: www.dancebooks.co.uk

 

Sounds gorgeous! Will it be on sale in the ROH shop?

[alison]

 

Dance Books is pleased to announce publication of Gerald Dowler's 'The Golden Age, Ballet in Soviet Russia 1917 - 1991' a 392 page hardback book including 64 black-and-white illustrations.

However difficult the Soviet era was for the peoples of Russia, its seventy-four years represented a true golden age for classical ballet. It was characterised by a wholescale repurposing of the art form from being the ‘golden rattle’ of the tsars to the most potent cultural weapon in the Communist regime’s armoury in its struggles with the West.

'The Golden Age' presents a detailed overview of the development of ballet in Soviet Russia, from its fight for survival in the early years after the 1917 revolutions through the political demands of Stalin’s rule, the shock of armed conflict with Germany and the onset of the Cold War. As the century progressed, Soviet ballet was not immune to outside influences hastened by the onset of cultural visits and exchanges; it also suffered the defection of dancers and ultimately opened up further with perestroika in the 1980s and the fall of Communist rule in 1991.

Gerald Dowler sets the complex, shifting world of Russian ballet in its political and social contexts and explores the contributions of major choreographers, dancers and teachers in creating the phenomenon of what is celebrated around the world as 'Russian Ballet'.

As usual, you'll find full details and ordering facilities on our web site: www.dancebooks.co.uk

[alison]

To start the new year we have three new titles: Constant Lambert's 'Music Ho!', a provocative study of music in the first part of the 20th century, Chris Nash's beautiful collection of colour photographs of the Richard Alston Dance Company, and the 10th volume of the indefatigable Ann Hutchinson Guest's series of Advanced Labanotation textbooks.

As usual, you'll find full details and ordering facilities on our web site: www.dancebooks.co.uk