Barbara Newman:
“Never Far from Dancing: Ballet Artists in New Roles”
204 pages, b/w illustrations
Routledge 2014
ISBN: 978-0-415832151
by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2014 by Ilona Landgraf
Dancers have two lives. One is on stage in the limelight, and the other follows their final curtain call. Out of sight, out of mind – being no longer in the spotlight often means sinking into oblivion. What becomes of former stars? Do they experience a transition? These were the questions that fueled Barbara Newman setting out to interview some of the 20th Century’s most luminous ballet stars. Newman’s recently published book “Never Far from Dancing: Ballet Artists in New Roles” is a compilation of her conversations with retired ballet performers. It makes intriguing and enriching reading.
Already in the 1980s and early ‘90s, Newman had investigated how dancers thought and felt about their work. The results can be found in her first book, “Striking a Balance”. Now, thirty years later, she spoke with eleven of her then twenty-seven interviewees again. Each of them remained dedicated in one way or another to their chosen art.
Four of them – Alicia Alonso (the oldest), Monica Mason, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and Nina Ananiashvili (the youngest) – were at the helm of ballet companies when these interviews took place in 2008 and ‘09. Four others, former ballerinas, were connected to dance to a certain degree – from full-time engagement involving a packed schedule (Beryl Grey) to minimal involvement (Lynn Seymour). Still others (three men, all Brits) varied: Donald MacLeary had just stopped being répétiteur at the Royal Ballet, whereas Desmond Kelly was embarking as Elmhurst School of Dance’s artistic director in Birmingham (he retired from this post in 2012), and David Wall (who died last year) was transmitting his knowledge as ballet master for English National Ballet. (more…)
The jubilees pile up for Stuttgart Ballet this season. John Cranko, the company’s founder, would have been ninety years this August. His “Onegin” – its second, revised version to be precise – received its first performance half a century ago on October 27, 1967. Its stage and set designer – the internationally renowned and much admired Jürgen Rose – just celebrated his 80th birthday this August. His career is closely connected with Cranko and Stuttgart Ballet. Moreover, this season is artistic director Reid Anderson’s twenty-second and last one. In short, one special events follows the other. (more…)