Balanchine's Ballerinas: Conversations with the Muses

by Robert Tracy, Sharon Delano (Other Contributor)

New Hardcover w/dust jacket (as shown) "Balanchine's Conversations with the Muses" minor shelf wear. Fast shipping...(shelf)

Genres: Nonfiction

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1983

Reviews

[Sarah]

This book is amazing, largely owing to the cheekiness of the interview questions, e.g. "Lincoln Kirstein wrote in his diary that Balanchine was in love with you [when you were 14]. What did you think about that?" and a dozen variations of "Your career got going just before Suzanne Farrell came into the company. Were the Farrell Years hard on you?" and "Was it difficult to see Suzanne Farrell taking over your roles?" The answers were also amazing, ranging from variations of "Even though I wasn't getting roles anymore, I just wanted Balanchine to know I adored him" and "I was one of a hundred and didn't fall madly in love with him, which wasn't great for his ego" to "I received 17 curtain calls that night," plus one dancer whose infamous stage mother took part in the interview and kept interjecting with things like, "Her photo was in 14 magazines!" The best quote in the entire book is Allegra Kent: "I offer a little suspense, because you never know if I will appear or not. Nor do I."

Equally amazing is the 80s styling of the women in the portraits that precede each interview, from 80-something Alexandra Danilova to a teenaged Darci Kistler. And that the first sentence of the introduction reads, "George Balanchine loved women." Amazing!

Also, here is what the book looks like:

[Elizabeth]

I read this a million years ago!