Dance Anecdotes: Stories from the Worlds of Ballet, Broadway, the Ballroom, and Modern Dance

285 Pages·2006·1.24 MB·English

by  Mindy Aloff

DANCE ANECDOTES
Also by Mindy Aloff
Night Lights: Poems
DANCE ANECDOTES
Stories from the Worlds of Ballet, Broadway,
the Ballroom, and Modern Dance
M A
INDY LOFF
2006
Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that
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Copyright © 2006 by Mindy Aloff
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Aloff, Mindy, 1947–
Dance anecdotes : stories from the worlds of ballet, Broadway,
the ballroom, and modern dance / by Mindy Aloff.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-19-505411-8
ISBN-10: 0-19-505411-3
1. Dance—Anecdotes. 2. Dancers—Anecdotes. I. Title.
GV1594.A46 2006
792.8—dc22
2005024553
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
To my father, Jack Aloff, genius,
and to the memory of my mother, Selma Album Aloff, genius loci
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Preface ix
Towering Figures 1
Marie Taglioni 1
Anna Pavlova 6
Vaslav Nijinsky 11
Isadora Duncan 16
Martha Graham 25
Margot Fonteyn 31
Sir Frederick Ashton 37
George Balanchine 45
Of Steps and Their Authorship 56
Music Makes Me . . . 60
The Rehearsal Room 72
Coaches and Teachers 76
Hands and Things That Can Fill Them 93
Balletomania and Other Thrills 98
Inspiration 102
Seductions Attempted, Surmised, and Realized 110
Critical Lines 116
Turning Points 127
From Stage to Page 132
Fauna 139
viii CONTENTS
Scandals 144
Touring 148
The Theaters 154
Costumes, Footgear, and Hair Do’s and Don’ts 159
Makeup 168
Conductors 171
Dancing and Related Theatrical Professions 175
Dancing and the Movies 179
Injuries, Maladies, Misfortunes, and Cures 185
On Partnering and Partnerships 193
A Mark, a Yen, a Buck, or a Pound 205
Sets and Stagecraft 214
Big Pictures 218
Afterword: A Note on Anecdotes as Ingredients of
Dance History 230
Bibliography 241
Acknowledgments 251
Credits 257
Index 259
CONTENTS ix
Preface
This is a book of stories about dancing from all over the globe. I wanted to
put together the kind of collection that one might pick up in a country inn
on a rainy day and while away an hour browsing through: the group as a
whole is subjective and partial. For dance fans and balletomanes, I’ve tried to
avoid repeating many of the most famous dance anecdotes and, instead, to
choose those that might be unexpected. Some of the stories are recent, and
some are ancient.
Although novelty was my concern, history was my guide. Dance has in-
spired the sweetest, noblest, and most affecting stories of any of the arts, and
in constructing this anthology I was thinking, especially, of readers whose
first encounter with the variety and shadings of the dancer’s world might
take place in these pages. It is my hope, too, that the fragments here will
prompt readers to seek out the wonderful books listed in the bibliography,
from which most of the anecdotes have been drawn.
M.A.