Ballet: The Definitive Illustrated Story

Beautiful coffee table sized book that serves as a perfect introduction to all aspects of ballet performance. A fan of Swan Lake for years, I have recently become interested in expanding my knowledge of ballet. This book is exactly what I was looking for. It is a well illustrated, informative and entertaining look at the basic history of ballet. It explores major ballets, choreographers, composers, dancers, dance companies and venues as well as historical trends and changes in the art of ballet through the years. While no means all encompassing, it nevertheless covers from "Beginnings Of Ballet" thru "Ballet Today" and is a perfect starting point for a novice ballet fan that provides the information to help navigate and further explore this beautiful art form. Highly recommended!

Elegantly designed book with gorgeous photography. The person I gave it to cried when she opened it. My only complaint was that the book was thrown a box with no padding or wrapping and was slightly damaged on the spine when I received it.

Very nice coffee table book for a ballet dancer or wannaby

Gift for a ballet lover. She was so impressed by not only the quality of the pages, but all the history and in-depth coverage of so many noteworthy dancers. Lots of interesting pictures, too. Highly recommend it!

I absolutely adore this book and it brings such insight and depth for me to take to my classes.

My granddaughters are into ballet so this coffee table sized book was a perfect Christmas present. I was with them when they opened this and I was blown away by the historical content and quality; photos were sharp and colorful. This book was a bargain at twenty something dollars.

This is a visually beautiful book. I found it at the local library and wanted to add my own copy to my collection of ballet and dance books. It is a large, well-produced book with lots of great photos. However, it should really be noted that this is a very British-centered account of the history of ballet. I've long said that only the British would propose that Frederick Ashton is an equal to George Balanchine in the history of dance or the development of 20th Century ballet. And that is the Anglophile approach taken by this book. Balanchine is represented, of course, but most of the photos of his work are from performances by the Royal Ballet and companies other than New York City Ballet. Even the performance photos of NYCB dancers are from performances at Covent Garden. I suppose this is to be expected from a British book with a forward by Royal Ballet star Viviana Durante. But one would barely be aware that American Ballet Theatre even existed! Even the work of Antony Tudor and Kenneth McMillan, who had relationships with ABT (Tudor created the most significant of his works for them) is glossed over, never mind Jerome Robbins or Agnes DeMille. Similarly, while there are a number of mentions of the Kirov and Bolshoi, the focus on Russia is more Petipa and Ballets Russes. Not much about France, Denmark, Cuba or the rise of Latin and Asian dancers who are now major stars in many ballet companies with international rosters. We get a lot about Markova, Fonteyn, Rambert, and deValois, with little or nothing about Gregory, Kirkland, McBride or Farrell. Buy this book for a collection of nicely-reproduced historical and contemporary images of dancers, costume and set design, and significant ballets from court ballet through Romantic, Classical and 20th Century ballet, with mentions of other dance figures like Duncan, Graham and Ailey. If you want a truly accurate and inclusive pictorial history of ballet, this is not it.

I love this book! Perfect size for a coffee/tea table. I say tea because I do not drink coffee. :) But the book is filled with general ballet information and history. I love ballet!! I miss dancing. ☺️

Je possède un livre sur l'Opéra qui contient huit cents opéras avec leur livret . Il y a longtemps que je cherche l'équivalent pour les ballets. Ce livre n'est pas exhaustif de tous les ballets qui ont pu être écrits dans le passé, mais fait référence à environ une cinquantaine de ballets qui ont été remis au goût du jour avec leur synopsis détaillé, ce qui n'est déjà pas si mal. Il est complété par une histoire du ballet et la vie des grands danseurs ou danseuses, ainsi que des chorégraphes. Bref un livre très utile quand on regarde ses DVD. De belles photos illustrent le tout. Livre écrit en anglais certes , mais un anglais facile à lire.

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Although I enjoy watching ballet, I'm not especially well versed in its history or in the story lines, even for some of the more well known pieces. This book was therefore an excellent way for me to educate myself whilst also enjoying the many elegant photographs. There are some interesting background articles on ballet and its onstage presentation, and it cleverly gives a synopsis of each ballet with simple, clear summaries of the plot for each act. As with all DK books, it's simple, clear style serves to educate and entertain at the same time. An excellent addition to any library or coffee table.

格好良い大型本。絵や写真もとても美しく英語版なので、外国人の友人も東欧出身でフィギュアスケートとバレエの経験者である妻もこの本を気に入っているようです。海外でバレエ習うなら英語も知っているほうが良いと思うので将来の夢のための予習にも良いと思います。

Sehr schönes Buch. Einfach wunderschön.