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Celestial bodies : how to look at ballet
\"As much as we may enjoy Swan Lake or The Nutcracker, for many of us ballet is a foreign language. It communicates through movement, not words, and its history lies almost entirely abroad--in Russia, Italy, and France. In [this book], dance critic Laura Jacobs makes the foreign familiar, providing [an] ... accessible introduction to the world of classical dance\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Be My Yoko Ono
More irritating, though, is the editorializing [Francine Prose] allows herself. Some readers may enjoy the sarcastic aside, the judgmental put down. I see it as a lack of discipline, intrusive and often unfair. When Prose quotes William Rossetti, [Dante Gabriel Rossetti]'s brother, she adds that he's \"getting it right for once.\" Yet she's never said he gets things wrong, only that he's loyal to his brother, and in fact his quotes are among the most trustworthy in the chapter. Indeed, Prose has a special disdain for Dante Gabriel Rossetti and [Edward Weston], continually slamming both for their art and their narcissism, though one wonders if she dislikes the art only because of the narcissism. Prose's stance in these and other chapters frequently becomes feminist in a knee-jerk sort of way. When the muse mistreats the artist, it's profound and good for the artist. When the artist mistreats the muse, it is selfishness, exploitation. Does Prose realize she's painting Snidely Whiplash mustaches on her male artists? And if she hates Rossetti so much, and all the Pre- Raphaelites for that matter, maybe Robert and Clara Schumann would have been a better choice for a third chapter set mid-1800s. He too had his own artists' club, the Davidsbund, which was a league against the Philistines. This love story truly was disastrous in the end - Robert Schumann went mad. And Clara Schumann was a muse who was also a piano prodigy, not a weak wannabe like [Elizabeth Siddal], who so conveniently slides into the slot of victim.
Newspaper Article
Ballerina : fashion's modern muse
\"Ballerina: Fashion's Modern Muse is a revelatory, irresistible treat for dance aficionados and fashionistas alike. Couturiers such as Balmain, Balenciaga, Chanel, Schiaparelli, Charles James, Dior, and Yves Saint Laurent designed ballet-inspired dresses and gowns, many featuring the boned bodices and voluminous tulle skirts of classical tutus. And ready-to-wear designers such as Claire McCardell found inspiration in ballet leotards and other practice clothing, creating knitted separates, bathing suits, and wrap dresses. Written by fashion and ballet experts, the book is illustrated with archival photography by such masters as Richard Avedon, Edward Steichen, Irving Penn, Man Ray, and Cecil Beaton, along with newly commissioned photography of contemporary ballerinas wearing ballet-influenced couture.\"--Amazon.com.
Book
Who Killed Christa Worthington?
It's clear from the first chapter of \"Invisible Eden\" that [Maria Flook] wants to play with the big boys - not just the guys running the investigation but guns like Joe McGinnis (\"Fatal Vision\") and, before him, the great Truman Capote (\"In Cold Blood\"). The book begins with a meeting between Flook and Michael O'Keefe, the tough and colorful Cape and Islands first district attorney. He says, \"We'll meet. We'll talk. We'll talk about how we keep our mouths shut.\" She writes, \"It's my goal to soften him up.\" He is searching for the murderer, she is fleshing out her story, each is using the other, enjoying their little dance. But instead of her softening him, he hardens her. When O'Keefe tells Flook about standing over a murdered boy who lost 12 pints of blood, she writes, \"That's almost a river. I imagined him rolling up his trouser cuffs.\" Gallows humor so soon? Or just the first of many obnoxious asides? It depends on what you find funny. 3. She's a snob. \"I see [Christa Worthington] everywhere. If there's a woman with a little curly-topped girl in the A&P, at the ATM ... She might have Christa's high forehead, pouty lips or sorrel hair. Of course, it's a nobody.\" In Flook's book, if you're not somebody, you're nobody. Worthington, we learn, was a Vassar girl educated to have it all, but in her 40s, she discovered all she had was a so-so career and no husband or child. It didn't help that she was the only child of a father who rejected the expectations that went with his name and an Italian mother who embraced them, who tried desperately to fit that name naturally. The marriage was a failure from the start, and the daughter never quite fit in anywhere. Despite her Worthington lineage, her exacting standards and her beauty, Christa continually sold herself cheap - and believe me, Flook doesn't miss a chance to show us just how cheap. (When interviewing Worthington's friends, Flook asks not about her sex life, but \"her carnal life.\")
Newspaper Article
