A critic and writer on dance for well over twenty years, Barbara Newman has gone in search of teachers and coaches, directors, choreographers and stagers - former dancers who had turned the focus of their own experience on others - to explain the state of ballet today. Among leaders of the dance world the author interviewed were Suki Schorer, Helgi Tomasson, Mark Morris, Violette Verdy and 14 other artists whose work she knew and respected, most of them active outside of New York and London. Newman is not interested in dance as an aesthetic abstraction, and the people who answered her questions were not speaking theoretically. On the contrary, her speculation and their responses bring an elusive subject down to earth, illuminating a process that reaches back in history and forward to today, though its dreams are of a world no one can imagine.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
...Barbara Newman establishes herself as the Studs Terkel of the dance world. -- Asashi Evening News (Tokyo)
...an inspired account of ballet and modern dance's twentieth-century journey by a seasoned critic with breathtaking knowledge... -- The Royal Academy of Dance Gazette (London), Fall 2004
...interviews with a difference...these compelling conversations assume the character of what the French call testaments. -- Dance Magazine, June 2004
...meticulous research and detailed observations...compelling and often disturbing reading...immensely inspiring. -- Dancing Times (London), October 2004
...provides the reader with a vibrant insight into today's dance culture...ideal for the neophyte and the expert alike. -- Country Life, June 2004
...reveal[s] some of the old and new complexities that exist in this ever more rapidly changing world. -- Dance Now, Summer 2004
Barbara Newman's Grace under Pressure is an unusually stimulating book. -- Koeglerjournal, January 2005
This book is loaded with questions, all of them crucial to the future [of dance]... -- Time Out London, August 2004
[O]ne of the most informative and illuminating studies of ballet from any time. -- Mindy Aloff, Dance Critics Association News, Winter 2005
...an inspired account of ballet and modern dance's twentieth-century journey by a seasoned critic with breathtaking knowledge... -- The Royal Academy of Dance Gazette (London), Fall 2004
...interviews with a difference...these compelling conversations assume the character of what the French call testaments. -- Dance Magazine, June 2004
...meticulous research and detailed observations...compelling and often disturbing reading...immensely inspiring. -- Dancing Times (London), October 2004
...provides the reader with a vibrant insight into today's dance culture...ideal for the neophyte and the expert alike. -- Country Life, June 2004
...reveal[s] some of the old and new complexities that exist in this ever more rapidly changing world. -- Dance Now, Summer 2004
Barbara Newman's Grace under Pressure is an unusually stimulating book. -- Koeglerjournal, January 2005
This book is loaded with questions, all of them crucial to the future [of dance]... -- Time Out London, August 2004
[O]ne of the most informative and illuminating studies of ballet from any time. -- Mindy Aloff, Dance Critics Association News, Winter 2005
About the Author
Barbara Newman, an American based in London, is the dance critic of Country Life magazine and reports on all forms of musical theatre in the Dancing Times. She is the author of seven previous books, including Striking a Balance (Limelight Editions) and The Illustrated Book of Ballet Stories, a triple award winner now available in eight languages.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
For anyone contemplating a life in ballet,
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Grace Under Pressure: Passing Dance Through Time (Paperback)
In Grace Under Pressure: Passing Dance Through Time, ballet expert Barbara Newman (Dance Critic of "Country Life" magazine and a journalist contributor to "Dancing Times"), has compiled remarkably informative interviews with eighteen contemporary illuminaries of the world of dance. This impressive collection of leading dancers and renowned dance instructors ranging from Suki Schorer (School of American Ballet) and Marc Du Bouays (Paris Opera Ballet School) to Yuri Fareyev, Margaret Mercier, and Richard Thomas. Enthusiastically recommended reading for anyone contemplating a life in ballet, Grace Under Pressure offers the reader a diverse selection of insights into the dedicated life and working world of the contemporary ballet as the aspirants experience the hard work and intense discipline for learning and practicing this demanding art.
15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A magnificent book!,
By Charlotte A. Walker "Charlotte Zoe Walker" (Gilbertsville, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Grace Under Pressure: Passing Dance Through Time (Paperback)
What a magnificent book! Dance critic Barbara Newman's GRACE UNDER PRESSURE is not just for serious dance afficionados, though it will be deeply meaningful to the serious student of dance; with its engaging writing style and its emphasis on "grace under pressure," on the lives and techniques of great dancers who became great dance teachers, this book will draw in almost any reader who picks it up. The opening of the book, with its description of discovering both the scrumptious pies at a small town diner, and the sadness of a small-town dance school that has closed down, sets the mood well. This book honors dance teachers everywhere, while it gives voice to the teaching experience and philosophy of some of the greatest. The photographs are well chosen, and a treasure in themselves.
This book deserves a wide readership, and will amply reward those who find their way to it. It reflects the author's depth of knowledge of dance, her perceptiveness and clarity in the interview process, and her accessible, engaging and elegant writing style. Highly recommended!
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A JOY TO READ,
By M (Ver, México) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Grace Under Pressure: Passing Dance Through Time (Paperback)
AS A DANCER, TEACHER AND BALLETOMANE, I FOUND THIS BOOK AN ABSOLUTE JOY TO READ. I FOUND MYSELF READING IT AT A SLOWER PACE AS I REACHED THE LAST PAGES...I DIDN'T WANT IT TO END. IT GIVES US AN INSIGHT OF WHAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING IN THE WORLD OF DANCE IN THIS PAST YEARS AND THE REASONS BEHIND IT. MAKES US THINK ABOUT WHAT WE HAVE TO DO IF WE WANT TO RECOVER THAT SO OFTEN LOST "ARTISTRY" IN THE BEATIFUL WORLD OF DANCE.
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José Limón, pointe shoes, ballet master, ballet school, company class Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Royal Ballet, Swan Lake, Paris Opéra, Sleeping Beauty, Royal Danish Ballet, School of American Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Roland Petit, Maryinsky Theatre, Paul Taylor, San Francisco, Suzanne Farrell, Upper Room, Margot Fonteyn, Kirov Ballet, Martha Graham, Mark Morris, Twyla Tharp, White Lodge, Peter Martins, Covent Garden, Erik Bruhn, United States, Lincoln Kirstein Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
José Limón, pointe shoes, ballet master, ballet school, company class Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Royal Ballet, Swan Lake, Paris Opéra, Sleeping Beauty, Royal Danish Ballet, School of American Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Roland Petit, Maryinsky Theatre, Paul Taylor, San Francisco, Suzanne Farrell, Upper Room, Margot Fonteyn, Kirov Ballet, Martha Graham, Mark Morris, Twyla Tharp, White Lodge, Peter Martins, Covent Garden, Erik Bruhn, United States, Lincoln Kirstein Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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