Alla Osipenko

Beauty and Resistance in Soviet Ballet

Nonfiction, Entertainment, Dance, Classical, Performing Arts, Biography & Memoir, Entertainment & Performing Arts
Cover of the book Alla Osipenko by Joel Lobenthal, Oxford University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Joel Lobenthal ISBN: 9780190253721
Publisher: Oxford University Press Publication: November 2, 2015
Imprint: Oxford University Press Language: English
Author: Joel Lobenthal
ISBN: 9780190253721
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication: November 2, 2015
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Language: English

Alla Osipenko is the gripping story of one of history's greatest ballerinas, a courageous rebel who paid the price for speaking truth to the Soviet State. She studied with Agrippina Vaganova, the most revered and influential of all Russian ballet instructors, and in 1950, she joined the Mariinsky (then-Kirov) Ballet, where her lines, shapes, and movements both exemplified the venerable traditions of Russian ballet and propelled those traditions forward into uncharted and experimental realms. She was the first of her generation of Kirov stars to enchant the West when she danced in Paris in 1956. But dancing for the establishment had its downsides, and Osipenko's sharp tongue and marked independence, as well as her almost-reckless flouting of Soviet rules for personal and political conduct, soon found her all but quarantined in Russia. An internationally acclaimed ballerina at the height of her career, she found that she would now have to prevail in the face of every attempt by the Soviet state and the Kirov administration to humble her. In Alla Osipenko, acclaimed dance writer Joel Lobenthal tells Osipenko's story for the first time in English, drawing on 40 interviews with the prima ballerina, and tracing her life from Classical darling to avant-garde rebel. Throughout the book, Osipenko talks frankly and freely in a way that few Russians of her generation have allowed themselves to. Her voice rises above the incidents as unhesitating and graceful as her legendary adagios. Candid, irreverent, and, above all, independent -- Osipenko and her story open a window into a fascinating and little-discussed world.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Alla Osipenko is the gripping story of one of history's greatest ballerinas, a courageous rebel who paid the price for speaking truth to the Soviet State. She studied with Agrippina Vaganova, the most revered and influential of all Russian ballet instructors, and in 1950, she joined the Mariinsky (then-Kirov) Ballet, where her lines, shapes, and movements both exemplified the venerable traditions of Russian ballet and propelled those traditions forward into uncharted and experimental realms. She was the first of her generation of Kirov stars to enchant the West when she danced in Paris in 1956. But dancing for the establishment had its downsides, and Osipenko's sharp tongue and marked independence, as well as her almost-reckless flouting of Soviet rules for personal and political conduct, soon found her all but quarantined in Russia. An internationally acclaimed ballerina at the height of her career, she found that she would now have to prevail in the face of every attempt by the Soviet state and the Kirov administration to humble her. In Alla Osipenko, acclaimed dance writer Joel Lobenthal tells Osipenko's story for the first time in English, drawing on 40 interviews with the prima ballerina, and tracing her life from Classical darling to avant-garde rebel. Throughout the book, Osipenko talks frankly and freely in a way that few Russians of her generation have allowed themselves to. Her voice rises above the incidents as unhesitating and graceful as her legendary adagios. Candid, irreverent, and, above all, independent -- Osipenko and her story open a window into a fascinating and little-discussed world.

More books from Oxford University Press

Cover of the book Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth by Joel Lobenthal
Cover of the book Moving to Markets in Environmental Regulation by Joel Lobenthal
Cover of the book The Joy of Philosophy by Joel Lobenthal
Cover of the book Prosperity for All by Joel Lobenthal
Cover of the book Squeezing Minds From Stones by Joel Lobenthal
Cover of the book Global Good Samaritans by Joel Lobenthal
Cover of the book The Oxford Handbook of Southwest Archaeology by Joel Lobenthal
Cover of the book Berlioz on Music by Joel Lobenthal
Cover of the book Cahokia Mounds by Joel Lobenthal
Cover of the book Colonial Capitalism and the Dilemmas of Liberalism by Joel Lobenthal
Cover of the book Crossing Paths by Joel Lobenthal
Cover of the book Navigating Life with Migraine and Other Headaches by Joel Lobenthal
Cover of the book Friction by Joel Lobenthal
Cover of the book Psychiatry by Joel Lobenthal
Cover of the book Evaluating Civic Youth Work by Joel Lobenthal
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy