What book about ballet do you want to see in print?

[Alexandra]

Or just starving them to death by inattention

[Catherine]

But surely governments, past and present, have an extremely significant influence on creative artists and areas of cultural expression...

Yes, absolutely.

[bart]

Another topic that ought to be turned into a book: the history of Cuban ballet, tied in inevitably with the career of the Alonsos. The potential of this topic (these topics?) came up during a conversation I had with Cristian after a Miami City Ballet performance in West Palm Beach.

What a story this is! It has strong, fascinating personalities (Alicia Alonso, of course, but others as well). It has the potential to tell us something about how one-party states and command economies, operating sustained isolation from the rest of the world, function when it comes to defining "public art."

The story also has the Cuban School, which has produced some of the most important and successful dancers in the word. Uniquely in the contemporary world, this story focuses on classical ballet, preserved in versions of the classics that have, in some cases, almost disappeared elsewhere.

Most significant might be the result: a system, unique in the world, in which ballet is genuinely a "popular art."

One book? Heck -- there are several books here. Why haven't they been written?

[innopac]

I'm just curious, as I work on a manuscript right now, what most people would like to read about that is not already out there. Nureyev and the entire Diaghilev era seem quite well covered. How interested are people in reading detailed biographies of other Russian dancers that haven't been published yet in English? Or in specific trends in Russian ballet? (I ask about Russia as it is my personal area of interest and focus but it could be any geographical area or person or company). Is there something that hasn't been written about and you think should be?

For a future book my vote is for a biography of a Russian dancer or choreographer. And I hope, Catherine, when you complete what you are working on right now you will tell us Fingers crossed it will be in English.

[Catherine]

I'm just curious, as I work on a manuscript right now, what most people would like to read about that is not already out there. Nureyev and the entire Diaghilev era seem quite well covered. How interested are people in reading detailed biographies of other Russian dancers that haven't been published yet in English? Or in specific trends in Russian ballet? (I ask about Russia as it is my personal area of interest and focus but it could be any geographical area or person or company). Is there something that hasn't been written about and you think should be?

For a future book my vote is for a biography of a Russian dancer or choreographer. And I hope, Catherine, when you complete what you are working on right now you will tell us Fingers crossed it will be in English.

Innopac, your wish, on both accounts, will be coming true. (If all goes well, twice). After the new year I would love to give more details :-).

And absolutely, the book is in English. My Russian is fluent but it's not the kind of language that you write in as a native English speaker -- I could study it my whole life and English will always be stronger...! Still, there's a goal for you, but life is too short, and there are other goals that take precedence :-).