Holly Brubach working on memoir of Tanaquil Le Clercq

[Margareta]

I ran across a picture of Tanaquil Le Clercq on Instagram, and went down that rabbit hole and ran into a picture posted by Holly Brubach, in which she stated she was a friend of Tanny's and was starting to write her memoir.  I found her homepage and saw this:

 

"I am currently working on a biography of Tanaquil Le Clercq, a ballerina for the New York City Ballet and George Balanchine’s last wife."

 

I am so looking forward to this!  

 

More here:  http://www.hollybrubach.com/news/

Edited May 11, 2017 by Margareta

[Helene]

Oh, thank you for going down that rabbit hole and letting us know

[sandik]

I'm very excited about this -- Brubach is an excellent dance writer, and will do a wonderful job with this project.

[rg]

Holly Brubach was recently awarded a Guggeneheim Fellowship, presumably for this biography.

[dirac]

Thanks for the heads-up, Margareta. Looking forward to this. Along with "The Master's Muse" and "Afternoon of a Faun," the Le Clercq boomlet continues.

 

A piece by Brubach from 1998.

Quote

She has reached the age of 69 with her pride and her beauty intact. Even seated, she has the unmistakable posture of a dancer. Her hair is blond now, her skin still pale. Her vivacious intelligence and the sharpness of her wit animate the conversation. I write this not only as a journalist but also as a friend of some 17 years. And so it is with a sense of relief and delight that I have witnessed her obligation to ballet history win out, however briefly, over her longstanding insistence on her privacy. ''And then I'll lapse back into obscurity,'' she says dryly.

 

 

[cobweb]

Does anyone know what ever became of Brubach's work on a biography of Tanaquil LeClercq? As far as I can tell, no such biography was ever published. 

[RUKen]

46 minutes ago, cobweb said:

Does anyone know what ever became of Brubach's work on a biography of Tanaquil LeClercq? As far as I can tell, no such biography was ever published. 

I do not know, but possibly she abandoned the full-length book when the biography by Orel Protopopescu was published: 

Dancing Past the Light, the Life of Tanaquil LeClercq.  University Press of Florida. 2021.

The acknowledgments in that book include:  "I am grateful to...Holly Brubach for permission to quote from her article, 'Remembering Tanaquil LeClercq.'"  Protopopescu also included quotes from other Brubach articles.

[cobweb]

Thanks, @RUKen! I did not know about that book. I'm currently working my way through the Dance in America anthology, which is what made me think of it (the anthology includes an article by Holly Brubach), but maybe I will try out the LeClercq book next. 

[dirac]

We have a thread devoted to "Dancing Past the LIght" here (not much to it, feel free to post your thoughts if you read it). It's a good book.