Phaedra392 Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 I've been hearing off and on for years that Arlene Croce is working on a book about Balanchine ballets that is not a compilation of her New Yorker essays. It is supposedly all new material. Has anybody heard about this project? Is it actually going to happen, and if so, when? Any news about Miss Croce would be appreciated. Thanks! Link to comment
rg Posted March 24, 2004 Share Posted March 24, 2004 i understand her book on balanchine, all new writing done especially for this book, is due out later this year from farrar strauss and giroux (someone on this site saw it listed on the FSG schedule). Link to comment
Herman Stevens Posted March 24, 2004 Share Posted March 24, 2004 Well, isn't that most awkward? Surely every media has done its Balanchine Centenary thing, and then the biography is published after the crest. I guess one could say kudos to the editor who didn't want to rush publication by six months so as to profit from the Centenary hype, but I sure won't be able to write another Balanchine piece this year. (I did mention the Costas book.) Link to comment
Alexandra Posted March 24, 2004 Share Posted March 24, 2004 But you can mention it in your Books You Absolutely Must Demand for Christmas piece!!! Link to comment
Phaedra392 Posted March 25, 2004 Author Share Posted March 25, 2004 Thanks guys! I now have reason to hope! Link to comment
sandik Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 Croce has been working on this book for several years -- although it would have been nice to get it during the "official" Balanchine year, I'll be happy to see it whenever it appears! Link to comment
rg Posted March 26, 2004 Share Posted March 26, 2004 to the best of my knowledge arlene croce's balanchine book is NOT a biography; it's a study of key works, no doubt w/ biographical information but not a biog. per se. Link to comment
Dale Posted March 26, 2004 Share Posted March 26, 2004 I am eagerly awaiting this book. It seems if as if there are a few more Balanchine books that missed the actual birthday of Mr. B for publication. I didn't even know Teachout is doing a Balanchine book and a search through amazon.com shows that Robert Gottlieb has a book coming out called, George Balanchine: The ballet maker, though it is short - just under 200 pages, due out November 1. Link to comment
Herman Stevens Posted March 26, 2004 Share Posted March 26, 2004 to the best of my knowledge arlene croce's balanchine book is NOT a biography; it's a study of key works, no doubt w/ biographical information but not a biog. per se. Oh, OK. It makes sense, obviously, that Croce is not writing a biography. However, in that case I'm going to say again, it is really baffling that there isn't a major, new-generation biography in the works. If it's really true Mr B is up there with Mozart and Tchaikovsky it's a little awkward that they have new books to show off with every five years or so, and all Mr B's got is a bunch of (fine) memoirs. Link to comment
Nanatchka Posted March 26, 2004 Share Posted March 26, 2004 to the best of my knowledge arlene croce's balanchine book is NOT a biography; it's a study of key works, no doubt w/ biographical information but not a biog. per se. Oh, OK. It makes sense, obviously, that Croce is not writing a biography. However, in that case I'm going to say again, it is really baffling that there isn't a major, new-generation biography in the works. If it's really true Mr B is up there with Mozart and Tchaikovsky it's a little awkward that they have new books to show off with every five years or so, and all Mr B's got is a bunch of (fine) memoirs. I think there is one to be out in June. When I know for sure, I will post. Link to comment
Leigh Witchel Posted March 26, 2004 Share Posted March 26, 2004 I think it may paradoxically be the proximity to his lifetime that keeps biographers away from Balanchine. Everyone's on equal footing with Mozart or Tchaikovsky; there's no one alive who could have known either. With Balanchine, that issue is still there. Link to comment
dirac Posted March 26, 2004 Share Posted March 26, 2004 I dunno – it seems to me that often a big biography will come out within a few years of the subject's decease – to take a couple of dance examples, Robbins has had one, Ashton has had one, which was being researched while he was still alive. Saul Bellow has had a major one and he's still here. In such cases, writers have had to act with a certain urgency, because when a famous person of great age dies, his coevals are departing at the same rate. It's possible, of course, to do a book without such witnesses, but if they're around there is usually an effort to get their testimony, testimony which is often more candid than it would be with the subject still around. Julie Kavanagh got to a lot of people just in time. And Balanchine has been dead for twenty years. Certainly in his case, many essential people have already departed. And I agree with Herman that the job hasn't really been done – the Buckle and Taper books are useful, but they're not the kind of definitive job we're talking about. If one is in the works, that's good news. Link to comment
sandik Posted March 26, 2004 Share Posted March 26, 2004 – to take a couple of dance examples, Robbins has had one, Ashton has had one, which was being researched while he was still alive. ... Julie Kavanagh got to a lot of people just in time. Actually, Ashton's had two (or, more accurately, we've had two about Ashton) and they're a good example of the affect of time and proximity on biography. Deborah Jowitt, who has been granted a significant amount of access to Robbin's private papers, is working on a biography which will be quite different than the Lawrence book of a couple years ago. I'd be happy to see a new biography of Balanchine, one that was structured to look at his life and career as a whole, but there are so many people in the dance world who haven't been about at all -- I worry about them as well. Sigh. Link to comment
dirac Posted March 27, 2004 Share Posted March 27, 2004 sandik, I hadn't forgotten about David Vaughan's Ashton book, but it's not the same kind of biography as I think we're talking about here. You're quite right about time and proximity, though. Link to comment
Helene Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 Although most of the Balanchine Celebration performances were concentrated in the 2003-04 season, many around Balanchine's birthday in January, the entire year of 2004 is fair game to celebrate. Pacific Northwest Ballet, for example, is producing a second program in the fall of 2004, during the 2004-05 season, and it will be interesting to see the rep listed for next season for other companies as well. There are a limited number of approved stagers around, and I think they would be more accessible next season. Link to comment
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