BARONOVA Autobiography

[bart]

Amazon now has it . Just click the box above. (It helps Ballet Talk to order it from here.)

I was in Barnes & Noble earlier today and flipped through a copy. The photos -- which are as far as I got into it -- are very generous and quite exceptional. If you liked "Ballets Russe" (the movie), you've got to like this.

[Helene]

Or use the "BT Amazon Mini-Store" link under the logo -- it's one of the items in the store.

[innopac]

From Irina: ballet, life and love. Viking 2005

Baronova writing about differences between Fokine and Massine:

"Fokine's way of working was very different from Massine's. Fokine brought no books of diagrams, no notes. Both obviously knew exactly what they wanted, having worked it out before the start of the rehearsals, but Massine worked out details on his dancers, trying the movements this way and that. Fokine had every movement, every detail worked out in advance and showed the dancers his new work as if it were already complete--which it was in his head. Having chosen the dancers he wanted for each role--he knew their personality and technical capacity--his choreography brought out the best in them." page 253

After stating that Fokine's choreography is often "distorted" Baronova writes:

"Fokine’s grandaughter, Isabelle Fokine, a dancer herself, has inherited a treasure--Fokine’s notes, letters and other papers, as well as films of some of his ballets. She tries hard to preserve her grandfather’s work. With this unique information in her possession, she is the one to turn to, but the nuances, the details, the ‘something’ that cannot be notated, will be lost forever when the last few of us survivors who worked with Fokine disappear through the pearly gates. The ‘soul’ of the works for which we were the original interpreters will then be scattered with our ashes." page 256

[innopac]

Last quote from Irina Baronova's autobiography. I just thought this was too good a story not to post.

From Irina: ballet, life and love. Viking 2005

"On a tour of Barcelona a couple of years later we went again to see the gypsies dance, and a young gypsy boy took our breath away with his

faruca

, a flamenco dance. Massine was so impressed that he sent the boy a note via the waiter, inviting him to join us at our table. The note read, 'I am Massine. Please join us--we'd love to meet you.' But the waiter returned with the response: 'I am Antonio. So what?' Antonio did not join us." page 98

[dirac]

Thank you, innopac, for reviving this thread. I didn't find the book to be entirely satisfactory as a whole, but it does contain lots of good stuff. Definitely worth looking into.

I love that Massine, story, too.

[vipa]

Funny thing - I picked up a copy of Baronova's autobiography recently in the library. I was flipping through to look at the pictures and noticed a "book mark." It was an envelope with the return address on the back flap, in printed blue ink that said Alexandra Danilova and her address. I can't imagine how the envelope got there but I swiped it!!

[canbelto]

I have just finished the book, and I must say that one detail Baronova recalls in the book is to me just as horrifying as her husband's 48 hour demand to leave ballet forever or lose him. It happens after the death of their friend Vivien Leigh. Tennant refuses to allow Irina to attend the funeral, with the dictate "Women don't go to funerals."

The fact that Baronova says this marriage was the happiest time of her life I think says a lot about her infinitely patient personality.

[dirac]

I have just finished the book, and I must say that one detail Baronova recalls in the book is to me just as horrifying as her husband's 48 hour demand to leave ballet forever or lose him. It happens after the death of their friend Vivien Leigh. Tennant refuses to allow Irina to attend the funeral, with the dictate "Women don't go to funerals."

The fact that Baronova says this marriage was the happiest time of her life I think says a lot about her infinitely patient personality.

Considering what happened after the funeral, it's probably just as well.

Tennant does indeed come across as a ghastly domestic tyrant, and the portrait is all the more damning as it seems to come from a devoted wife trying to put the best face on things. I was glad he didn't show up till late in the narrative.