Natalia Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 I just received and began to read Joel Lobenthal's marvelous biography ALLA OSIPENKO: BEAUTY AND RESISTANCE IN SOVIET BALLET (Oxford Univ Press, 2016). WOW!!! After only the first seven chapters, I could not wait to spread the word that this tome offers one of the best-researched, most fascinating AND clearly-written insights on mid-20th-C Kirov Ballet and artistic life in the USSR. Osipenko, with her lean line and beauty, was an artist ahead of her time. This is one of those "impossible-to-put-down" books that, I'm sure, will delight most Mariinsky Ballet lovers! http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0190253703/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1452943943&sr=8-1π=AC_SX118_SY170_QL70&keywords=alla+osipenko+beauty+and+resistance+in+soviet+ballet Update, 1/16/2016: Now having completed it, I can only reinforce my earlier feelings that this is one of the finest books (English or Russian languages) written on late-Soviet ballet history. It reads like an autobiography, which makes sense, as Lobenthal's main resource was a series of 20 face-to-face interviews with Osipenko herself. Learn about her studying under Vaganova...her early triumphs in Paris...the creation of Grigorovich's Stone Flower...working with the difficult Jacobson...her four marriages...who-was-who in the 1950s & 60s Kirov, etc. A treasure of a book! Link to comment
Natalia Posted February 9, 2016 Author Share Posted February 9, 2016 Has anyone else read this? Let's discuss! Quite an amazing life & a great ballerina, IMO. Link to comment
macnellie Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Just ordered it! Thank you Link to comment
Lidewij Posted January 10, 2021 Share Posted January 10, 2021 I just finished this book. I absolutely loved it, and wished there would be similar books about other dancers of that era. Link to comment
dirac Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 Thank you for reviving this thread, Lidewij. I'd forgotten about this book. Just placed an order. Link to comment
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