Arthur Elgort's Ballet

[miliosr]

I picked up a copy of Arthur Elgort's recently published photo book, Ballet. 

There are some very beautiful photos contained within its pages but the view it gives of the ballet world is very particular. The book is heavy on portrait and rehearsal photos from the New York City Ballet's 1979-80 season as well as of Vaganova Academy students in more recent times. Some of the most memorable photos for me were of Mikhail Baryshnikov and James Cagney backstage together in 1979, an impossibly handsome Patrick Dupond of the Paris Opera Ballet, and New York City Ballet dancers at a public swimming pool in Saratoga in 1980.

Warning: Some of the captions are not right. There are photos of Robert La Fosse from the early 80s which have him at the New York City Ballet and there's a photo of Julie Kent which also places her at City Ballet.