Toni Bentley's - Serenade

[vipa]

Anyone else read Toni Bentley's, Serenade? I just finished it, and enjoyed it very much. There are times when Bentley can veer to the sensationalistic (although other dancer books I've read recently, do more so). Still, I could have done without the hints as to the identity of her first lover, and accounts of Petipa as wife abuser. These things, however, are a very small part of the work. Bentley carefully takes us through the ballet, Serenade, from start to finish while telling us about learning it at SAB, performing it under Balanchine, its history and evolution, Lincoln Kirstein's thoughts as demonstrated in his letters, and Tchaikovsky's feelings about the music, as opposed to a commissioned work he was creating at the same time. There's also a good dose of Balanchine's biography, where he fits into ballet history, Bentley's memories of his company class, and other dancers' recollections of his rehearsals.

Some things were not new to me, but others were and Bentley made connections I hadn't thought of. It also made me very hungry to see the ballet again. There are sections that I know I'll watch with fresh eyes.

BTW - I borrowed it as an ebook from the NY Public Library! Many recent publications, written by dancers, are available there.

 

 

[California]

Jennifer Homans, Director of the Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU, interviewed Bentley in May of this year. The entire interview is on YouTube:

 

[canbelto]

25 minutes ago, vipa said:

Anyone else read Toni Bentley's, Serenade? I just finished it, and enjoyed it very much. There are times when Bentley can veer to the sensationalistic (although other dancer books I've read recently, do more so). Still, I could have done without the hints as to the identity of her first lover, and accounts of Petipa as wife abuser.

Nadine Meisner's book goes into great detail about Petipa as a wife abuser. The accounts are pretty grisly.

[dirac]

9 hours ago, vipa said:

Anyone else read Toni Bentley's, Serenade? I just finished it, and enjoyed it very much. There are times when Bentley can veer to the sensationalistic (although other dancer books I've read recently, do more so). Still, I could have done without the hints as to the identity of her first lover, and accounts of Petipa as wife abuser. These things, however, are a very small part of the work. Bentley carefully takes us through the ballet, Serenade, from start to finish while telling us about learning it at SAB, performing it under Balanchine, its history and evolution, Lincoln Kirstein's thoughts as demonstrated in his letters, and Tchaikovsky's feelings about the music, as opposed to a commissioned work he was creating at the same time. There's also a good dose of Balanchine's biography, where he fits into ballet history, Bentley's memories of his company class, and other dancers' recollections of his rehearsals.

Some things were not new to me, but others were and Bentley made connections I hadn't thought of. It also made me very hungry to see the ballet again. There are sections that I know I'll watch with fresh eyes.

BTW - I borrowed it as an ebook from the NY Public Library! Many recent publications, written by dancers, are available there.Ni

 

Thank you for posting, vipa.  Bentley is inclined to purple prose and oversharing, but she's a very good writer and knows her subject. I look forward to reading this. 

My own favorite book of hers is "Costumes by Karinska." 

[dirac]

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Still, I could have done without the hints as to the identity of her first lover, and accounts of Petipa as wife abuser.

I'm reading the book now, and IMO the account of her first affair is tasteful (and not a surprise to readers of Winter Season). Anyone who knows the company of the period will know who he is, but the account is discreet enough and I think it's relevant to the part of the book that is about her development as a dancer and a person.

I don't see how she could not mention Petipa's violence toward his wife in an account of his life and career, as unpleasant as the topic is.

Otherwise, I'm really enjoying the book, skipping around a bit as well as reading in sequence. So far I'm not finding a lot of information that's new but some of it is, and I agree with vipa's comments overall. Surprised that in all the discussion of the ballerina parts, there seems to be no mention that Marie Jeanne once did all of them.

[cobweb]

I wasn't sure how much I would get into Serenade, given Bentley's tendency to sensationalize, verging on purple prose; and tendency to romanticize, i.e. her intense adoration of Balanchine. But a few weeks ago, as I sat in a hospital waiting room for hours while a family member underwent a very long surgery (ultimately successful), it was just what I needed  -- easy to read and transporting me to a more beautiful, elevated place. I did wonder who is the target audience for this book, but maybe it's us on BA. I can't imagine getting much from the book without being familiar with the ballet and it's music. As @vipa suggested, I was able to check out the e-book from NYPL. I see that at some point I must have gotten Costumes by Karinska and forgotten it on my bookshelf. Maybe I'll get to that next. 

[dirac]

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easy to read and transporting me to a more beautiful, elevated place.

NIcely put.