Celestial Bodies: How to Look at Ballet

by Laura Jacobs

Overview

A distinguished dance critic offers an enchanting introduction to the art of ballet

As much as we may enjoy Swan Lake or The Nutcracker, for many of us ballet is a foreign language. It communicates through movement, not words, and its history lies almost entirely abroad — in Russia, Italy, and France. In Celestial Bodies, dance critic Laura Jacobs makes the foreign familiar, providing a lively, poetic, and uniquely accessible introduction to the world of classical dance. Combining history, interviews with dancers, technical definitions, descriptions of performances, and personal stories, Jacobs offers an intimate and passionate guide to watching ballet and understanding the central elements of choreography.

Beautifully written and elegantly illustrated with original drawings, Celestial Bodies is essential reading for all lovers of this magnificent art form.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780465098477
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	05/08/2018
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Laura Jacobs is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and the dance critic for the New Criterion, where she has been since 1994. Dubbed "our best dance critic" by the editor of Ballet Review, Jacobs has also written about dance for the Atlantic, Chicago Reader, and London Review of Books. She lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

Note to the Reader xv

1 First Position First: The Foundations Of Ballet 1

2 The Point of the Pointe 25

3 Reading the Program: A Glossary 47

4 Tchaikovsky, Godfather of Ballet 77

5 Arabesque, Above All 99

6 Thoughts on Perfection 119

7 She's Alive! 127

8 Round and Round 145

9 Sex and the Single Girl 155

10 Ballet is Woman-But Look at its Men! 179

11 To Have and to Hold … and not to Hold 199

12 Ballerina: Civilization in a Tutu 205

Acknowledgments 225

Notes 227

Bibliography 237

Index 241

Editorial Reviews

Although [ballet] has enjoyed a resurgence in interest in recent years, it largely remains a mystery for many people, even after they attend a performance. Jacobs's book opens the door, offering a meticulous introduction to the art form and welcoming readers to have a seat and stay a while. Jacobs makes no assumptions about the reader's pre-existing knowledge of ballet, but rather starts at the very beginning, much as dancers do each day, with its basic foundations. She provides a study of the five foot positions, narrated alongside a history dating back to the French court in the 1500s and tracing ballet's centuries-long evolution, without lingering so long on any one era that she loses the reader in academic prose. It's the perfect balance of historical context and cultural relevance. Importantly, from the book's first pages she captures the spirit of ballet as felt by its artists themselves.

The New York Times Book Review - Misty Copeland

"Jacobs's book opens the door, offering a meticulous introduction to the art form and welcoming readers to have a seat and stay a while.... It's from this insider's perspective that Jacobs is able to offer an all-encompassing guided tour behind the curtain, then circling back to the auditorium where the balletomane, the occasional fan and the newcomer sit side by side as they interpret the performance according to their individual experiences and beliefs."

—Misty Copeland, New York Times Book Review

"A lively guide, for the newcomer and enthusiast alike, to an art form that is meticulously controlled yet ever-changing."—Wall Street Journal

"Our dance critic Laura Jacobs is the best writer on ballet there is. So you can bet that her new book, Celestial Bodies: How to Look at Ballet, will be the best primer on ballet there is."—New Criterion

"In 12 chapters Jacobs provides readers a whirlwind tour of ballet, effortlessly weaving together history, technique, music, choreography, drama."—Ballet Focus

"Whether you are budding balletomane or a lifelong dancer, Celestial Bodies will inspire you to look more closely at our beloved art form-and fall more deeply in love with it."—Pointe Magazine

"This sparkling, eloquent book will make going to the ballet a richer experience for both the novice and the passionate."
—Haglund's Heel

"Lyrical and accessible...Jacobs brings over two decades' worth of her experience as a dance critic to this elegant introduction to all aspects of the art form: its cultural history, the development of its aesthetics, its famous works and epic personalities."—Times Literary Supplement

"Written like a true dancer...It's from this insider's perspective that Jacobs is able to offer an all-encompassing guided tour behind the curtain, then circling back to the auditorium where the balletomane, the occasional fan and the newcomer sit side by side as they interpret the performance according to their individual experiences and beliefs."—New York Times Book Review

"According to the artist and critic Alexandre Benois, 'Ballet is perhaps the most eloquent of all spectacles.' This book is one of the most eloquent ever written about it."—Booklist

"The author ably explains the technical aspects of ballet, as when she explains that turnout's 'symmetrical torque in the hips engages energy and concentrates it' and in her beautiful description of pas de deux: 'a form of close-up, the theatrical equivalent of the camera's lavish gaze.' 'They're doing choreography,' Danny Kaye sang in White Christmas. As Jacobs demonstrates, however, ballet is so much more."—KirkusReviews

"Laura Jacobs' Celestial Bodies is original, rich in discovery, and conceived in prose that is as agile and graceful as her subject matter."
—Sascha Radetsky, American Ballet Theatre

"What makes ballet magical? With a brief recap of its origins and a poetic analysis of its positions, Laura Jacobs gives us the benefit of her perceptions over the course of a distinguished career in the audience. For those coming to ballet for the first time-and those of us who have been watching ballet for years-she offers a lesson in appreciation. The best way to watch, she tells us, is "with an open heart." This graceful book is the product of her own heart and her sprightly mind."

—Holly Brubach, award-winning dance historian and cultural critic

"Laura Jacobs' book about the art of ballet, which takes the form of a higher kind of how-to book, is itself a work of art. I would call it perfect, but Jacobs spells out the limits of the ideal of perfection. Better to call it alive, expressive, moving, wise."—Paul Elie, author of ReinventingBach

From the Publisher

2018-02-20
Ballet is a pleasure to watch, but some of its subtleties may be lost on the average viewer. Here, a dance critic tries to explain them."The greatest ballets reward endless looking," writes longtime New Criterion dance critic Jacobs (Landscape with Moving Figures: A Decade on Dance, 2006, etc.) in this attempt to clarify ballet's techniques. She covers all the basic movements and accoutrements, from the five basic positions to the "mysterious magnetism" of pointe shoes to the various types of arabesque, the position she calls the "logo for classical dance." The author also introduces seminal works of ballet, among them Giselle, with its themes of "privilege [and] the blasé abuses committed by those of class and landed wealth"; Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky, "ballet's greatest composer"; and the game-changing, Nijinsky-choreographed The Rite of Spring, which sparked an infamous riot at its premiere, features Stravinsky's "mesmerizingly brutal" music and was "an epic rejection of everything its audience held dear." In her enthusiasm, Jacobs occasionally lets descriptions get away from her—e.g., "allegro is spring warblers singing in the canopy, or bats pinging and winging at dusk. There is something of the soufflé about allegro—it should always be rising"—and some sections feel as if they were written for someone with no knowledge of the arts. One wonders how many readers will need a definition of a synopsis or that Leo Tolstoy was a "literary giant." Still, the author ably explains the technical aspects of ballet, as when she explains that turnout's "symmetrical torque in the hips engages energy and concentrates it" and in her beautiful description of pas de deux: "a form of close-up, the theatrical equivalent of the camera's lavish gaze.""They're doing choreography," Danny Kaye sang in White Christmas. As Jacobs demonstrates, however, ballet is so much more.

Kirkus Reviews

In this audiobook, the author sets out to convince listeners that there’s more to ballet than first meets the eye. It’s not a compilation of tips on on how to watch ballet—it’s an all-encompassing primer on dance that will enlighten novices and ballet enthusiasts alike. Narrator Tiffany Morgan is the perfect pairing for this listen. Her friendly but scholarly sounding style gives listeners the feeling of a best friend who is expounding on her favorite topic. The illustrations and photos in the print edition that elucidate some of the most important points are obviously lacking in this audiobook. However, listeners who are familiar with ballet should be able to follow along with ease and enjoy this peek behind the curtain. K.J.P. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

AUGUST 2018 - AudioFile

In this audiobook, the author sets out to convince listeners that there’s more to ballet than first meets the eye. It’s not a compilation of tips on on how to watch ballet—it’s an all-encompassing primer on dance that will enlighten novices and ballet enthusiasts alike. Narrator Tiffany Morgan is the perfect pairing for this listen. Her friendly but scholarly sounding style gives listeners the feeling of a best friend who is expounding on her favorite topic. The illustrations and photos in the print edition that elucidate some of the most important points are obviously lacking in this audiobook. However, listeners who are familiar with ballet should be able to follow along with ease and enjoy this peek behind the curtain. K.J.P. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

AUGUST 2018 - AudioFile