PositiveLibrary JournalDrawing extensively on published histories, biographies, and autobiographies, Christensen writes for the curious reader, with or without an extensive dance background, presenting a man with a brilliant eye for talent and a gift for discerning what an audience craved, sometimes before they realized they wanted it. Along with chronicling backstage drama and artistic triumphs beginning about 1909, the book puts Diaghilev’s complicated personal life on full view ... Christiansen’s accessible book is a fascinating cautionary tale for readers with an interest in ballet history and those who enjoy books about visionaries who weather great failures and great successes.
Mary Rodgers, Jesse Green
PositiveLibrary JournalGreen’s extensive footnotes provide background and context, and gently rein in Rodger’s occasionally cloudy recollections or inaccuracies. Along with gossipy stories and acerbic zingers, Rodgers explores being a woman, a single mom and Jewish in a time when those traits signaled outsider and usually held a person back. She shares both successes and low points. She admits her own mistakes and points out the shortcomings of others along the way ... Rodgers tells it the way she saw it, often stripping away the celebrity glamour of growing up in a revered musical theater environment. Green is a welcome and unobtrusive organizing voice and fact checker. Hollywood biography readers and musical theater fans will enjoy.
Lisa Robinson
PositiveLibrary JournalAn intriguing (and occasionally snarky) look at the lives, loves, and off-stage personas of well-known women soloists and band members. With the increased visibility of women in entertainment generally, and music specifically, this title will find an audience in most libraries.
Jerome Robbins, Ed. by Amanda Vaill
PositiveLibrary JournalVaill’s selections depict a man who could be straightforward...controlling, and unsure...but willing to look frankly at the successes of his life, loves, and work, as well as where they fell short and what he wished had gone differently. Frequent photos from his social and professional life, along with chapter introductions by the author, add interest ... Suggested for casual dance readers and Robbins aficionados alike.
Mark Morris and Wesley Stace
RaveLibrary JournalLike his dance philosophy (\'I make it up and you watch it\'), here Morris, and novelist-musician Stace...are forthright, often funny, and unafraid to ruffle feathers, slotting gossipy tidbits next to soul-searching revelations and philosophical discussions on the nature of dance. Frequent personal photos add interest ... Morris bounces from grateful to arrogant and back again, exploring his childhood, his sexuality, the inside scoop on MMDG past and present, and dance and choreography in general ... A must for dance libraries, and why the hell not for most public libraries.
