Title: Dancing on water : a life in ballet, from the Kirov to the ABT /
Authors: Tchernichova, Elena.; Lobenthal, Joel.
Publisher: Northeastern University Press,
Year: 2013
Subjects: Tchernichova, Elena.; Leningradskiĭ gosudarstvennyĭ akademicheskiĭ teatr opery i baleta imeni S.M. Kirova; American Ballet Theatre; Ballerinas Russia (Federation) Biography; Ballerinas United States Biography.; Dance teachers United States Biography.
Abstract: "Dancing on Water is both a personal coming-of-age story and a sweeping look at ballet life in Russia and the United States during the golden age of dance. Elena Tchernichova takes us from her childhood during the siege of Leningrad to her mother's alcoholism and suicide, and from her adoption by Kirov ballerina Tatiana Vecheslova, who entered her into the state ballet school, to her career at American Ballet Theatre. As a student and young dancer with the Kirov, she witnessed the company's achievements as a citadel of classic ballet, home to legendary names--Shelest, Nureyev, Dudinskaya, Baryshnikov--but also a hotbed of intrigue and ambition run amok. As ballet mistress of American Ballet Theatre from 1978 to 1990, Elena was called 'the most important behind-the-scenes force for change in ballet today, ' by Vogue magazine. She coached stars and corps de ballet alike, and helped mold the careers of some of the great dancers of the age, including Gelsey Kirkland, Cynthia Gregory, Natalia Makarova, and Alexander Godunov. Dancing on Water is a tour de force, exploring the highest levels of the world of dance."--Jacket.
Contents: A world now lost. Leningrad ; Make-believe ; Facts of life ; Disillusionment ; Rebels ; Nureyev arrives ; I start to teach ; Newlywed ; My son ; Cultural exchange ; A masterpiece ; Seeing the world ; Igor's choreography ; To the Black Sea ; Restless ; Émigré -- The new. Holding pattern ; New York ; Kirkland and Baryshnikov ; ABT's stars ; Émigrés and defectors ; Makarova's Bayadère ; Baryshnikov takes over ; Russian men ; Kirkland cataclysms ; ABT's problems ; Ferri and others ; How to dance ; Harsh Beauty ; Glasnost ; Peak ; Baryshnikov's swan song ; End of an era ; Directing Vienna ; Epilogue.