Awards

• Short-listed for National Book Critics Circle Awards 2010

Overview

Full Product Details

9780812968743

Table of Contents

Reviews

The only truly definitive history of the most impossibly fantastic art form, ballet . . . an eloquent and lasting elegy to an unlasting art. -- The New York Times Book Review <br> A delight to read, massively informed yet remarkably agile . . . The story of ballet offers a singular perspective on the evolution of our culture: a fascinating mirror on the arts. Nowhere is this narrative told more amply and compellingly than in Jennifer Homans's triumphant Apollo's Angels. -- The Washington Post <br> Here is a book of immense ambition--a one-volume history of ballet--and of considerable accomplishment. Jennifer Homans, whom we know primarily as The New Republic 's provocative dance critic, shows herself to be both dogged and graceful as a historian--a rare and welcome combination of qualities. -- The New York Review of Books <br> Intellectually rigorous, beautifully written, brilliantly structured. -- San Francisco Chronicle <br> <br> Magnificent . . . [a] monumental w

The only truly definitive history of the most impossibly fantastic art form, ballet . . . an eloquent and lasting elegy to an unlasting art. --<i>The New York Times Book Review</i> A delight to read, massively informed yet remarkably agile . . . The story of ballet offers a singular perspective on the evolution of our culture: a fascinating mirror on the arts. Nowhere is this narrative told more amply and compellingly than in Jennifer Homans's triumphant <i>Apollo's Angels</i>. --<i>The Washington Post</i> Here is a book of immense ambition--a one-volume history of ballet--and of considerable accomplishment. Jennifer Homans, whom we know primarily as <i>The New Republic</i>'s provocative dance critic, shows herself to be both dogged and graceful as a historian--a rare and welcome combination of qualities. --<i>The New York Review of Books</i> Intellectually rigorous, beautifully written, brilliantly structured. --<i>San Francisco Chronicle</i><i> </i> Magnificent . . . [a] monumental work. <i>--The Boston Globe</i> Each page of this luminous work delights, enlightens and beckons. Every dancer should live with this book, of course, but every person who loves literature and history, is word-struck and story-addicted, should give themselves a treat with <i>Apollo's Angels</i>. Treasure this treasure. <i>--Jacques d'Amboise</i> This is a wonderful book about how ballet evolved. Written by a gifted dancer, <i>Apollo's Angels </i>is dance history seen from the inside. The wonder to me is how much this accessible, beautifully-crafted book reveals about the times and places in which ballets were made; it makes culture come alive. --Richard Sennett, author of <i>The Craftsman</i> A dancer who is also a historian--who ever dreamed of such an improbable creature? But here is Jennifer Homans and her indispensable book. She puts the understanding of ballet on a whole new footing. Finally the delicacies of ballet have been restored to the indelicacies of history, and the art seems even more wondrous for it. <i>Apollo's Angels </i>is an enlightenment, a remarkable feat of scholarship and sensibility, an affecting mixture of criticism and devotion, an intellectual joy. --Leon Wieseltier

The only truly definitive history of the most impossibly fantastic art form, ballet . . . an eloquent and lasting elegy to an unlasting art. --The New York Times Book Review A delight to read, massively informed yet remarkably agile . . . The story of ballet offers a singular perspective on the evolution of our culture: a fascinating mirror on the arts. Nowhere is this narrative told more amply and compellingly than in Jennifer Homans's triumphant Apollo's Angels. --The Washington Post Here is a book of immense ambition--a one-volume history of ballet--and of considerable accomplishment. Jennifer Homans, whom we know primarily as The New Republic's provocative dance critic, shows herself to be both dogged and graceful as a historian--a rare and welcome combination of qualities. --The New York Review of Books Intellectually rigorous, beautifully written, brilliantly structured. --San Francisco Chronicle Magnificent . . . [a] monumental work. --The Boston Globe Each page of this luminous work delights, enlightens and beckons. Every dancer should live with this book, of course, but every person who loves literature and history, is word-struck and story-addicted, should give themselves a treat with Apollo's Angels. Treasure this treasure. --Jacques d'Amboise This is a wonderful book about how ballet evolved. Written by a gifted dancer, Apollo's Angels is dance history seen from the inside. The wonder to me is how much this accessible, beautifully-crafted book reveals about the times and places in which ballets were made; it makes culture come alive. --Richard Sennett, author of The Craftsman A dancer who is also a historian--who ever dreamed of such an improbable creature? But here is Jennifer Homans and her indispensable book. She puts the understanding of ballet on a whole new footing. Finally the delicacies of ballet have been restored to the indelicacies of history, and the art seems even more wondrous for it. Apollo's Angels is an enlightenment, a remarkable feat of scholarship and sensibility, an affecting mixture of criticism and devotion, an intellectual joy. --Leon Wieseltier The only truly definitive history of the most impossibly fantastic art form, ballet . . . an eloquent and lasting elegy to an unlasting art. The New York Times Book Review A delight to read, massively informed yet remarkably agile . . . The story of ballet offers a singular perspective on the evolution of our culture: a fascinating mirror on the arts. Nowhere is this narrative told more amply and compellingly than in Jennifer Homans s triumphant Apollo s Angels. The Washington Post Here is a book of immense ambition a one-volume history of ballet and of considerable accomplishment. Jennifer Homans, whom we know primarily as The New Republic s provocative dance critic, shows herself to be both dogged and graceful as a historian a rare and welcome combination of qualities. The New York Review of Books Intellectually rigorous, beautifully written, brilliantly structured. San Francisco Chronicle Magnificent . . . [a] monumental work. The Boston Globe Each page of this luminous work delights, enlightens and beckons. Every dancer should live with this book, of course, but every person who loves literature and history, is word-struck and story-addicted, should give themselves a treat with Apollo s Angels. Treasure this treasure. Jacques d Amboise This is a wonderful book about how ballet evolved.Written by a gifted dancer, Apollo s Angels is dance history seen from the inside.The wonder to me is how much this accessible, beautifully-crafted book reveals about the times and places in which ballets were made; it makes culture come alive. Richard Sennett, author of The Craftsman A dancer who is also a historian who ever dreamed of such an improbable creature? But here is Jennifer Homans and her indispensable book. She puts the understanding of ballet on a whole new footing. Finally the delicacies of ballet have been restored to the indelicacies of history, and the art seems even more wondrous for it. Apollo s Angels is an enlightenment, a remarkable feat of scholarship and sensibility, an affecting mixture of criticism and devotion, an intellectual joy. Leon Wieseltier It has never been done before, what Jennifer Homans has done in Apollo's Angels. She has written the only truly definitive history of the most impossibly fantastic art form, ballet....Homans accomplishment is akin to setting the most delicate and beautiful of all the imperial Faberge eggs into a fissure high on Mount Rushmore and tracking its unlikely survival...Inspired...The story of Balanchine has been told before, and at greater lengths, but never better...An eloquent and lasting elegy to an unlasting art. -- COVER REVIEW, THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW A tour de force...the publication of Apollo's Angels is itself a moment in the magnificent history of classical dance. --THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Magisterial... Apollo's Angels is a cultural history of the highest order...Homans brings to the page a practical knowledge gained in an earlier career as a dancer. Thus she leaps easily from big picture political trends in one sentence to the minutiae o

Author Information

Jennifer Homans was a professional dancer trained at the North Carolina School of the Arts, American Ballet Theatre, and The School of American Ballet. She performed with the Chicago Lyric Opera Ballet, the San Francisco Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet. Currently the dance critic for The New Republic, she has written for The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The New York Review of Books, and The Australian. She earned her B.A. at Columbia University and her Ph.D. in modern European history at New York University, where she is a Distinguished Scholar in Residence.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available