Overview

While she is best remembered today as founder of the Philadelphia Ballet and the director and driving force behind the famous Littlefield School of Ballet, from which Balanchine drew the nucleus for his School of American Ballet, Catherine Littlefield (1905-51) and her oeuvre were in many ways emblematic of the full representation of dance throughout entertainments of the first half of the 20th century. From her early work as a teenager dancing for Florenz Ziegfeld to her later work in choreographing extravagant ice skating shows, a remarkable dance with 90 bicyclists for the 1940 World's Fair, and on television as resident choreographer for The Jimmy Durante Show, Littlefield was amongst the first choreographers to bring concert dance to broader venues, and her legacy lives on today in her enduring influence on generations of American ballet dancers. As the first biography of Littlefield, Catherine Littlefield: A Life in Dance traces her life in full from birth through childhood experiences dancing on the Academy of Music's grand stage, and from her foundation of the groundbreaking Philadelphia Ballet Company in 1935 to her later work in television and beyond. Littlefield counted among her many glamorous friends and colleagues writer Zelda Fitzgerald, conductor Leopold Stokowski, and composer Kurt Weill. This biography also provides an engrossing portrait of the remarkable Littlefield family, many of whom were instrumental to Catherine's success. With the unflagging support of her generous husband and indomitable mother, Littlefield gave shape to the course of American ballet in the 20th century long before Balanchine arrived in the United States.

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9780190654542

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Skeel's lively book brings Littlefield back to life, interweaving her biography with social and theatrical history. Carefully referenced, and written in a sometimes surprisingly informal style, it casts a refreshingly different view over the development of American ballet, which on this side of the Atlantic, at least, is often perceived as originating in New York under Balanchine. -- Maggie Watson, Oxford Dance Writers Catherine Littlefield 'spent most of her forty-six years besotted with dancing,' writes Sharon Skeel, whose new, sweepingly researched biography is thoroughly besotted with Philadelphia's pioneering ballerina, teacher, and choreographer of the 1930s and '40s. Skeel scrupulously chronicles Littlefield's life and work, immersing us fully in her triumphs and disappointments while detailing her innovative role in transforming ballet into an American art. -- Jay Rogoff, Dance critic, The Hopkins Review This critical biography -- decades in the research and writing -- is transparent, honest, reasonable, authoritative, and gracefully told. Every chapter overturns another preconception about the history of American dance. -- Mindy Aloff, author of Dance Anecdotes: Stories from the Worlds of Ballet, Broadway, the Ballroom, and Modern Dance

Catherine Littlefield 'spent most of her forty-six years besotted with dancing,' writes Sharon Skeel, whose new, sweepingly researched biography is thoroughly besotted with Philadelphia's pioneering ballerina, teacher, and choreographer of the 1930s and '40s. Skeel scrupulously chronicles Littlefield's life and work, immersing us fully in her triumphs and disappointments while detailing her innovative role in transforming ballet into an American art. -- Jay Rogoff, Dance critic, The Hopkins Review This critical biography -- decades in the research and writing -- is transparent, honest, reasonable, authoritative, and gracefully told. Every chapter overturns another preconception about the history of American dance. -- Mindy Aloff, author of Dance Anecdotes: Stories from the Worlds of Ballet, Broadway, the Ballroom, and Modern Dance

"""Skeel's lively book brings Littlefield back to life, interweaving her biography with social and theatrical history. Carefully referenced, and written in a sometimes surprisingly informal style, it casts a refreshingly different view over the development of American ballet, which on this side of the Atlantic, at least, is often perceived as originating in New York under Balanchine."" -- Maggie Watson, Oxford Dance Writers ""Catherine Littlefield 'spent most of her forty-six years besotted with dancing,' writes Sharon Skeel, whose new, sweepingly researched biography is thoroughly besotted with Philadelphia's pioneering ballerina, teacher, and choreographer of the 1930s and '40s. Skeel scrupulously chronicles Littlefield's life and work, immersing us fully in her triumphs and disappointments while detailing her innovative role in transforming ballet into an American art."" -- Jay Rogoff, Dance critic, The Hopkins Review ""This critical biography -- decades in the research and writing -- is transparent, honest, reasonable, authoritative, and gracefully told. Every chapter overturns another preconception about the history of American dance."" -- Mindy Aloff, author of Dance Anecdotes: Stories from the Worlds of Ballet, Broadway, the Ballroom, and Modern Dance"

This critical biography - decades in the research and writing - is transparent, honest, reasonable, authoritative, and gracefully told. Every chapter overturns another preconception about the history of American dance. * Mindy Aloff, author of Dance Anecdotes: Stories from the Worlds of Ballet, Broadway, the Ballroom, and Modern Dance * Catherine Littlefield 'spent most of her forty-six years besotted with dancing,' writes Sharon Skeel, whose new, sweepingly researched biography is thoroughly besotted with Philadelphia's pioneering ballerina, teacher, and choreographer of the 1930s and '40s. Skeel scrupulously chronicles Littlefield's life and work, immersing us fully in her triumphs and disappointments while detailing her innovative role in transforming ballet into an American art. * Jay Rogoff, Dance critic, The Hopkins Review *

Author Information

Sharon Skeel is a freelance dance researcher with extensive credits in scholarly presentations, writing for journals, and curation.

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