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9780190296681

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At last we've a serious examination by Jessica Zeller of seven brave and resourceful ballet teachers from Russia and Italy who came here to initiate and catalyze their ballet traditions. It's been a missing link in studies of the major influences on the creation of our unique, contemporary American ballet. Located in New York City, their schools tempered and molded both the athletic bodies of Americans, and in so doing affected the bold choreography of our artists. Zeller's fluid and judicious writing brings to light the energy and pathos of early twentieth century dance history. Judith Chazin-Bennahum, University of New Mexico The time is ripe to thoroughly dispel the notion that high-quality ballet training was absent from American shores in the first third of the twentieth century. Jessica Zeller does just that, introducing the context, teachers, philosophies, and markets that challenged and supported the establishment of ballet as a modern American art. Lynn Matluck Brooks, Franklin & Marshall College

""At last we've a serious examination by Jessica Zeller of seven brave and resourceful ballet teachers from Russia and Italy who came here to initiate and catalyze their ballet traditions. It's been a missing link in studies of the major influences on the creation of our unique, contemporary American ballet. Located in New York City, their schools tempered and molded both the athletic bodies of Americans, and in so doing affected the bold choreography of our artists. Zeller's fluid and judicious writing brings to light the energy and pathos of early twentieth century dance history.""--Judith Chazin-Bennahum, University of New Mexico ""The time is ripe to thoroughly dispel the notion that high-quality ballet training was absent from American shores in the first third of the twentieth century. Jessica Zeller does just that, introducing the context, teachers, philosophies, and markets that challenged and supported the establishment of ballet as a modern American art.""--Lynn Matluck Brooks, Franklin & Marshall College ""Jessica Zeller's exhaustively researched and engagingly written book...is an eye-opening addition to our currently extant ballet literature...The fact that Zeller, now a PhD who is an Assistant Professor of Dance at Texas Christian University, has written a book that is both scholarly and a page-turner is a remarkable achievement. Whether you're a dancer, a balletomane, a dance parent, or a combination of the three, don't miss the opportunity to fill in the gaps in your knowledge about how ballet, an émigré art form on our shores, gained a foothold and survived the Great Depression to evolve into a uniquely American brand of dancing.""--Broadwayworld.com ""Recommended.""--Choice ""[Jessica] Zeller offers many details about the development and teaching of each master's ballet curriculum. These are best appreciated by turning to the book itself.""--Dance Chronicle ""Using a wealth of archival sources, including dance manuals, newspaper and magazine articles, and interviews, Zeller focuses on pedagogy or, as she writes, 'the unspoken, underexamined element of the oral tradition' that is the 'unique working relationship of the dancer and pedagogue in the studio' (3). By taking stock of the various ballet teachers who lived, worked, trained and choreographed in the United States prior to Balanchine's arrival, Zeller indeed succeeds at 'offer[ing] a new telling of the history of American ballet' and 'refute[ing] the widespread notion that the period between 1909 and 1934 was 'largely barren ground' (1)."" --Jennie Scholick, DRJ

At last we've a serious examination by Jessica Zeller of seven brave and resourceful ballet teachers from Russia and Italy who came here to initiate and catalyze their ballet traditions. It's been a missing link in studies of the major influences on the creation of our unique, contemporary American ballet. Located in New York City, their schools tempered and molded both the athletic bodies of Americans, and in so doing affected the bold choreography of our artists. Zeller's fluid and judicious writing brings to light the energy and pathos of early twentieth century dance history. --Judith Chazin-Bennahum, University of New Mexico The time is ripe to thoroughly dispel the notion that high-quality ballet training was absent from American shores in the first third of the twentieth century. Jessica Zeller does just that, introducing the context, teachers, philosophies, and markets that challenged and supported the establishment of ballet as a modern American art. --Lynn Matluck Brooks, Franklin & Marshall College Jessica Zeller's exhaustively researched and engagingly written book...is an eye-opening addition to our currently extant ballet literature...The fact that Zeller, now a PhD who is an Assistant Professor of Dance at Texas Christian University, has written a book that is both scholarly and a page-turner is a remarkable achievement. Whether you're a dancer, a balletomane, a dance parent, or a combination of the three, don't miss the opportunity to fill in the gaps in your knowledge about how ballet, an emigre art form on our shores, gained a foothold and survived the Great Depression to evolve into a uniquely American brand of dancing. --Broadwayworld.com Recommended. --Choice

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Jessica Zeller is Assistant Professor of Dance at Texas Christian University

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