Apollo's Angels
A History of Ballet
Random House Publishing Group · Print & ebook · November 29, 2011
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, LOS ANGELES TIMES, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, AND PUBLISHERS WEEKLY For more than four hundred years, the art of ballet has stood at the center of Western civilization.
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- Who it’s for
- A cultural history that follows ballet’s long evolution and its place in Western civilization.
- Themes
- Ballet history, Ballet and Western culture, Transformation of dance
- Genres
- Dance History, Ballet & Classical Dance, Art History
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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, LOS ANGELES TIMES, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, AND PUBLISHERS WEEKLY For more than four hundred years, the art of ballet has stood at the center of Western civilization. Its traditions serve as a record of our past. Lavishly illustrated and beautifully told, Apollo’s Angels—the first cultural history of ballet ever written—is a groundbreaking work.
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From ballet’s origins in the Renaissance and the codification of its basic steps and positions under France’s Louis XIV (himself an avid dancer), the art form wound its way through the courts of Europe, from Paris and Milan to Vienna and St. Petersburg. In the twentieth century, émigré dancers taught their art to a generation in the United States and in Western Europe, setting off a new and radical transformation of dance. Jennifer Homans, a historian, critic, and former professional ballerina, wields a knowledge of dance born of dedicated practice. Her admiration and love for the ballet, as Entertainment Weekly notes, brings “a dancer’s grace and sure-footed agility to the page.”
Ballet in Context
A cultural history that follows ballet’s long evolution and its place in Western civilization.
Come here for
- Ballet’s journey from Renaissance origins through Europe and twentieth-century change
- Historical insight shaped by a critic’s eye and a former ballerina’s practice
Expect
- A sustained look at ballet as both art form and record of the past
Where it sits
| Dance History | 82% |
|---|---|
| Ballet & Classical Dance | 51% |
| Art History | 32% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Social History
- Ballet & Classical Dance
- Dance History
- Authors
- Jennifer Homans
- Publisher
- Random House Publishing Group
- Published
- November 29, 2011
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Ballet history · Ballet and Western culture · Transformation of dance
- Reading lane
- Social History