{"title":"Jennifer Homans","description":"\u003cp\u003eDelve into the world of dance with Jennifer Homans, a celebrated historian and critic. Explore her insightful books, perfect for ballet aficionados and those curious about the art form's rich history.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"apollo-s-angels-book-jennifer-homans-9781847082565","title":"Apollo's Angels","description":"Apollo's Angels is a major new history of classical ballet. It begins in the courts of Europe, where ballet was an aspect of aristocratic etiquette and a political event as much as it was an art. The story takes the reader from the sixteenth century through to our own time, from Italy and France to Britain, Denmark, Russia and contemporary America. The reader learns how ballet reflected political and cultural upheavals, how dance and dancers were influenced by the Renaissance and French Classicism, by Revolution and Romanticism, by Expressionism and Bolshevism, Modernism and the Cold War.   Homans shows how and why 'the steps' were never just the steps: they were a set of beliefs and a way of life. She takes the reader into the lives of dancers and traces the formal evolution of technique, choreography and performance. Her book ends by looking at the contemporary crisis in ballet now that 'the masters are dead and gone' and offers a passionate plea for the centrality of classical dance in our civilization. Apollo's Angels is a book with broad popular appeal: beautifully written and illustrated, it is essential reading for anyone interested in history, culture and art.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49505165246737,"sku":"GOR010056965","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49551138554129,"sku":"GOR005249485","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49555903152401,"sku":"GOR004385575","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49734193742097,"sku":"NGR9781847082565","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50401028604177,"sku":"CIN1847082564G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50892942770449,"sku":"GOR010426298","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1847082564.jpg?v=1758968724"},{"product_id":"apollo-s-angels-book-jennifer-homans-9780812968743","title":"Apollo's Angels","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e BESTSELLER *\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003eNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY \u003ci\u003eTHE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eLOS ANGELES TIMES, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE,\u003c\/i\u003e AND \u003ci\u003ePUBLISHERS WEEKLY\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e 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, \u003ci\u003eApollo's Angels\u003c\/i\u003e--the first cultural history of ballet ever written--is a groundbreaking work. 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. 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Today, nearly thirty years after his death, the man is still so revered that the mysteries of his biography are often overlooked. Who was George Balanchine?    Born in Russia under the last Czar, Balanchine experienced the upheavals of World War One, the Russian Revolution, exile, World War Two and the cultural Cold War; he was part of the Russian modernist moment, a key player in Paris in the 1920s, and in New York he revolutionized ballet, pressing it to the forefront of modernism and making it serious and popular art.   His influences were myriad. He considered himself Georgian, yet he did not step foot in his ancestral homeland until he was in his fifties. He was deeply influenced by the cold grandeur and sensuous beauty of the Orthodox Church, but equally absorbed by the new rhythms and dance steps coming out of Harlem in the 1930s. He collaborated broadly, with figures like Diaghilev and Stravinsky.   A man of muses, Balanchine was married five times, always to young dancers, and consumed by many other loves in between. The difficulties of his life - personal losses, bouts of ill health, debilitating loneliness and dark moods of despair - resonate in his dances, which speak so poignantly of love and loss, and yet the full implications for his art remain unexplored.   Now for the first time we look beyond the myth of 'Mr B' - the mask which Balanchine himself helped to create - to see 'Mr B' the man.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49634380874001,"sku":"GOR012601101","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49770425221393,"sku":"GOR012694901","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":50698452140305,"sku":"NGR9781847087737","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1847087736.jpg?v=1759227798"},{"product_id":"mr-b-book-jennifer-homans-9781847087751","title":"Mr B.","description":"LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE 2023  From the author of Apollo's Angels, the first major biography of the figure who modernised dance: an intimate portrait of the man behind the mythology, set against the vibrant backdrop of the century that shaped him  Balanchine's radical approach to choreography reinvented the art of dance and his richly evocative ballets made him a lasting legend. Today, nearly thirty years after his death, the man is still so revered that the mysteries of his biography are often overlooked. Who was George Balanchine?    Born in Russia under the last Czar, Balanchine experienced the upheavals of World War One, the Russian Revolution, exile, World War Two and the cultural Cold War; he was part of the Russian modernist moment, a key player in Paris in the 1920s, and in New York he revolutionized ballet, pressing it to the forefront of modernism and making it serious and popular art.   His influences were myriad. He considered himself Georgian, yet he did not step foot in his ancestral homeland until he was in his fifties. He was deeply influenced by the cold grandeur and sensuous beauty of the Orthodox Church, but equally absorbed by the new rhythms and dance steps coming out of Harlem in the 1930s. He collaborated broadly, with figures like Diaghilev and Stravinsky.   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Now for the first time we look beyond the myth of 'Mr B' - the mask which Balanchine himself helped to create - to see 'Mr B' the man.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49753038717201,"sku":"NGR9781847087751","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51510095347985,"sku":"GOR014308704","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51567249129745,"sku":"GOR014331306","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1847087752.jpg?v=1759233014"},{"product_id":"mr-b-book-jennifer-homans-9780812994308","title":"Mr. B","description":"\u003cb\u003ePULITZER PRIZE FINALIST - A fascinating read about a true genius and his unrelenting thirst for beauty in art and in life.--MIKHAIL BARYSHNIKOV \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the Plutarch Award for Best Biography and the Marfield Prize for Arts Writing - Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e Book Prize, the PEN\/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award, and the Kirkus Prize - Longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBased on a decade of unprecedented research, the first major biography of George Balanchine\u003ci\u003e, \u003c\/i\u003ea broad-canvas portrait set against the backdrop of the tumultuous century that shaped the man \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e called the Shakespeare of dancing--from the bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eApollo's Angels\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003eEditors' Choice - ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, \u003c\/i\u003eNPR, \u003ci\u003eOprah Daily\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eArguably the greatest choreographer who ever lived, George Balanchine was one of the cultural titans of the twentieth century--\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e called him the Shakespeare of dancing. His radical approach to choreography--and life--reinvented the art of ballet and made him a legend. Written with enormous style and artistry, and based on more than one hundred interviews and research in archives across Russia, Europe, and the Americas, \u003ci\u003eMr. B\u003c\/i\u003e carries us through Balanchine's tumultuous and high-pitched life story and into the making of his extraordinary dances. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBalanchine's life intersected with some of the biggest historical events of his century. Born in Russia under the last czar, Balanchine experienced the upheavals of World War I, the Russian Revolution, exile, World War II, and the Cold War. A co-founder of the New York City Ballet, he pressed ballet in America to the forefront of modernism and made it a popular art. None of this was easy, and we see his loneliness and failures, his five marriages--all to dancers--and many loves. 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Her book ends with the contemporary crisis in ballet now that 'the masters are dead and gone' and offers a passionate plea for the centrality of classical dance in our civilization.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49949175578897,"sku":"GOR003530410","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50402599534865,"sku":"CIN1862079501G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50438990725393,"sku":"GOR006003850","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50487711957265,"sku":"GOR007028057","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1862079501.jpg?v=1751249906"},{"product_id":"mr-b-book-jennifer-homans-9780812984781","title":"Mr. B","description":"\u003cb\u003ePULITZER PRIZE FINALIST * A Best Book of the 21st Century (So Far)--\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"A fascinating read about a true genius and his unrelenting thirst for beauty in art and in life.\"--MIKHAIL BARYSHNIKOV\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Winner of the Plutarch Award for Best Biography and the Marfield Prize for Arts Writing * Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e Book Prize, the PEN\/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award, the Kirkus Prize, and the Baillie Gifford Prize\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Based on a decade of unprecedented research, the first major biography of George Balanchine\u003ci\u003e,\u003c\/i\u003e a broad-canvas portrait set against the backdrop of the tumultuous century that shaped the man \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e called \"the Shakespeare of dancing\"--from the bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eApollo's Angels\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Editors' Choice * ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair,\u003c\/i\u003e NPR, \u003ci\u003eOprah Daily\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Arguably the greatest choreographer who ever lived, George Balanchine was one of the cultural titans of the twentieth century--\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e called him \"the Shakespeare of dancing.\" His radical approach to choreography--and life--reinvented the art of ballet and made him a legend. Written with enormous style and artistry, and based on more than one hundred interviews and research in archives across Russia, Europe, and the Americas, \u003ci\u003eMr. B\u003c\/i\u003e carries us through Balanchine's tumultuous and high-pitched life story and into the making of his extraordinary dances.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Balanchine's life intersected with some of the biggest historical events of his century. Born in Russia under the last czar, Balanchine experienced the upheavals of World War I, the Russian Revolution, exile, World War II, and the Cold War. A co-founder of the New York City Ballet, he pressed ballet in America to the forefront of modernism and made it a popular art. None of this was easy, and we see his loneliness and failures, his five marriages--all to dancers--and many loves. We follow his bouts of ill health and spiritual crises, and learn of his profound musical skills and sensibility and his immense determination to make some of the most glorious, strange, and beautiful dances ever to grace the modern stage.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e With full access to Balanchine's papers and many of his dancers, Jennifer Homans, the dance critic for \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e and a former dancer herself, has spent more than a decade researching Balanchine's life and times to write a vast history of the twentieth century through the lens of one of its greatest artists: the definitive biography of the man his dancers called Mr. B.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50020386537745,"sku":"CIN0812984781VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50962668716305,"sku":"CIN0812984781G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51008257917201,"sku":"NIN9780812984781","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0812984781.jpg?v=1750979426"},{"product_id":"apollo-s-angels-a-history-of-ballet-cd-9781452601083","title":"Apollo's Angels","description":"\u003cp\u003eNATIONAL BESTSELER \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFor more than four hundred years, the art of ballet has stood at the center of Western civilization. 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