Ballet's Magic Kingdom (Paperback). This item is unavailable.Ballet's Magic Kingdom (Paperback)

Paperback. The first translation of the writings of Akim Volynsky, the greatest ballet authority of early twentieth-century Russia Akim Volynsky was a Russian literary critic, journalist, and art historian who became Saint Petersburgs liveliest and most prolific ballet critic in the early part of the twentieth century. This book, the first English edition of his provocative and influential writings, provides a striking look at life inside the world of Russian ballet at a crucial era in its history.Stanley J. Rabinowitz selects and translates forty of Volynskys articlesvivid, eyewitness accounts that sparkle with details about the careers and personalities of such dance luminaries as Anna Pavlova, Mikhail Fokine, Tamara Karsavina, and George Balanchine, at that time a young dancer in the Maryinsky company whose keen musical sense and creative interpretive power Volynsky was one of the first to recognize. Rabinowitz also translates Volynskys magnum opus, The Book of Exaltations, an elaborate meditation on classical dance technique that is at once a primer and an ideological treatise. Throughout his writings, Rabinowitz argues in his critical introduction, which sets Volynskys life and work against the backdrop of the principal intellectual currents of his time, Volynsky emphasizes the spiritual and ethereal qualities of ballet. Akim Volynsky was a Russian literary critic, journalist, and art historian who became Saint Petersburg's most prolific ballet critic in the early part of the twentieth century. This book features a collection of his provocative and influential writings, and provides a look at life inside the world of Russian ballet at a crucial era in its history. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.…