The Shape of Love - Hardcover

Kirkland, Gelsey

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385249187 ISBN 13: 9780385249188

Publisher: Doubleday, 1989

Synopsis

The famed ballerina traces the shape of love in her career and tells the story of her return to the stage, in a journey of artistic discovery that also portrays her nurturing marriage

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

In their second book, ballerina Kirkland ( Dancing on My Grave ) and her husband will surprise their followers. Though in the earlier work she was a vocal rebel from the strictures of classical dance--Kirkland argued, often with eloquent ferocity, that ballet in America is a hopelessly skewed and exploitative calling--here she seems to make a dogged peace with herself and her peers. Set in London of 1986, where she was rehearsing her acclaimed comeback in Romeo and Juliet with the Royal Ballet, the sequel allows the authors to expound at length on Kirkland's evolving ideas on how to think about dance, as well as how to dance. We are privy to studio sweat and the banter of a happy marriage, the play of backstage personalities and the inevitable intensity that accompanies creation. The power of Kirkland's obsession is difficult to resist, though its purview is intentionally selective--hardly a hint of gossip or scandal attends this chronicle, unlike its angry predecessor. A spellbound maverick, Kirkland still has plenty to say--and says it memorably.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal:

In Dancing on My Grave ( LJ 11/1/86) Kirkland recounted her years as a leading ballerina who nearly lost both her career and her life as she descended into drug addiction and suicidal despair. Taking up the story where that book ended, this tells what has happened to Kirkland and Lawrence since recovery and their marriage. After an absence of two years Kirkland triumphantly returned to the stage to perform with the Royal Ballet in Romeo and Juliet and The Sleeping Beauty. Kirkland laments the imitative quality of many dancers and finds her mission, as a dancer and teacher, in portraying and preserving the dramatic form in dance. Buoyed by love for her husband and her art, Kirkland is a survivor who doesn't hesitate to express her opinions. Her story is compelling and likely to be a best seller. Recommended for most libraries. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 4/15/90.
- Joan Stahl, National Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Doubleday
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0385249187
• ISBN 13: 9780385249188
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 237