Download or read book The Chosen Maiden written by Eva Stachniak and published by Doubleday Canada. This book was released on 2017-01-17 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The lush, sweeping story of a remarkable dancer who charts her own course through the tumultuous years of early twentieth-century Europe. Beautifully blending fiction with fact, The Chosen Maiden plunges readers into an artistic world upended by modernity, immersing them in the experiences of the era's giants, from Anna Pavlova and Serge Diaghilev to Coco Chanel and Pablo Picasso. From their earliest days, the Nijinsky siblings appear destined for the stage. Bronia is a gifted young ballerina, but she is quickly eclipsed by her brother Vaslav. Deemed a prodigy, Vaslav Nijinsky will grow into the greatest, and most provocative, dancer of his time. To prove herself her brother's equal in the rigid world of ballet, Bronia will need to be more than extraordinary, defying society's expectations of what a female dancer can and should be. The real-life muse behind one of the most spectacular roles in dance, The Rite of Spring's Chosen Maiden, Bronia rises to the heights of modern ballet through grit, resilience and fervor. But when the First World War erupts and rebellion sparks in Russia, Bronia—caught between old and new, traditional and ground-breaking, safe and passionate—must begin her own search for what it means to be modern.
Download or read book Shield Maiden written by Richard Denning and published by Mercia Books. This book was released on 2012-05 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Anna, a girl growing up in a Saxon village in seventh-century Mercia, finds a golden horn in the ruins of a Roman villa. Soon an ugly dwarf, a beautiful sorceress, and even her own people are after her to gain the powers of the horn.
Download or read book Death and the Maiden written by Ariel Dorfman and published by Penguin. This book was released on 1994-12-01 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Suspenseful, riveting . . . Achieves a universality that is movingly personal.” —The New York Times The explosively provocative, award-winning drama set in a country that has just emerged from a totalitarian dictatorship Gerardo Escobar has just been chosen to head the commission that will investigate the crimes of the old regime when his car breaks down and he is picked up by the humane doctor Roberto Miranda. But in the voice of this good Samaritan, Gerardo's wife, Paulina Salas, thinks she recognizes another man—the one who raped and tortured her as she lay blindfolded in a military detention center years before. Relentlessly paced and filled with lethal surprises, Death and the Maiden is an inquest into the darker side of humanity—one in which everyone is implicated and justice itself comes to seem like a fragile, perhaps ambiguous invention.
Download or read book Modernism on Stage written by Juliet Bellow and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-07-05 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modernism on Stage restores Serge Diaghilev?s Ballets Russes to its central role in the Parisian art world of the 1910s and 1920s. During those years, the Ballets Russes? stage served as a dynamic forum for the interaction of artistic genres - dance, music and painting - in a mixed-media form inspired by Richard Wagner?s Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art). This interdisciplinary study combines a broad history of Diaghilev?s troupe with close readings of four ballets designed by canonical modernist artists: Pablo Picasso, Sonia Delaunay, Henri Matisse, and Giorgio de Chirico. Experimental both in concept and form, these productions redefine our understanding of the interconnected worlds of the visual and performing arts, elite culture and mass entertainment in Paris between the two world wars. This volume traces the ways in which artists working with the Ballets Russes adapted painterly styles to the temporal, three-dimensional and corporeal medium of ballet. Analyzing interactions among sets, costumes, choreography, and musical accompaniment, the book establishes what the Ballets Russes' productions looked like and how audiences reacted to them. Juliet Bellow brings dance to bear upon modernist art history as more than a source of imagery or ornament: she spotlights a complex dialogue among art forms that did not preclude but rather enhanced artists? interrogation of the limits of medium.
Download or read book The Rite of Spring at 100 written by Severine Neff and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2017-04-27 with total page 615 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Igor Stravinsky's ballet Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring) premiered during the 1913 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, its avant-garde music and jarring choreography scandalized audiences. Today it is considered one of the most influential musical works of the twentieth century. In this volume, the ballet finally receives the full critical attention it deserves, as distinguished music and dance scholars discuss the meaning of the work and its far-reaching influence on world music, performance, and culture. Essays explore four key facets of the ballet: its choreography and movement; the cultural and historical contexts of its performance and reception in France; its structure and use of innovative rhythmic and tonal features; and the reception of the work in Russian music history and theory. This version also includes audio and visual supplements designed to enhance understanding of this classic piece.
Download or read book Christina Dodd The Chosen One Novels written by Christina Dodd and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2012-07-03 with total page 2250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the world was young, twins were born. One brought light to a dark world. The other, darkness and danger. They gathered others around them, men and women destined to use their powerful gifts for good or evil. Today, their descendants walk the earth as the Chosen, and the ultimate battle has begun... in the first four novels of bestselling author Christina Dodd's popular paranormal series. Storm of Vision Storm of Shadows Chains of Ice Chains of Fire
Download or read book Empress of the Night written by Eva Stachniak and published by Bantam. This book was released on 2014-03-25 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Perfect for readers of Hilary Mantel, Alison Weir, and Philippa Gregory, Empress of the Night is Eva Stachniak’s engrossing new novel, told in the voice of Catherine the Great as the Romanov monarch reflects on her ascension to the throne, her rule over the world’s greatest power, and the sacrifices that made her the most feared and commanding woman of her time. A critically acclaimed historical drama and instant #1 international bestseller, The Winter Palace brilliantly reimagined the rise of Catherine the Great through the watchful eyes of her clever servant Varvara. Now, in Eva Stachniak’s enthralling new novel, Catherine takes center stage as she relives her astonishing ascension to the throne, her rule over an empire, and the sacrifices that made her the most feared and commanding woman of her time. As the book opens, the charismatic monarch is in her final hours. From the fevered depths of her mind, Catherine recalls the fateful trajectory of her turbulent life: her precarious apprenticeship as Russia’s Grand Duchess, the usurpers who seek to deprive her of a crown, the friends who beg more of her than she was willing to give, and her struggle to know whom to trust and whom to deceive to ensure her survival. “We quarrel about power, not about love,” Catherine would write to the great love of her life, Grigory Potemkin, but her days were balanced on the razor’s edge of choosing her head over her heart. Power, she learns, is about resolve, strategy, and direction; love must sometimes be secondary as she marshals all her strengths to steer her volatile country into a new century and beyond—to grow the Romanov empire, to amass a vast fortune, and to control a scheming court in order to become one of history’s greatest rulers. Gorgeously written with vivid detail and lyrical prose, Empress of the Night is an intensely intimate novel of a woman in charge of her fortunes, who must navigate the sorrows, triumphs, and hopes of both her soul and a nation. Praise for Empress of the Night “[Eva] Stachniak’s absorbing novel opens readers’ hearts to an extraordinary and misunderstood woman. . . . Wonderfully, lyrically written, Stachniak’s story vibrates with passion, drama and intrigue. This is a feast for fans.”—RT Book Reviews “Stachniak’s insight into the opulent lives of Russia’s rulers continues in this reflective second novel. . . . Historical fiction fans will appreciate this personal account of a formidable and, indeed, infamous ruler.”—Library Journal “The book takes on a dreamlike quality. . . . Ambitious . . . moving . . . structurally complex and psychologically intense . . . vivid descriptions.”—Quill & Quire “Stachniak brings to life one of the most fascinating—and controversial—female rulers of all time.”—DuJour “Empress of the Night casts light on Catherine’s life with unflinching honesty and intimacy. This fun novel of lovers, intrigue, and malicious and manipulative nobility keeps readers enthralled with every page.”—Virtuoso Life
Download or read book The Warrior Maiden written by Melanie Dickerson and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2019-02-05 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: She is expected to marry, cook, and have children—and instead she’s sneaking off to war. Can she manage to stay alive, save her mother, and keep the handsome son of a duke from discovering her secret? The Warrior Maiden is a reimagining of the classic Mulan tale in medieval Europe. When Mulan takes her father’s place in battle against the besieging Teutonic Knights, she realizes she has been preparing for this journey her whole life—and that her life, and her mother’s, depends on her success. As the adopted daughter of poor parents, Mulan has little power in the world. If she can’t prove herself on the battlefield, she could face death—or, perhaps worse, marriage to the village butcher. Disguised as a young man, Mulan meets the German duke’s son, Wolfgang, who is determined to save his people even if it means fighting against his own brother. Wolfgang is exasperated by the new soldier who always seems to be one step away from disaster—or showing him up in embarrassing ways. From rivals to reluctant friends, Mulan and Wolfgang begin to share secrets. But war is an uncertain time and dreams can die as quickly as they are born. When Mulan receives word of danger back home, she must make the ultimate choice. Can she be the son her bitter father never had? Or will she become the strong young woman she was created to be? This fresh twist on the classic tale takes us to fifteenth-century Lithuania where both love and war challenge the strongest of heroes. Praise for The Warrior Maiden: “In this fantastic retelling, Dickerson brings to life a completely new aspect of the medieval era . . . Discover castles, battles, beliefs, and injustices alongside Wolfgang and Mulan . . .” —Hope by the Book Full length clean fairy tale retelling Stand-alone novel in the Hagenheim Series by New York Times bestselling author Melanie Dickerson Includes discussion questions for book clubs
Download or read book The Chosen One Die Auserw hlte written by Friedrich Wilhelm Kücken and published by . This book was released on 1856 with total page 6 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Celestial Bodies written by Laura Jacobs and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2018-05-08 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A distinguished dance critic offers an enchanting introduction to the art of ballet As much as we may enjoy Swan Lake or The Nutcracker, for many of us ballet is a foreign language. It communicates through movement, not words, and its history lies almost entirely abroad -- in Russia, Italy, and France. In Celestial Bodies, dance critic Laura Jacobs makes the foreign familiar, providing a lively, poetic, and uniquely accessible introduction to the world of classical dance. Combining history, interviews with dancers, technical definitions, descriptions of performances, and personal stories, Jacobs offers an intimate and passionate guide to watching ballet and understanding the central elements of choreography. Beautifully written and elegantly illustrated with original drawings, Celestial Bodies is essential reading for all lovers of this magnificent art form.
Download or read book Aging Performance and Stardom written by Aagje Swinnen and published by LIT Verlag Münster. This book was released on 2012 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume focuses on questions concerning the ways in which actors and socialites perform aging on the stage of consumerist culture. How do celebrities, whose star personae are ultimately connected with the prime of their lives, cope with the aging process?
Download or read book Stravinsky and the Russian Traditions Volume One written by Richard Taruskin and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2016-04-27 with total page 992 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book undoes 50 years of mythmaking about Stravinsky's life in music. During his spectacular career, Igor Stravinsky underplayed his Russian past in favor of a European cosmopolitanism. Richard Taruskin has refused to take the composer at his word. In this long-awaited study, he defines Stravinsky's relationship to the musical and artistic traditions of his native land and gives us a dramatically new picture of one of the major figures in the history of music. Taruskin draws directly on newly accessible archives and on a wealth of Russian documents. In Volume One, he sets the historical scene: the St. Petersburg musical press, the arts journals, and the writings of anthropologists, folklorists, philosophers, and poets. Volume Two addresses the masterpieces of Stravinsky's early maturityÑPetrushka, The Rite of Spring, and Les Noces. Taruskin investigates the composer's collaborations with Diaghilev to illuminate the relationship between folklore and modernity. He elucidates the Silver Age ideal of "neonationalism"Ñthe professional appropriation of motifs and style characteristics from folk artÑand how Stravinsky realized this ideal in his music. Taruskin demonstrates how Stravinsky achieved his modernist technique by combining what was most characteristically Russian in his musical training with stylistic elements abstracted from Russian folklore. The stylistic synthesis thus achieved formed Stravinsky as a composer for life, whatever the aesthetic allegiances he later professed. Written with Taruskin's characteristic mixture of in-depth research and stylistic verve, this book will be mandatory reading for all those seriously interested in the life and work of Stravinsky.
Download or read book La Nijinska written by and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2022-04-06 with total page 729 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: La Nijinska is the first biography of twentieth-century ballet's premier female choreographer, shedding new light on the modern history of ballet, and recuperating the memory of lost works and forgotten artists, all while revealing the sexism that still confronts women choreographers in the ballet world.
Download or read book A Dictionary of the Osage Language written by Francis La Flesche and published by . This book was released on 1932 with total page 978 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Jerusalem Maiden written by Talia Carner and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2011-05-31 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Talia Carner is a skillful and heartfelt storyteller who takes the reader on journey of the senses, into a world long forgotten.” —Jennifer Lauck, author of Blackbird “Exquisitely told, with details so vivid you can almost taste the food and hear the voices….A moving and utterly captivating novel that I will be thinking about for a long, long time.” —Tess Gerritsen, author of The Silent Girl “Talia Carner’s story captivates at every level, heart and mind.” —Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean The poignant, colorful, and unforgettable story of a young woman in early 20th-century Jerusalem who must choose between her faith and her passion, Jerusalem Maiden heralds the arrival of a magnificent new literary voice, Talia Carner. In the bestselling vein of The Red Tent, The Kite Runner, and A Thousand Splendid Suns, Jerusalem Maiden brilliantly evokes the sights and sounds of the Middle East during the final days of the Ottoman Empire. Historical fiction and Bible lovers will be captivated by this thrilling tale of a young Jewish woman during a fascinating era, her inner struggle with breaking the Second Commandment, and her ultimate transcendence through self-discovery.
Download or read book American Anthropologist written by and published by . This book was released on 1912 with total page 850 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Martha Graham written by Neil Baldwin and published by Knopf. This book was released on 2022-10-25 with total page 577 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A major biography—the first in three decades—of one of the most important artistic forces of the twentieth century, the legendary American dancer and choreographer who upended dance, propelling the art form into the modern age, and whose profound and pioneering influence is still being felt today. "Brings together all the elements of Graham’s colorful life...with wit, verve, critical discernment, and a powerful lyricism.”—Mary Dearborn, acclaimed author of Ernest Hemingway Time magazine called her “the Dancer of the Century.” Her technique, used by dance companies throughout the world, became the first long-lasting alternative to the idiom of classical ballet. Her pioneering movements—powerful, dynamic, jagged, edgy, forthright—combined with her distinctive system of training, were the epitome of American modernism, performance as art. Her work continued to astonish and inspire for more than sixty years as she choreographed more than 180 works. At the heart of Graham’s work: movement that could express inner feeling. Neil Baldwin, author of admired biographies of Man Ray (“Truly definitive . . . absolutely fascinating” —Patricia Bosworth) and Thomas Edison (“Absorbing, gripping, a major contribution to our understanding of a remarkable man and a remarkable era” —Robert Caro), gives us the artist and performer, the dance monument who led a cult of dance worshippers as well as the woman herself in all of her complexity. Here is Graham, from her nineteenth-century (born in 1894) Allegheny, Pennsylvania, childhood, to becoming the star of the Denishawn exotic ballets, and in 1926, at age thirty-two, founding her own company (now the longest-running dance company in America). Baldwin writes of how the company flourished during the artistic explosion of New York City’s midcentury cultural scene; of Erick Hawkins, in 1936, fresh from Balanchine’s School of American Ballet, a handsome Midwesterner fourteen years her junior, becoming Graham’s muse, lover, and eventual spouse. Graham, inspiring the next generation of dancers, choreographers, and teachers, among them: Merce Cunningham and Paul Taylor. Baldwin tells the story of this large, fiercely lived life, a life beset by conflict, competition, and loneliness—filled with fire and inspiration, drive, passion, dedication, and sacrifice in work and in dance creation.
