Description
Discusses all basic principles of ballet, grouping movement by fundamental types. Diagrams show clearly the exact foot, leg, arm, and body positions for the proper execution of many steps and movements. Although the stars of Russian ballet Anna Pavlova and Tamara Karsavina possessed a national manner of dancing, there was no truly Russian school of dancing until the 1930s. The development of this school was largely due to Mme. Vaganova (1879-1951), not only a great dancer but also the teacher of Galina Ulanova and many others and an unsurpassed theoretician.The principles of Vaganova’s system are presented in this well-known book. Mme. Vaganova’s aim of creating a personal approach to the Russian dance was based on the critical assimilation of the experience of her contemporaries. Her ability to choose the best of what had been accomplished in the various ballet traditions (French, Italian, and Russian) and combine these into a unified teaching practice in itself amounted to a new school of dance. She firmly believed that the teaching process should be a planned exercise, ever changing with innovations in the dance. She sought from her pupils emotional expressiveness, strictness of form, a resolute, energetic manner of performance, and the understanding of the underlying coordination of movements.Her book discusses all basic principles of ballet, grouping movements by fundamental types. Chapters cover battements, rotary movements of the legs, the arms, poses of the classical dance, connecting and auxiliary movements, jumps, beats, point work, and turns as well as material for a sample lesson. Diagrams show clearly the exact foot, leg, arm, and body positions for the proper execution of many steps and movements. The result is a fundamental theory of dance that offers dancers, teachers, and ballet lovers information often difficult to locate in other books. 118 illustrations
Berenice –
Excelente libro
Muy bien explicado
Vanessa –
A very good read and guide to ballet!
I am thoroughly enjoying this book. I read it before class, in particular, I read about the things I will be doing in that class so that I am well prepared. I often read it during a relaxing stretch. If there’s anything in particular that I want to learn it’s great because of the very descriptive language. I only wish it had a glossary of terms with a picture/diagram next to it, so that if you’re in a hurry you won’t have to read through a whole paragraph. The russian to english translation in some places are a bit iffy, which causes some vagueness and ambiguity in it when trying to understand it. But as whole, it is a very good read. To sum it up:PROS:- very descriptive- good diagrams- easy to read and to understandCONS:- a few areas of vagueness due to the russian to english translation (a very minor con)ADVICE:- I suggest you use this book along side with 100 Lessons in Classical Ballet: The Eight-Year Program of Leningrad’s Vaganova Choreographic School (Vera S. Kostrovitskaya).- Highlight particular words or phrases that help you understand the particular term, so that later if/when you’re in a hurry you can just flick through the book to find what you need.
Jonathon Atwood –
Classic. Every dancer needs to own.
The formation of the Russian classical style at the end of the 19th century was an extremely important event in the history of ballet, yet it is not something that happened all at once.This book helps explain how the different national techniques of Italy/France/Denmark came together to inform the Russian technique–probably the most influential training style of the 20th century.The pictures are pretty cute, too.
Em –
🩰
Still reading this book. So far, it has been a great reading experience.
KLennon –
Great when combined with other resources
Because my own dance education was rather inconsistent (spent time under teachers who each used Cecchetti, Vaganova, Balanchine, and Neumeier methods), i ordered this book to help me once i myself began to teach. After reading it, i will forever be a Vaganova fan. Her method is, well, methodical. Very detailed, well-thought out and well-planned. It’s easy to see why she was so successful. My first struggle was that some of the names of steps she uses are now archaic, so i had to do some research to figure out what she was talking about! I also found this book more helpful when combined with another book, called The Perfect Pointe System, which was developed by a dance physiotherapist in Australia named Lisa Howell. Vaganova’s way of teaching artistry is excellent, but i found it necessary to incorporate more modern/scientific ideas about how to use the muscles safely and effectively, which is where Lisa Howell’s book came in. I also bought this book together with 100 Lessons in Classical Ballet, which showed how to fit Vaganova’s thoughts into an actual lesson. Put together, i definitely learned more from reading these three books than from all my years of “dance education” combined!