The Art of Teaching Ballet : Ten Twentieth-Century Masters - a book from the University Press of Florida

The Art of Teaching Ballet
Ten Twentieth-Century Masters

by Gretchen Ward Warren

From Christiane Vaussard in Paris, to David Howard in New York City and Larisa Sklyanskaya in San Francisco, Gretchen Warren profiles ten world-renowned master ballet teachers to capture their philosophies, training methods, and the classroom presence that makes their instruction magical.

Based on extensive interviews and classroom observation, each profile is an entertaining and enlightening mix of personal anecdotes and details about teaching techniques, class content and organization. Warren also includes a section of signature exercises drawn from each teacher. Because of the master teachers' diversity of styles and methods, as well as their occasional disputes with traditional wisdom, the book offers a brisk stimulant for reflecting on the values of developing and holding true to one's own style and beliefs.

Warren combines her years of experience as a dancer and master ballet teacher and her engaging writing style to create a living history of 20th-century classical ballet training. Like their legions of students, readers will appreciate not only these teachers' philosophies, their endless curiosity, and their devotion to ballet, but also what distinguishes them. As Warren observes, "A great teacher, like a great chef, is a master at presentation, at making something--even something as painstakingly difficult as the study of classical ballet--so palatable that students swallow without hesitation. And do so joyfully!"

The Teachers:
Marika Besobrasova, Monte Carlo Willam Christensen, Salt Lake City Janina Cunovas, Victoria, Australia Gabriela Taub-Darvash, New York City David Howard, New York City Larry Long, Chicago Larisa Sklyanskaya, San Francisco Alexander Ursuliak, Stuttgart Christiane Vaussard, Paris Anne Woolliams, Canterbury, England

Gretchen Ward Warren is professor of dance at the University of South Florida, arts commentator for the National Public Radio affiliate WUSF-FM (Tampa), and author of Classical Ballet Technique (UPF, 1989). She was a soloist with the Pennsylvania Ballet for eleven years and ballet mistress of American Ballet Theatre II for five.

1996. 408 pp. 6 X 9.

31 b&w photographs, charts, drawings, exercises, notes, bibliography, glossary, index..

ISBN 0-8130-1459-X
Cloth, $49.95s

ISBN 0-8130-1711-4
Paper, $24.95

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"Ballet teachers will value this addition to the dance literature, and the larger audience of balletomanes will also find it engrossing."--Library Journal

"What a superb and inspiring book this is! It is a celebration of the art of teaching ballet and it will delight anyone who is interested in classical dancing."
"It is by a dancer, for dancers, about dancing, and we should be grateful to Gretchen Ward Warren for giving us the opportunity to share the philosophy, methods, and, above all, the sheer inspiration of these ten great teachers."-- Dancing Times - UK

"Meticulously worded to bring each master forward as a person you'd love to spend time with, each exquisite chapter ends with a sampling of classroom quotes from the teacher, a listing of the order of exercises offered in class, and a chart tracing the pedagogical lineage of teachers reaching back to Gaetano Vestris, Maximillien Gardel, and Louis Dupre."-- Dance Critics Association

"A serious and significant contribution to the field of dance and dance education. [No other book] has covered such a broad spectrum of teachers throughout the world [or] done so in such a lively, thorough, and engaging fashion."-- Judith Chazin-Bennahum, former president, Society of Dance History Scholars