Book Description

In the development of ballet the Romantic period was a golden age which has passed into theatrical legend and has provided many an inspiration for later generations of choreographers and dancers. Of the many centres of ballet activity in those fruitful years, London made a contribution of exceptional importance. At Her Majesty's Theatre during the 1840s, the greatest choreographic genius of his day, Jules Perrot, produced an incredible series of masterpieces in which the brightest stars of an unprecedented galaxy of ballerinas were featured, not only individually but - and here London was to be unique - dancing alongside one another. ¬This, the most glorious achievement of the Romantic ballet, provides the highlight of Ivor Guest's classic study which also describes the developments which led up to it and the sad decline that shortly afterwards overtook ballet with almost dramatic suddenness. From an exhaustive examination of contemporary accounts and memoirs, Ivor Guest brings to life the personalities of the ballet scene of that time - Lumley, the impresario, the great Perrot himself, international stars such as Taglioni and Elssler, Cerrito and Carlotta Grisi, and the English dancers of more modest renown, of whom the most promising was the ill-fated Clara Webster. A reissue of a classic work and a companion to the same author's The Romantic Ballet in Paris, this book is the story of an important period in ballet history and of those who played their part in it. Ivor Guest began his research into the history of ballet over sixty years ago, and has published more than thirty books on the subject. Many of his books are standard specialist works noted not only for the depth of his research and his understanding of the political, social, and artistic background, but for their readability. He has long been prominently involved with the Royal Academy of Dance, which, under his chairmanship from 1969 to 1993, enjoyed a period of great expansion, and of which he is now a Vice-President. Ivor Guest is married to Ann Hutchinson, the leading authority on dance notation.