The Everyday Dancer - Hardcover

Bull, Deborah

3.92

138 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0571238920 ISBN 13: 9780571238927

Publisher: Faber and Faber, 2011

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

The Everyday Dancer is a new and honest account of the business of dancing from a writer with first hand experience of the profession. Structured around the daily schedule, The Everyday Dancer goes behind the velvet curtain, the gilt and the glamour to uncover the everyday realities of a career in dance. Starting out with the obligatory daily 'class', the book progresses through the repetition of rehearsals, the excitement of creating new work, the nervous tension of the half hour call, the pressures of performance and the anti-climax of curtain down. Through this vivid portrait of a dancer's every day, Deborah Bull reveals the arc of a dancer's life: from the seven-year-old's very first ballet class, through training, to company life, up through the ranks from corps de ballet to principal and then, not thirty years after it all began, to retirement and the inevitable sense of loss that comes with saying goodbye to your childhood dreams.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:

'The Everyday Dancer' is a shared story: an attempt to tell the truth about dancers' lives. And it is wonderful. --Observer, October 2, 2011

One of the most attractive characteristics of this book is the way the author never loses sight of her beginnings ... I found it enthralling. --Dancing Times, October 1, 2011

I am struck by [Deborah Bull's] remarkable honesty...this is the book that sets it all straight and provides the truest insight into this mysterious world of any book I have ever read.
--ballet.co.uk, October 2011

The magic of musical creation is what threads its way through ...These are the thoughts of a profoundly engaged artist...he offers fascinating side-lights on how he builds a role, and thinks about the voice. --Independent, September 30, 2011

Bostridge writes particularly well about Handel...because he, perhaps uniquely, is in a position to combine an 18th-century historian's depth of contextual understanding with an insider's knowledge of how this music works vocally...reading this sparkling collection leaves one keen for more --Sunday Times, October 2, 2011

Deborah Bull is an articulate, descriptive and enthusiastic writer...When the curtain falls, remember her words: 'Forget Degas and his pastel picture-book perfection.' This is the real dance world: tough, sometimes heartbreaking...but always triumphant and alive. --The Lady, November 4, 2011

Book Description:

A vibrant and compelling first-hand portrait of the life of a dancer, from writer and dancer Deborah Bull.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.