A Queer History of the Ballet

<strong>A Queer History of the Ballet</strong>is the first booklength study of balletsqueerness.It theorizes the queer potential of the ballet look and provides... » 

A Queer History of the Balletis the first booklength study of balletsqueerness.It theorizes the queer potential of the ballet look and provideshistorical analyses of queer artists and spectatorships.It demonstrates thatballet was a crucial means of coming to visibility of evolving andarticulating a queer consciousness in periods when it was dangerous and illegalto be homosexual.It also shows that ballet continues to be a key element of thedance cultures through which queerness is explored.The book moves from the 19thcentury through the postmodern era bringing together an important array ofcreative figures and movements including Romantic ballet TchaikovskyDiaghilev Genet Fonteyn New York City Ballet Neumeier Bourne Bausch andMorris.It discusses the making and performance history of key worksincludingLa Sylphide Giselle Sleeping Beauty andSwan Lake.A Queer History of the Balletwill be especially useful to students andscholars involved in the growing number of courses on queer culture theatrestudies dance history gender studies and crossdisciplinary approaches toliterature.It is written in a lively clear style that will make it accessibleto the nonacademic reader who has an interest in queer andor dance history. «