Library: Dance: Ballet

Ballet Russo de Monte Carlo

Maria Tallchief and Frederic Franklin in a 1955 advertisement for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Wikimedia Commons.

Browsing the Shelves

Books related to dance and ballet can be found in the following call number ranges:

GV1590 - GV1594 - General works
GV1600 - Dance criticism, appreciation
GV1645 - GV1728 - Dance history (and historical dance)
M1520 - M1526 Ballets (full scores, piano scores, excerpts)

Subject Headings:

Ballerinas
Ballet
Ballet -- Aesthetics
Ballet -- Costume
Ballet dance music
Ballet dancers
Ballet dancing -- Accidents and injuries
Ballets -- Excerpts -- Piano Scores

General Ballet Resources

American Ballet Theater Ballet Dictionary A useful collection of definitions and terminology for the study of ballet.
Dance Notation Bureau (Labanoation) The Dance Notation Bureau’s (DNB) mission is to advance the art of dance through the use of a system of notation. DNB does this by creating dance scores using the symbol system called Labanotation. This allows the dances to continue to be performed long after the lifetime of the artist. Dance scores function for dance the same way music scores function for music.

Selected Dancers and Companies

Baryshnikov : the dancer and the dance
Call Number: VIEW ONLINE (UH STREAMING)
Publication Date: 2017
Maria Tallchief Interviews
Call Number: VIEW ONLINE (AVON)
Publication Date: 1996
Life in Motion by Misty Copeland
Call Number: READ GV1785.C635 C66 2014
ISBN: 9781476737997
Publication Date: 2014-12-16
The American Ballet Theatre by Charles Payne
Call Number: OVERSIZE GV1786.A43 A44
ISBN: 0394498356
Publication Date: 1978-03-12
Ballets Russes by Richard Shead
Call Number: OVERSIZE GV1787 .S53 1989
ISBN: 9781555214388
Publication Date: 1989-01-01

History of Ballet

Ballet's Magic Kingdom by Akim Volynsky; Stanley J. Rabinowitz (Editor)
Call Number: READ ONLINE (EBSCO, EBOOK CENTRAL)
ISBN: 0300142498
Publication Date: 2008-12-09
Apollo's Angels by Jennifer Homans
Call Number: MAIN GV1787 .H58 2010
ISBN: 0812968743
Publication Date: 2011-11-29

Selected Ballet Videos

Jerome Robbins Dance Division [New York Public Library] Audio & Moving Image Archive Explore New York Public Library's Dance Division's digitized moving image and audio recordings.

Swan Lake by Bolshoi Ballet This episode of Footnotes: The Classics of Ballet is about Swan Lake. Dancer Frank Augustyn and others discuss various aspects of the ballet Swan lake, beginning with its evolution from a failure at its first performance to its current status as a ballet classic. Drawing on their own performing experiences, the dancers discuss how the story can be made believable and compelling. They note changes in the choreography over time, particularly the increased importance of the male dancer. Advances in technical facility, exemplified by the thirty-two fouettés executed in the role of Odile by Pierina Legnani, are contrasted to the ballet's emphasis upon dramatic characterization, especially in the dual role of Odette/Odile. Performance excerpts (choreography by Yuri Grigorovich after Aleksandr Gorski, Lev Ivanov, and Marius Petipa) illustrate the discussion.
Call Number: STREAMING VIDEO
Publication Date: 1995
Sylvia by Orchestra of the Opéra National de Paris; Ballet of the Opéra national de Paris (Paris Opera Ballet) This is a performance of Sylvia, performed by Orchestra of the Opera National de Paris and Ballet of the Opera national de Paris (Paris Opera Ballet), and conducted by Paul Connelly.
Call Number: STREAMING VIDEO
Publication Date: 2005
Chroma by The Royal Ballet The diversity of Wayne McGregor’s astonishing talent is demonstrated through Chroma, Infra and Limen, each created for The Royal Ballet, for whom he is resident choreographer. Intimate yet universal, light yet dark, frenetic yet lyrical, McGregor pursues his passion for exploring the inner workings of the human body and mind, his many-layered and beautiful dances providing visual, sensual and kinesthetic stimulus for the viewer.
Call Number: STREAMING ONLINE
Publication Date: 2011
The Body Electric by Boston Ballet This interview with Bruce Marks is about Boston Ballet and their show "The Body Electric."
Call Number: STREAMING ONLINE
Publication Date: 1998

Ballet Companies

American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre is considered one of the greatest dance companies in the world, revered as a living national treasure since its founding in 1939. Few ballet companies rival ABT in size, scope, and outreach. Though located in New York City, ABT annually tours the United States – performing for 300,000 people annually – and is the only major cultural institution to do so. The Company has made more than 30 international tours to 45 countries in order to share American ballet with the world, and on many of these engagements ABT received sponsorship from the State Department of the United States Government.
Bolshoi Ballet The Bolshoi building, which for many years now has been regarded as one of Moscow’s main sights, was opened on 20 October 1856, on Tsar Alexander II’s coronation day.
New York City Ballet The Company was founded in 1948 by George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein, and it quickly became world-renowned for its athletic and contemporary style. Jerome Robbins joined NYCB the following year and, with Balanchine, helped to build the astounding repertory and firmly establish the Company in New York.
Boston Ballet
San Francisco Ballet San Francisco Ballet, long recognized for pushing boundaries in dance, has a history of making history. Founded in 1933, the company staged the first full-length American productions of Coppélia (1938) and Swan Lake (1940) and, in 1944, we launched an annual holiday tradition when we produced the first full-length production of Nutcracker in the US. Led by Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer, Helgi Tomasson, SF Ballet is accompanied by its own orchestra and operates one of the country’s most prestigious schools of ballet. Today we build on our heritage by commissioning groundbreaking dance from today’s top choreographers, by uncovering new choreographic talent, and by staging modern classics and the works that make up the canon of classic ballet. Our approach defines ballet in the 21st century, and it makes San Francisco Ballet the essential place to see the most adventurous dance in America.