Synopses & Reviews
A frail, exotic-looking girl—so shy she barely spoke a word until age six and so sickly she needed to be home schooled—is diagnosed with flat feet and knock-knees. Her weak legs require remedial dance classes, and thus the tiny and fragile Lilian Alicia Marks is discovered as a child prodigy. Pushed into show business a tage ten, and despite a series of family tragedies and financial ruin, the fourteen-year-old is accepted as the youngest-ever soloist in Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, re-born under the Russified name Alicia Markova.George Balanchine’s first ballet for the company was choreographed for Markova, with costumes personally designed for her by Henri Matisse. The imposing and mercurial Diaghilev would bond emotionally with the tiny dancer as with no one else, even considering legal adoption.This frightfully timid and obedient little girl would become the greatest classical ballerina of her time and one of the most self-reliant, entrepreneurial, and independent dancers in an era of prima donnas. For the first time,Tina Sutton utilizes all of Dame Alicia Markova’s intimate journals and correspondence to paint a full picture of her astonishing rise as a poor, single Jewish woman in a time of rampant anti-Semitism and sexism. Ballet lovers and readers around the world will be fascinated by the story of one of the twentieth century’s great artists.
Review
"She seemed to float and fly, as if the air was her natural element." The Economist
Review
"Her history as a dancer is absolutely unique. Diaghilev was crazy about her." Ninette de Valois, dancer with the Ballets Russes, founder of the Royal Ballet
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"Markova has danced Giselle so many times that she could undoubtedly do it in her sleep; what is so notable is that she never does. She is as fresh, as sensitive, as creatively alert as if she had never done it before." John Martin, dance critic
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"Sutton's lively biography makes use of Markova's personal papers, which she quotes at great length, and the book traces a remarkable career, and captures the spirit of relentless hard work." The New Yorker
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"Sutton's kinetic, meticulously choreographed biography draws upon a vast archive of letters and diaries to reveal the forces of light and gravity that shaped the fiercely independent dancer's soaring 40-year career--and the delicate yet indelible mark she left on the dance world and beyond." VOGUE
Review
"Tina Sutton's biography of legendary prima ballerina Alicia Markova is an ardent and complex choreography of its own. Following Markova from her humble beginnings to the apogee of her career as a dancer, muse, and fashion icon, is a compelling and wonderfully readable portrait of a fiercely independent artist who left an indelible mark on the world. " Amanda Foreman, New York Times bestselling author of Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire
Review
"... after a childhood plagued by flat feet, knock knees and wobbly legs, a doctor told her mother to try ballet lessons and low and behold she was discovered to be the most amazing dance protegee... she started her professional career at age ten and never stopped.... Considered the greatest ambassador of ballet!" WCVB Boston
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"Chock-full of colorful, telling details, fascinating insights, and charming anecdotes that it makes for a thoroughly engaging read. Sutton's book is a captivating portrait of a remarkable life to savor slowly." Biographies: ... - & - quot;The Making of Markova - & - quot;
Review
"The pas de deux would seem the most unlikely topic to yield a page-turner, but Sutton has done it with her fascinating portrait of Alicia Markova. Sutton's poignant, playful Markova shatters the stereotype of the pampered aesthete and deftly places her at the center of an era of breathtaking artistic ferment." The Boston Globe
Review
" is both a surprisingly intimate portrait of one of Britain's and ballet's truly great souls and a sweeping depiction of the kinetic, star-studded world of international ballet in the first half of the twentieth century. Tina Sutton's lucid, deft and limber style admirably suits her subject." Greg Dawson, author of Hiding in the Spotlight: A Musical Prodigy's Story of Survival
Review
"Sutton's sense of wonderment lights up every page of this utterly transporting story of discipline, commitment, hardship, and steely self- reliance. Sutton brings Markova and her world to scintillating life in this ravishing biography of perpetual motion, limelight and darkness, courage and creativity." Paul Thomas Murphy, author of Shooting Victoria, a New York Times Notable Book
Synopsis
As improbable as it is inspiring, the story of one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century, her fortitude and reinvention, and her journey from the Ballets Russes, Balanchine and Matisse to international stardom.
Synopsis
The frail Lilian Alicia Marks, with flat feet and knock knees requiring remedial dance classes is discovered to be a child prodigy. She becomes the youngest-ever soloist in Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes at age 14, re-born under the Russified name Alicia Markova. George Balanchine's first ballet was choreographed for her and Diaghilev bonded with the tiny dancer like no one else, considering adoption. She would become the greatest classical ballerina of her time and one of the most independent dancers in an era of prima donnas, instrumental in the formation of almost every major ballet company in the US and UK while supporting her entire family. Tina Sutton reveals the astonishing rise of a poor, single Jewish woman, despite rampant anti-Semitism and sexism, to one of the 20th century''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''s great artists.
Synopsis
In pre-World War I England, a frail Jewish girl - so shy she barely spoke a word until age six and so sickly she needed to be homeschooled - is diagnosed with flat feet, knock knees and weak legs. In short order, Lilian Alicia Marks would become a dance prodigy, the cherished baby ballerina of Sergei Diaghilev, and the youngest ever soloist at his famed Ballets Russes. It was there that George Balanchine choreographed his first ballet for her, Henri Matisse designed her costumes, and Igor Stravinsky taught her music - all when the re-christened Alicia Markova was just 14. But the timid British dancer would be forced to overcome poverty, jealousy, anti-Semitism, and prejudices against her unconventional looks to become the greatest classical ballerina of her generation - and one of the most celebrated, self-reliant, and adventurous. A true ambassador of ballet, Markova co-founded touring companies, traveled to the far corners of the world, and was the first ballerina to appear on television. Given unprecedented access to Dame Markova's intimate journals and correspondence, Tina Sutton paints a full picture of the dancer's astonishing life and times in 1920s Paris and Monte Carlo, 1930s London, and wartime in New York and Hollywood. Ballet lovers and readers everywhere will be fascinated by the story of one of the 20th century's great artists. 60 photographs
About the Author
Tina Sutton is currently a fashion, features and arts writer for The Boston Globe and has been a writer,researcher, and journalist for over thirty years. She also researches and writes material for museum and art catalogs and the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center.