BWW Book Review: SHAPES OF AMERICAN BALLET: Teachers and Training Before Balanchine, by Jessica Zeller

Jessica Zeller's exhaustively researched and engagingly written book, available now for pre-order, is an eye-opening addition to our currently extant ballet literature. Full disclosure: I was Zeller's childhood ballet teacher, and I'm honored that she mentions me in her acknowledgements. That said, however, my review of her impressive and valuable contribution to the history of ballet in America is unbiased.

The subtitle nails her message: "Teachers and Training Before Balanchine". As she states in her Introduction, "This book seeks to expand upon the existing narrative of American ballet and to refute the widespread notion that the period between 1909 and 1934 was 'largely barren ground' ". The quote is from Jennifer Dunning's 1985 book about the School of American Ballet, But First a School, which is what Balanchine is famously reported to have said to Lincoln Kirstein regarding the founding of a ballet company in the United States.

The fact that Zeller, now a PhD who is an Assistant Professor of Dance at Texas Christian University, has written a book that is both scholarly and a page-turner is a remarkable achievement. Whether you're a dancer, a balletomane, a dance parent, or a combination of the three, don't miss the opportunity to fill in the gaps in your knowledge about how ballet, an émigré art form on our shores, gained a foothold and survived the Great Depression to evolve into a uniquely American brand of dancing. The credit for that, according to Zeller, goes not so much to choreographers as to teachers, as well as to the pluckiness of the droves of young dancers who chased their dancing dreams in New York City. Zeller focuses on five notable pedagogues: Malvina Cavallazzi, Luigi Albertieri, Stefano Mascagno, Mikhail Mordkin, Veronine Vestoff, Sonia Serova, and Louis H. Chalif. If any or all of those names are unfamiliar to you, that underscores the reason you really need to read Shapes of American Ballet.

Along with anecdotes and historical references, you'll be treated to some rare photographs from the era Zeller illuminates - including an image of pointe shoes with little skates attached and pointe shoes with taps attached. Some of the photos, notably those from the early days of the Metropolitan Opera Ballet School, have a distinctly Degas-like quality. Others are taken from the mail-order manuals, popular at the time, that acted as revenue sources for teachers.

In sum, pre-order this important book now and add it to your personal library of dance books. You'll be glad you did!