Celestial Bodies: How to Look at Ballet

Full disclosure: Laura Jacobs and I have been talking dance (and theater and music…) for decades now. So, don’t expect me to be impartial—not when I’m quoted, listed in her index, and most handsomely singled out in the acknowledgments. That’s not to say I don’t have an honest opinion, so if you’re interested, read on.If the subtitle leads you to expect a primer for curious beginners, you’re off the mark. Yes, with its meditations on the implication of ballet’s five positions, the arabesque, and other fundamentals, Laura’s guide will give you a worthwhile grounding. But this is not, as it were, the work of a grammarian. Laura is one of the viewers who are all there, thinking all the time, constantly revising spontaneous impressions.There are those who will say (some customer reviewers have done so) that Laura overwrites. Sure enough, if a single metaphor or simile per topics exhausts your tolerance, you may think so, too. At one level, her centrifugal enchaînements of free association are the very opposite of analysis: images arc through her mind like meteor showers off a disco ball, scattering every which way yet within their own broad band of harmony. At her best, she achieves by accretion of detail the depth of focus more conventionally arrived at by reduction, by stripping away.One other thing: Laura is the least doctrinaire of balletomanes, unwilling to stake out absolutist positions. You may want to see your classics in the Platonic purity (if that’s what it is) of their original performances. Or perhaps you prefer to let them evolve performance by performance, season by season (as indeed they must, in the flow of time). So be it. Laura has her crushes, her predilections, her changes of heart. By example, she invites new aficionados to develop their own.

For this very non-expert reader in the field, the author provided a lot of understanding along with her own passion for the art. What had been deeply mysterious is now much clearer, allowing for greater appreciation.

I just read Celestial Bodies for the second time. What a salve, to be transported to the ballet after being unable to attend live performances for the past year and a half! The author manages, with her beautiful writing, to bring this completely non-verbal art form to life on the page. Quite an accomplishment.

As a person who's only been to the ballet once (The Nutcracker), I found this book to be the perfect introduction to the world of ballet. It gives the novice an inside look at its history, definitions, and the dancers who bring the story to the stage. I found myself on Youtube (repeatedly, I might add) looking up various ballets and dissecting the music, choreography, and the dancers' individual styles. This is a MUST read for anyone interested in learning about ballet and its origins. After reading this, you will want to buy tickets to the next ballet in town!

What makes this book so special is that while we distantly respect and admire ballerinas, we secretly misunderstand them. Jacobs has changed all that. In CELESTIAL BODIES, she takes years of knowledge, mixing her words with anecdotes, interviews and technical definitions to dissect a delicate dance form. This poetic overview about tutus and pirouettes is ultimately very feminist, very much about women taking an art form and making it THEIRS.Like a curtain call at the end of Swan Lake...Jacobs deserves a standing ovation on pointe...and a throw of roses!

I've become interested in contemporary ballet in just the last few years and wanted to know more about it. This book taught me a lots about the aims of ballet and its history. I've read it twice and know I will go back again many times to particular chapters. Here and there it becomes a little lyrical and poetic for my taste but show the true passion of the author for ballet.

Celestial Bodies is a beautifully written book about ballet. Anyone from a ballet expert to a complete novice can read and learn from it. Laura Jacobs is a talented wordsmith as well as an expert on ballet; she makes the subject come alive. This book is worth reading and savoring.

If you studied or really understand Classical Ballet, you will find this knowledgeable and accurate book to be another lesson in itself. There is always more to learn, and this book provides excellent insights.

Celestial Bodies is a cleverly written, beautifully presented and well researched portrait of ballet. Having studied ballet for years, and having watched many ballets, I found this book augmented my store of knowledge of ballet. Yet I believe it can also benefit someone completely new to ballet. It is almost as though Laura Jacobs has written a PhD thesis on ballet. But it is also much more. She draws from many sources to present a portrait of a magical art form. It was a pleasure to read.

Interesting research, but not a page turner.