The origins of the art of exotic dancing lie in English drama and Viennese opera: Oscar Wilde s 1893 play Salome, and Richard Strauss s 1905 opera based on it, brought onto the stage a female character who captured and dominated the audience with the raw power of her naked body. Her Dance of the Seven Veils shocked and fascinated, and Salome became a pop icon on both sides of the Atlantic. Toni Bentley explores how four influential women embraced the persona of the femme fatale and transformed the misogynist image of a dangerously sexual woman into a form of personal liberation."
The origins of the art of exotic dancing lie in English drama and Viennese opera: Oscar Wilde s 1893 play Salome, and Richard Strauss s 1905 op...
"Quite possibly the most revealing book about the world of ballet ever to see print."--National Review "One of the most intelligent and introspective glimpses ever offered into one of the most competitive and excruciatingly nervous existences in the arts."--New York Times Book Review
"Without entirely stripping away the glamour of being a dancer, Bentley's candid and modest account makes for a moving revelation about the price discipline and control exacts from young dancers in the name of art."--Chicago Tribune "A mini-marvel, impossible to put down. . . ....
"Quite possibly the most revealing book about the world of ballet ever to see print."--National Review "One of the most intelligent and int...