In the history of twentieth-century ballet, no company has had so profound and far-reaching an influence as the Ballets Russes. Under the direction of impresario extraordinaire Serge Diaghilev (1872-1929), the Ballets Russes radically transformed the nature of ballet--its subject matter, movement idiom, choreographic style, stage space, music, scenic design, costume, even the dancer's physical appearance. From 1909 to 1929, it nurtured some of the greatest choreographers in dance history--Fokine, Nijinsky, Massine, and Balanchine--and created such classics as Les Sylphides, Firebird,...

Both as a dancer and a choreographer, Jose Limon electrified audiences from the1930s to the 1960s. With his striking looks and charismatic presence, he was American modern dance's first male star. Born in Culiacan, Mexico, in 1908, the eldest of twelve children, he came to the United States when he was seven. In 1928, after a year at UCLA as an art major, he left for New York. Here, he attended his first modern dance concert and discovered his destiny.

He spent the 1930s with the Humphrey-Weidman group. Then, in the 1940s, after a stint in the army, and with Doris Humphrey as artistic...

Lynn Garafola has written some of the most influential historical studies and criticism in the field of dance. Legacies of Twentieth-Century Dance is a selection of her essays and reviews that together document the extraordinary transformation of dance, especially ballet, since the early 20th century. Part I, "The Ballet Russes and Beyond," explores the relatively uncharted landscape of French ballet and European art dance in the early 1900s. Part II, "Reconfiguring the Sexes," focuses on women, such as choreographer Bronislava Nijinkska and dancer Ida Rubinstein, as well as phenomena that...