Books: The Ballet Companion

[Guest ballet_kimmi93]

I'm glad someone else likes this book. I agree, the pictures of different muscles, and also the way Ms. Minden explains a lot is really helpful. I like the "tour de force" sections, they are like a mini-history lesson. Oh, and Victoria Leigh thanks! I'll be sure to check that book out.

[lil' prima]

I got this book for christmas and I love it to! I love it because it backs up everything my teacher says which makes me even more confident in my choice of my school!

[purpletutu]

I bought this book as a treat for myself when I was in Vermont. I absolutely LOVE it! There is almost everything you would want to know about ballet, and the pictures are stunning. The Ballet Companion is a wealth of information, so I can look at it over and over, and it never gets boring! I especially like the sections on the history of ballet-I've learned a lot from it!

 

-Purpletutu-

[Guest ballet_kimmi93]

lil'prima I agree, the book says a lot of stuff my teacher says and I know now that my school's good. Also, I'm just starting pointe and it has a lot of helpful tips.

[diamond_cutie07]

I got this book for Valentines day and I think it's so informational. I like the Tour De Forces also, and it's illustrated (pictures) well.

[sugarplumprincess55]

I love this book too, and I agree with Ms. Leigh, Gretchen Ward Warren's book is also very good.

[Guest Chrysocolla]

I really like this book...it has everything you could possible want to know!

[love4dance47]

Yes that book is amazing. I love it but I don't really have much of a use for it anymore. =[

 

Edited by moderator to correct the 'teen-speak' which we don't allow here on Ballet Talk for Dancers. We have members from all countries here, and we need to be respectful that English may not be their first language.

Edited July 20, 2007 by Clara 76

[PinkonPointe]

Yeah, I love that book too! I got it out from the library out of curiosity, and I was hooked!

[SugarPlumFairy1]

The ballet companion is an awesome book, i bought it last summer and its helped me sooo much. I learned my signature/favorite jump from that book! I highly recomend it to everyone.

[angel_lissa_91]

Just bought this book . It is really informative and interesting.

[dancazrok]

This book is my best friend. Whenever I'm feeling down about how a class went or frustrated with my improvement, I reread this book and feel uplifted (somewhat, I mean, it's only a book =) ). It has an extremely useful section on injuries and cross-training that helps tremendously. I seriously recommend this book.

[hailinpointeshoes]

I checked this out from my college library. Overall The Ballet Companion had some beautiful photos and had some useful information- but it is a very general view of ballet and doesn't get into much detail about any aspect in particular. I think, though, that since I have read many other ballet books (Balanchine Technique by Suki Shorer, Classical Ballet Technique by Gretchen Warren, the Joffrey Ballet School's Ballet-Fit, the Ballet Book w. ABT and many other of those sorts of books that I've forgotten...) little of the information was new to me. There are some stretches presented that I had not read about in other books and some etiquette that was good to go over, but I was not particularly impressed by this book. I think I was expecting a book that would help me improve in ballet class. I like to learn things I haven't learned before and I found that technique and performance aspects were not better clarified to me with a fresh viewpoint. I wasn't inspired to try out a step right then and there to see if I got it right.

 

So, it was a good sort of general view/introduction of ballet and you can learn a few new things, but if you want more details and to be inspired to dance even better after reading, I would go with another book.

[Claude_Catastrophique]

A friend of mine was so nice and bought me the Dancing Times. The present the book The Ballet Companion by Eliza Gaynor Minden. The description in the magazin sounds good but I would like to hear some more opinions before I order it. I can't go to a bookshop and have a look at it because in my country you hardly find a ballet books and if you find one, then it is rather something like Angelina Ballerina than such a book.

 

Has anyone got this book and how do you like it? Would it be worth buying it? I don't really own any books about ballet like this one. I have more biographies of dancers, some lovely books with lots of photos about companies, some books about Heinz Spoerli and his ballets and of course Gretchen Ward Warren.

[namaste08]

This book is without a doubt the best comprehensive book on ballet!

I bought a copy for my daughter when it first came out, and she still uses it as a reference guide. I started thumbing through it when I was wrapping it, and ended up taking a 2 hour break from "Christmas chores" because I just couldn't get my nose out of it. It covers topics from injury prevention to ballet histories and SO much more. One of the best investments on my bookshelf!