Readings.com.au: New Performing Arts

Michael Clark

Notorious for his continually subversive takes on classical dance, Michael Clark is without doubt one of the most important dancers and choreographers of our time. He has created some of contemporary dance's finest productions, often using leftfield rock music (most famously in his fantastic collaboration with The Fall, I Am Curious, Orange). Situated at the heart of the British postpunk art scene, Clark is much admired for his judicious choice of collaborators, such as designers Bodymap, artists Cerith Wyn Evans, Leigh Bowery, Charles Atlas, Peter Doig and Sarah Lucas, film director Peter Greenaway (Clark played Caliban in Prospero's Books) and bands The Fall, Laibach and Wire. This monograph, the first on this major artist, celebrates the whole of Michael Clark's career to date, from the late 70s to the present. Rich in visual and archival material, it contains new essays on Clark's work, photography by Hugo Glendinning, Richard Haughton, Nick Knight, David LaChapelle, Chris Nash and others, plus interviews with many of Clark's collaborators from the worlds of dance, art, fashion and music. Limited edition photographs are available from the publisher. Michael Clark set up his own dance company in 1984, at the age of 22. He immediately won the admiration of Rudolf Nureyev, who commissioned ballets from Clark for the repertoire at the Paris Opera. Clark has also been the subject of numerous films and documentaries, including the fictional biography Hail the New Puritan by Charles Atlas and The Late Michael Clark, directed by Sophie Fiennes. The book contains additional text contributions from Richard Alston, Karole Armitage, Charles Atlas, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Christine Binnie, Val Bourne, Lesley Bryant, Michael Clark, Kate Coyne, Peter Doig, Sophie Fiennes, Bruce Gilbert, Richard Glasstone, David Gothard, Matthew Hawkins, Melissa Hetherington, Jeffrey Hinton, David Holah, Sarah Lucas, Judith Mackrell, Jann Parry, Lorcan O'Neill, Grayson Perry, Jane Quinn, Steven Scott, Susan Stenger, Stevie Stewart, Ellen van Schuylenburch, Arabella Stanger, Simon Williams and Cerith Wyn Evans Photography by Julian Broad, Henrietta Butler, Dee Conway, Gaultier Deblonde, Ravi Deepres, Malcolm Garrett, Hugo Glendinning, David Gwinnutt, Chris Harris, Richard Haughton, Nick Knight, Thomas Krygier, David Lachapelle, Laurie Lewis, Tony McCann, Chris Nash, Nigel Norrington, Pierre Rutchi, Michael Stannard, Andrea Stappert, Wolfgang Tillmans, Allan Titmuss, Jake Walter, Fred Whisker, and Darryl Williams.

Pulitzer Prize Plays First Fifty Years 1917 1967

Insightful and inspiring analysis of the plays that won the Pulitzer Prize during the first 50 years of its existence (1917-1967). In a series of accessible and straightforward essays, Paul Firestone provides insight into how these dramas reflect America's cultural values and mores, organizing them by their major themes: family life, social protest, political heroes, the spiritual condition of man, and morality in a materialistic society.

Art To Hear Masks Metamorphoses Of The Face

As long as humankind has needed ritual, theater and dialogue, it has fashioned and deployed masks. Modern art's relationship with masks underwent a transformation in the late nineteenth century, as Japanese and African mask craft penetrated the European consciousness; prior to this, though, they could be found in any artist's studio, where they served as models for the execution of a portrait. Even death masks (e.g. of Napoleon, Géricault, Beethoven) were collected, for their phrenological and artistic qualities. This guided audio tour elaborates the perennial strangeness of the mask, using over 40 examples deriving from various cultures and dating from between 1860 and 1930. Literary commentary on the subject, by writers such as Oscar Wilde ("Give [a man] a mask, and he will tell you the truth") and Claude Lévi-Strauss (whose The Way of Masks remains a basic text on the subject), complete the tour. The accompanying book presents annotated works by, among others, Rodin, Paul Gauguin and Arnold Böcklin, in large-format color illustrations.

Belonging Australian Playwriting In The Twentieth Century

John McCallum’s new history explores the relationship between 20th century Australian drama and a developing concept of nation. The book focuses on the creative tension sparked by dueling impulses between nationalism and cosmopolitanism; and between artistic seriousness and larrikin populism.

Lynne Golding: Australian Ballerina

Lynne Golding: Australian Ballerina, is the biography of a remarkable woman who, through sheer determination and dedication, became Australia’s first prima ballerina. She was the first dancer to perform the dual roles of Odette/Odile in Australia’s first full-length production of Swan Lake. Her teaching and performing career took her to Europe, South America and North America, before returning to Australia to become one of that country’s finest ballet pedigogues. Lynne Golding is Edith Pillsbury’s first book. Pillsbury’s background as a ballet dancer and teacher has offered her a valuable and personal insight into the inner world of dance. She is currently working on a history of the Vaganova Academy in St. Petersburg.

Edith Pillsbury's book "LYNNE GOLDING AUSTRALIAN BALLERIA" is in stock and available for purchase today!

101 Stories Of The Great Ballets

Scene-by-scene retellings of the most popular ballets from the man who revolutionized the art. Includes production notes, summaries and personal comments for various productions of each ballet.