| Once a Dancer: An Autobiography (cont.)
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| Scientist Shirley Cohen, Allegra paints a portrait of a slightly paranoid free spirit whose snap judgments would alter the course of her young daughter's life, including anglicizing the family name, a much disliked nose job for Allegra, to moving the family from town to town at the drop of a hat. Iris went so far as to push her daughter in a bad marriage to photographer Bert Stern as the means to protect her from the clutches of Balanchine, whom often made a habit of marrying his younger protégés. |
| Allegra's love for dance manifested in her need to communicate in silence. Unlike her mother, whose method was to talk things out, Allegra was drawn to ballet because it allowed her to talk in "a soundless way." As she writes, "...No one can touch silence." |
| Kent would often leave the dance world at the peak of her successes, only to return as mysteriously as she had left. One self-imposed exile involved having three babies at the peak of her fame. Another time was due to excessive overeating, that led to her discovery of water wings and to author Allegra Kent's Water Beauty Book. |
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| Though Ms. Kent's autobiography also offers wonderful remembrances of her contemporaries including, among others, dancer Edward Villella, costumer Mme. Karinska, artist Joseph Cornwell, Violette Verdy, and Baryshnikov, it remains overall a poignant-and sometimes painful-account of one of the dance world's most talented and enigmatic artists. |
Maria Tallchief: America's Prima Ballerina
by Maria Tallchief |
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Born in 1925 to an Osage Indian chief and his Scots-Irish wife, Maria Tallchief grew up in the more stable and comfortable environment that eluded future colleague Allegra Kent. And, unlike Ms. Kent, Maria's doting mother left Maria alone once her dancing career told hold. Also, unlike Allegra, Maria would not elude the romantic overtures of Balanchine-no, she would marry him. |
| Instantly accepted as a member of the Ballet Russe as a young teen, Maria quickly caught the eye of the controversial and brilliant choreographer. Their marriage-both personally and professionally-formed the beginnings of the New York City Ballet, where she would dance for 18 years. Acknowledged as the most technically accomplished ballerina ever produced in |
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