This book is a perceptive and critical account of the first 75 years of The Royal Ballet; tracing the companys growth; and its great cultural importance - an indispensable book for all lovers of ballet.In 1931; Ninette de Valois started a ballet company with just six dancers. Within twenty years; The Royal Ballet - as it became - was established as one of the worlds great companies. It has produced celebrated dancers; from Margot Fonteyn to Darcey Bussell; and one of the richest repertoires in ballet.The company danced through the Blitz; won an international reputation in a single New York performance and added to the glamour of Londons Swinging Sixties. It has established a distinctive English school of ballet; a pure classical style that could do justice to the 19th-century repertory and to new British classics.Leading dance critic; Zo� Anderson; vividly portrays the extraordinary personalities who created the company and the dancers who made such an impact on their audiences. She looks at the bad times as well as the good; examining the controversial directorships of Norman Morrice and Ross Stretton and the criticism fired at the company as the Royal Opera House closed for redevelopment.
#3396768 in eBooks 2010-12-16 2010-12-16File Name: B004OBZWHM
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. "Not Mere Buildings"...By Phillip Taylor MBESOME TRENCHANT COMMENTARY ON THE ARCHITECTURE OF JUSTICEAn appreciation by Phillip Taylor MBE and Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green ChambersDoes the architecture of a court building necessarily affect the outcome of the trials that take place within its walls? You might say it shouldnt. But Linda Mulcahy. Professor of Law at the London School of Economics. argues convincingly that it might... and presents a body of overwhelming evidence that it does!Mulcahy asserts that the legitimacy of the trial derives from the setting in which its rituals take place - in other words: prescribed procedures...codes of conduct...the law itself...and the resulting documentation.`Public buildings. she states. `can both inspire and degrade those within them; they can calm or oppress.We are tempted to digress here by saying that this utterance should be carved into the stonework on the front of the RIBAs London HQ in Portland Place - just to remind those guys to have a care in designing public edifices such as court buildings. in which decisions are made that affect the lives of others. often for generations.Ms Mulcahy also quotes the American Chief Justice Hennessey. who. in 1984. pointed out that `our courthouses...are not merely buildings. rooms and furniture. but are rather monuments that evoke several centuries of human effort and progress.Describing her book quite modestly as a monograph. Mulcahy reveals her extensive and detailed knowledge of this surprisingly vast subject in closely argued yet graceful prose. Weve used the word `surprisingly because. as is pointed out. there is rather a dearth of comment. or research or informed observation on this subject... so far.Published by the Routledge Law. this important book indeed deserves urgent and critical attention. If barristers and commentators like us find themselves dismayed by the often forbidding exteriors of so many courts. as well as by the almost complete lack of basic amenities for those who use them - we can only imagine how much and how ordinary people - including innocent witnesses - are thoroughly -- and unnecessarily -- cowed and intimidated.Legal dinosaurs (and there are plenty still about) who think that courts should strike terror into the souls of all who venture therein will not like this book. Most practitioners. though. will heartily welcome this clear-eyed examination by an incisive mind. of the very real issues of `legal geography raised in this very readable work - especially in the light of new technologies which now assist the processes justice.To facilitate further research and inquiry. the book lists sources. cases and legislation- plus. theres an amazing sixteen page bibliography. and useful index at the back to dispel the myth that they are just `mere buildings!0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Extracts from other reviews posted by the authorBy R. D. EmmottWriting in Feminist Legal Studies. Wessel Le Roux has contended that the book fills a void in an emerging field of interdisciplinary scholarship and will serve as a central reference point to those working in the field. He concludes "At her best. Mulcahy does for the history of the modern courtroom what Foucault did earlier for the history of the prison and the clinic (p110). Elsewhere in Law and Social Inquiry. Keith Bybee has argued that this monograph offers and extraordinary range of arguments and details that flesh out the idea that communities use architecture as an alphabet to record and express their beliefs and governing ideals. He contends that "Social structure is Mulcahys Rosetta Stone: she tells us what ideas a given building expresses based on an understanding of the beliefs. practices. and mores of those who erected and used the structure. In doing so. Mulcahy provides important guidance on how to interpret the meaning of laws fundamental physical manifestation (p1021).
