John Percival's 1983 biography of John Cranko, Theatre in my blood, remains the only book in English on the South African/British choreographer who took over the Stuttgart Ballet and rapidly transformed it into one of the world's great dance companies. The book is long out of print, and much sought after, so we are happy to<BR>announce that we have recently discovered a cache of the original hardback edition which we are able to offer for only GBP5.00 a copy.<P>You can order it from our web site catalogue by going to:<BR> <A HREF="http://www.dancebooks.co.uk/new.shtml" TARGET=_blank>http://www.dancebooks.co.uk/new.shtml</A> <P>or from Dance Books, 15 Cecil Court,<BR>London WC2N 4EZ.

In the early days of my ballet going, I can remember turning up to see a Birmingham Royal Ballet triple bill, in which the final work was Cranko's 'Pineapple Poll'. After a brief look at the programme my expectations were not high, having found the similar looking 'Graduation Ball' by Lichine distinctly underwhelming.<P>To my surprise 'Poll' was the highlight of the evening. Bright, entertaining and providing ample scope for the dancers, especially in the character roles.<P>Sadly, this remains the only performance of a Cranko ballet I have ever seen. ENB have scheduled 'Eugene Onegin' a couple of times, but financial problems have meant that it has been dropped from their schedule.<P>Dance Books are very good about their announcements on various websites - they only publicise exceptional bargains that are likely to be of great interest to dance fans. Given the lack of performances of his work, this may be your only chance to have a book about one of the most successful UK choreographers of the middle of the 20th Century. <P>Does anyone have any other memories of Cranko?<p>[This message has been edited by Stuart Sweeney (edited September 13, 2000).]