Books on San Francisco Ballet

mehunt · **Posted:** Tue Dec 07, 2004 1:45 pm

I'm wondering if anyone has any good recommendations on books about the history of San Francisco Ballet. I'm particularly interested in their touring days when the State Dept. sent them all over the world to Asia and Africa and South America and so on.

Are there any general histories of the company other than the usual books put out by the ballet itself?

djb · **Posted:** Tue Dec 07, 2004 4:50 pm

Perhaps you already know about this one, which you can find at Alibris: Striving for Beauty: A Memoir of the Christensen Brothers' San Francisco Ballet, by Sally Bailey, here reviewed by Renee Renouf in ballet.co.uk. Another review mentioned specifically that she talks about the State Dept. tours. (I love that photo of Sally Bailey as Odile!)

<small>[ 07 December 2004, 05:58 PM: Message edited by: djb ]</small>

mehunt · **Posted:** Tue Dec 07, 2004 4:58 pm

Thanks, djb! I hadn't seen that one. I agree about the photos. I had been talking with jocelyn Vollmar the other day about the com[pany's tours to Khartoum and Addis Ababa, to Kuala Lumpur and Karachi -- it suddenly struck me what an interesting time that must have been. She had some funny stories to tell about touring!

DavidH · **Posted:** Tue Dec 07, 2004 9:55 pm

Great subject MEHunt. Any chance Ms Vollmar (a former teacher of mine and I danced a ton of her choreography) will agree to a CD.com interview? She's so incredibly humble about her career yet such a treasure trove of dance history. She did it all.

Best,
D

mehunt · **Posted:** Wed Dec 08, 2004 12:06 am

I wouldn't mind that at all! What a career -- SFB, NYCB, Marquis de Cuevas.

Gina Ness · **Posted:** Wed Dec 08, 2004 1:00 am

She's also a published poet..."Preludes" in 1959...I have a copy.

<small>[ 08 December 2004, 02:02 AM: Message edited by: GN ]</small>

Francis Timlin · **Posted:** Wed Dec 08, 2004 10:10 am

I recommend "The Christensen Brothers: An American Dance Epic," by Debra Hickenlooper Sowell. Although published in 1999, it is out of print, but available on amazon.com for a price. You may also want to compare the prices at Sam Weller's Zion Bookstore (www.samwellers.com). I saw many copies on the shelf there last weekend.

mehunt · **Posted:** Wed Dec 08, 2004 12:40 pm

Thanks Francis! I think I may have seen that book in the SF Performing Arts Library, but I had forgotten about it. I'll look online though!

In my searching I also stumbled across this little site -- it looks like it's the Christensen trust page maybe?

The Choreography of Lew Christensen

Francis Timlin · **Posted:** Wed Dec 08, 2004 1:52 pm

That site is a project of Chris Christensen, son of Lew and Gisella. He is a conductor and was in the pit for the Oakland Ballet production of Jinx a few years ago.

LMCtech · **Posted:** Wed Dec 08, 2004 6:03 pm

Ms. Vollmar is very accomodating. You could call the ballet school to ask her for an interview.


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