This engaging book is a welcome guide to the most successful and loved ballets seen on the stage today. Dance writer and critic Zoe Anderson focuses on 140 ballets, a core international repertory that encompasses works from the ethereal world of romantic ballet to the edgy, muscular works of modern choreographers. She provides a wealth of facts and insights, including information familiar only to dance world insiders, and considers such recent works as Alexei Ramansky's Shostakovich Trilogy and Christopher Wheeldon's The Winter's Tale as well as older ballets once forgotten but now returned to the repertory, such as Sylvia. To enhance enjoyment of each ballet, Anderson also offers tips on what to look for during a performance.
 
Each chapter introduces a period of ballet history and provides an overview of innovations and advancement in the art form. In the individual entries that follow, Anderson includes essential facts about each ballet’s themes, plot, composers, choreographers, dance style, and music. The author also addresses the circumstances of each ballet’s creation and its effect in the theater, and she recounts anecdotes that illuminate performance history and reception.
 

Reliable, accessible, and fully up to date, this book will delight anyone who attends the ballet, participates in ballet, or simply loves ballet and wants to know much more about it.

这本引人入胜的书是当今舞台上最成功和最受欢迎的芭蕾舞剧的指南。舞蹈作家和评论家佐伊-安德森专注于140部芭蕾舞剧，这是一个核心的国际剧目，涵盖了从浪漫芭蕾的空灵世界到现代编导的前卫、肌肉发达的作品。她提供了大量的事实和见解，包括只有舞蹈界内部人士才熟悉的信息，并考虑了最近的作品，如阿列克谢-拉曼斯基的肖斯塔科维奇三部曲和克里斯托弗-惠尔顿的《冬天的故事》，以及曾经被遗忘但现在回归剧目的老芭蕾舞剧，如《希尔维亚》。为了加强对每部芭蕾舞剧的欣赏，安德森还提供了在演出中需要注意的提示。

每一章都介绍了芭蕾舞历史的一个时期，并对艺术形式的创新和进步进行了概述。在接下来的个别条目中，安德森包括了关于每部芭蕾舞剧的主题、情节、作曲家、编舞者、舞蹈风格和音乐的基本事实。作者还介绍了每部芭蕾舞剧的创作情况及其在剧院中的影响，她还讲述了一些轶事，说明了演出历史和接受情况。

本书可靠、易懂，而且完全是最新的，这本书会让所有参加芭蕾舞团、参与芭蕾舞的人感到高兴，或者只是喜欢芭蕾舞并想了解更多关于它的信息。