S. Hurok Presents; A Memoir of the Dance World

Sol Hurok was the man who convinced America to fall in love with ballet, and this memoir is his magnificent, unrepentant account of how he did it. Born in rural Russia, he arrived in America with nothing and built an empire of movement, bringing legends like Anna Pavlova and Isadora Duncan to stages where ballet had never been seen. But this is not merely a success story. It is a world-weary, often hilarious chronicle of touring companies stranded in provincial hotels, of temperamental stars and terrified managers, of the countless small wars that make up the business of beauty. Hurok writes with the blunt wisdom of a man who has seen everything and the nostalgia of one who knows it will never come again. For anyone curious about how art travels, how stars are made, and what it costs to bring the extraordinary to ordinary people, this book is an irreplaceable time capsule.