The Encyclopedia of World Ballet

The Preface of this encyclopedia sets the scene: It “surveys dance art from social occasions at the court of Louis XIV to current venues in myriad countries, from Cyprus to Singapore. To enlighten the dancer, choreographer, student, teacher, and arts historian, 170 major entries reveal the nature and purpose of ballet”. Literature on ballet, and particularly on world ballet, is uneven: Much of it takes the form of “world of ballet” or “ballet anecdotes” or “famous ballet plots”, while a lot more specialist and local information and commentary appears in ballet periodicals like Dance Journal. There are biographies of...