Alla Osipenko : beauty and resistance in Soviet ballet /

In this detailed biography, Lobenthal (associate editor, Ballet Review) examines Alla Osipenko's life and career in the Kirov Ballet. Born in Leningrad in 1932, Osipenko joined the Kirov while still in her teens, and by 1954 she was made prima ballerina. Politics, deprivation, and lack of personal freedom were omnipresent for Osipenko, and fellow dancer Rudolf Nuryev's defection in 1961--a pivotal event for Osipenko, who was touring with Nureyev at the time--tightened the government's pervasive, intrusive oversight of the dance company. For example, Osipenko was often not allowed to travel abroad, and on one tour she was locked in her hotel room to control her movements and thereby reduce the risk of her defection. Throughout Osipenko's performing career, dance was used as cultural propaganda between the Soviet Union and the United States. The international tours and the success or lack of success of the companies and individual performers were crucial to determining which country was "the greatest." After her performing career ended, Osipenko began teaching and coaching. She taught in the US for ten years before moving back to Russia, where she still lives. Lobenthal discusses all this in detail in this valuable biography. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals. --Elizabeth McPherson, Montclair State University