To Dance on Sands: The Life And Art of Death Valley's Marta Becket

by Marta Becket

To Dance on Sands is the autobiography of Marta Becket, artist, dancer, performer and subject of the Academy Award-nominated documentary Amargosa. From her childhood in bohemian New York of the 1920s and 30s to her career as a successful - but often financially insecure - painter, designer and chorus performer on Broadway and television. Beckett tells, in honest prose, the story of the many ups and downs she faced living a life in the arts.In To Dance on Sands, Becket reveals the obstacles she had to overcome on her way to becoming a dancer and artist - a distant, judgmental father she almost never saw.a mother who both encouraged and tried to smother her ambitions.the grueling regimen of rehearsals and auditions. the lack of money and the heartbreak of unrequited love. It's a tale of victories (starring roles as a ballerina), defeats ($10-a-night engagements in the dying days of variety), and her eventual artistic rebirth as the owner, choreographer, and star performer for almost 40 years at the Amargosa Opera House in Death Valley.

Genres: Nonfiction, Theatre, Biography

340 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Moonkiszt · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of Marta's life by Marta herself is haunting. She is wistful in that literary way, all shadows in the shade, through to the very end.

My wish for her as I read was that if she could only shake herself hard and lose those terrible parents - parasites in my opinion. She needed to give herself credit for all of her skills, and I wished she could have focused as much on her music and painting as she did on dance.

My younger years were spent with much time in Cali deserts, including Death Valley. The spirit of that country is addicting and wholly tragic for reasons so old and long ago that standing in the middle of it one comprehends the depth of that mystery, but that very lack of answers to questions only makes it even more compelling. A perfect condition for those who are lost or, ironically, looking for a place to be found. Like Marta. . . her Toms. . .all those cats.

I have fallen in love, I think, with Marta Becket and her three-pronged quest for freedom, love and recognition. I hope she's found all three.
25|52:44b

[Russell Sanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marta Becket was an unusual, remarkable person. She tells the story of her life in her book To Dance on Sands. Becket, a ballet dancer, painter, and composer led a most colorful life, despite her mother and father’s attempts to make it drab. Hobbled by an overprotective mother and a demanding, opinionated father, Becket nevertheless charted her on course, and thus she found happiness in her choices. She sold many of her paintings to celebrities and regular folk alike, danced in Broadway shows and at the famed Radio City Music Hall, and ultimately forged a solo career doing dance concerts, performing ballets and pantomimes of her own device, often to her own compositions, and definitely with her own costume and set designs. Around the age of forty, she found, while touring the western US, a dilapidated opera house in the Death Valley desert. It was there, after renting and eventually buying the property, she spent the rest of her life. A little over an hour from Las Vegas, in a community of only three hundred people, she renovated the opera house and performed, often for no audience at all. But she was determined to lead her life the way she chose, breaking the chains put on her by her mother, her father, and, eventually, a husband. This book tells that amazing story, and it never fails to entertain. I reveled in her story while overlooking the severe need the book had for editing. Becket’s narrative is sometimes convoluted, always a bit stilted, and hampered by comma errors. But this is writing from a woman who barely made it through high school and spent those years dancing and painting more than studying. If she could accomplish what she accomplished in her ninety-plus years and dancing well into her eighties, then who needs to quibble over commas?

[Florence · Rating 5 out of 5]

My husband and I visited the Marta Becket's Amargosa Opera House and Hotel, Death Valley Junction in October 2019. Unfortunately the electricity was out in the area so we could not go into the Opera House. I bought Marta Becket's biography while there. I really enjoyed it. It made me think of the all normal everyday things in life that get overlooked and not learned by artists who start their craft very early in life. Marta was able to study her many talents almost 100% from a very early age. This book haunts my thoughts a month after reading it. I wish I had taken more than the 54 photos I took while there that hot day in Death Valley. A few of the costumes she meticulously made to dance in are on display in an empty building across the street from the Opera House. Set up in windows in the hot sun. Like I said, after reading her book I just continue to think of her life, her talents and this place out in the desert of California.

[Karolina Slup · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book after visiting Amargosa Opera House and staying there for two nights was such a unique experience. I have never heard of Marta Becket before, and she was such a character! The book is wonderfully written, I couldn’t put it down! As someone here mentioned already, it feels like sitting across Marta who’s telling you her story. What a life to have! And what a fantastic and skilled person! I highly recommend the book.

“I know that one day life will catch up with me. I won't last forever, I know. One day, I too will haunt this place, dancing like a dust devil in the wind”.

I definitely sensed her presence in her beloved Death Valley Junction.

[Izabella Blue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did you know that she is still alive, living in the desert Death Valley National Park.
She stopped dancing & her last perfomance was in 2012, but she still shares her stories in her little theatre in the desert to the few who come to see her. Its so bittersweet.
You can see her, her art, her beautiful handpainted theatre at The Amargosa Opera House
http://www.amargosa-opera-house.com/

She also has a wonderful little DVD out if you are a fan
http://youtu.be/ZkIS6_nIEtQ

LOVE LOVE this woman, what an inspiration!

[Kelly McCubbin · Rating 4 out of 5]

More a memento than a great autobiography, this still charms and allows you to revisit a time when Americans could still be eccentric without fear of scorn or retribution. Marta seems a lovely woman who has done things precisely the way her heart has led her to.

[Jessica Pendez · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable quick read. I picked up a signed copy at Death Valley Junction last Wednesday and finished it today, 1 week later. I now want to see a performance at the Amaragosa Opera House more than ever.

[emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Amargosa Opera house is a beautiful place.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first I couldn't get enough of this book. I just couldn't put it down but as the book went on it started to bother me. There is no doubt that what she did and accomplish is amazing. I just found her to be selfish and honestly clueless about everything. It also amazed me how easily she slept with her first beau and also her husband to be. It just didn't seem normal how she interacted with others. I understand she had a mentally ill mother but that also was a creepy relationship.

[Mikayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Armagosa Opera House is a beautiful historical must-visit destination thanks to the incredible woman Marta Becket. The story of her life and how she ended up in the middle of nowhere (Death Valley Junction) is a story that will never be lived again in this modern world.

[Susanna Chin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an autobiography of a very creative woman who lived life on her own terms. She unapologetically followed her dreams. It was an interesting and inspirational story. However some sections was just a listing of the shows she did which was a tedious read.

[Jeannette · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of most amazing women that you will ever read about.