Tales from the Ballet

by Louis Untermeyer (Editor), Martin Provensen (Illustrator), Alice Provensen (Illustrator)

Here is a book which will inspire, enlighten and delight all who love the ballet, and some who didn't know they did. A born story-teller, Louis Untermeyer here unfolds in lively fashion the dramatic plots and haunting fantasies of twenty of the world's best-loved ballets, The Wood Nymphs, Ondine, Billy the Kid, Graduation Ball, The Firebird, The Sleeping Princess, Petrouchka, Children's Games, Bluebeard, Swan Lake, Prince Igor, Coppelia, Giselle, Rodeo, The Golden Cockerel, The Rite of Spring, The Phantom of the Rose, The Nutcracker, Scheherazade and Fancy Free. Notes of the origins of the various ballets at the end of the book

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

92 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1969

About the author

Louis Untermeyer was the author, editor or compiler, and translator of more than one hundred books for readers of all ages. He will be best remembered as the prolific anthologist whose collections have introduced students to contemporary American poetry since 1919. The son of an established New York jeweler, Untermeyer's interest in poetry led to friendships with poets from three generations, including many of the century's major writers. His tastes were eclectic. Martin Weil related in the Washington Post that Untermeyer once "described himself as 'a bone collector' with 'the mind of a magpie.'" He was a liberal who did much to allay the Victorian myth that poetry is a high-brow art. "What most of us don't realize is that everyone loves poetry," he was quoted by Weil as saying, pointing out the rhymes on the once-ubiquitous Burma Shave road signs as an example.

Untermeyer developed his taste for literature while still a child. His mother had read aloud to him from a variety of sources, including the epic poems "Paul Revere's Ride" and "Hiawatha." Bedtime stories he told to his brother Martin combined elements from every story he could remember, he revealed in Bygones: The Recollections of Louis Untermeyer. When he learned to read for himself, he was particularly impressed by books such as Alfred Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King and Dante's Inferno. Gustave Dore's illustrations in these books captivated him and encouraged his imagination toward fantasy. Almost fifty years later, Untermeyer published several volumes of retold French fairy tales, all illustrated by the famous French artist.

In addition to children's books and anthologies, Untermeyer published collections of his own poetry. He began to compose light verse and parodies during his teen years after dropping out of school to join his father's business. With financial help from his father, he published First Love in 1911. Sentiments of social protest expressed in the 1914 volume Challenge received disapproval from anti-communist groups forty years later; as a result of suspicion, Untermeyer lost his seat on the "What's My Line" game show panel to publisher Bennett Cerf. During the 1970s, he found himself "instinctively, if incongruously, allied with the protesting young," he wrote in the New York Times. In the same article he encouraged the spirit of experiment that characterized the decade, saying, "it is the non-conformers, the innovators in art, science, technology, and human relations who, misunderstood and ridiculed in their own times, have shaped our world." Untermeyer, who did not promote any particular ideology, remained a popular speaker and lecturer, sharing criticism of poetry and anecdotes about famous poets with audiences in the United States and as far away as India and Japan.

Untermeyer resigned from the jewelry business in 1923 in order to give all his attention to literary pursuits. Friendships with Robert Frost, Ezra Pound, Arthur Miller, and other literary figures provided him with material for books. For example, The Letters of Robert Frost to Louis Untermeyer contains letters selected from almost fifty years of correspondence with the New England poet. The anthologist's autobiographies From Another World and Bygones relate as much about other writers as they do about his personal life. Bygones provides his reflections on the four women who were his wives. Jean Starr moved to Vienna with Untermeyer after he became a full-time writer; Virginia Moore was his wife for about a year; Esther Antin, a lawyer he met in Toledo, Ohio, married him in 1933; fifteen years later, he married Bryna Ivens, with whom he edited a dozen books for children.

In his later years, Untermeyer, like Frost, had a deep appreciation for country life. He once told Contemporary Authors: "I live on an abandoned farm in Connecticut ... ever since I found my native New York unlivable as well as unlovable.... On these green and sometimes arctic acres I cultivate wha

Reviews

[Melody Schwarting · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bright and striking collection of ballet stories--and storyless ballets. I appreciated that Untermeyer included the big hitters alongside lesser known ballets (Undine, Billy the Kid). The illustrations remind me of sketches for set design--they are fanciful yet always have a sense of being on stage. Many ballets are dark, and the images do reflect this (Bluebeard's wives are shown hanging, yikes) but story selection can help more sensitive readers still enjoy the book.

[David Goetz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this at a used book store and almost paid $30 for it but decided not to. The illustrations are unbelievably good, and the adaptations of the stories of 10 famous ballets are superb. Get it from your library if you can!

[Madame Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations are some of the finest that I've ever seen. My favourite was Giselle's cemetery scene. I love ballet, but never heard of half of these tales. The last pages include ballet notes. It was nice learning what stories the ballets were created from.

[Rhode PVD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every picture in this over-sized lavishly illustrated book is as familiar to me as an old friend. I must have spent hours and hours repeatedly pouring over it as a ballet-mad child. You really get a sense of the dance itself, the characters and the emotions of the stories from them, although they are more impressionist than straight forward cartoons.

[Arianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just bought this book from a used book store for the cover alone- it's so tragic that goodreads doesn't have the book cover image because the illustrations by A. and M. Provensen are stunning. Plus the book has that smell of my youth- old musty libraries. love it!