Bloomsbury Ballerina
On sale
2nd April 2009
Price: £12.99
Genre
‘Mackrell’s enthralling biography restores Lydia Lopokova to her rightful position centre-stage’ DAILY MAIL
‘Superb … Mackrell, with her insider’s knowledge of ballet and theatre, lovingly recreates Lydia’s many worlds’ GAY & LESBIAN REVIEW
‘A hugely entertaining and informative study of the Ballets Russes star’ SPECTATOR
Born in 1891 in St Petersburg, Lydia Lopokova lived a long and remarkable life. Her vivacious personality and the sheer force of her charm propelled her to the top of Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes. Through a combination of luck, determination and talent, Lydia became a star in Paris, a vaudeville favourite in America, the toast of Britain and then married the world-renowned economist, and formerly homosexual, John Maynard Keynes.
Lydia’s story links ballet and the Bloomsbury group, war, revolution and the economic policies of the super-powers. She was an immensely captivating, eccentric and irreverent personality: a bolter, a true bohemian and, eventually, an utterly devoted wife.
‘Superb … Mackrell, with her insider’s knowledge of ballet and theatre, lovingly recreates Lydia’s many worlds’ GAY & LESBIAN REVIEW
‘A hugely entertaining and informative study of the Ballets Russes star’ SPECTATOR
Born in 1891 in St Petersburg, Lydia Lopokova lived a long and remarkable life. Her vivacious personality and the sheer force of her charm propelled her to the top of Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes. Through a combination of luck, determination and talent, Lydia became a star in Paris, a vaudeville favourite in America, the toast of Britain and then married the world-renowned economist, and formerly homosexual, John Maynard Keynes.
Lydia’s story links ballet and the Bloomsbury group, war, revolution and the economic policies of the super-powers. She was an immensely captivating, eccentric and irreverent personality: a bolter, a true bohemian and, eventually, an utterly devoted wife.
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Reviews
Judith Mackrell, in this masterly biography, shows us why we should remember her (Lopokova) ... writing as fine as one could hope to encounter
a superb new biography...Mackrell, with her insider's knowledge of ballet and theatre, lovingly recreates Lydia's many worlds
She was, as Mackrell concludes, one of the 20th century's "true originals" and this narrative tells us exactly why
In this lovingly crafted biography, Judith Mackrell restores to life a colourful bohemian character... a warm memorial to an almost-forgotten star
In this lovingly crafted biography, Judith Mackrell restores to life a colourful bohemian character... a warm memorial to an almost-forgotten star
Admirably researched ... enthralling
Thorough and absorbing
Judith Mackrell has used her resources to rescue the ballerina from an undeserved obscurity
Thorough and absorbing
Mackrell captures the fizz of Lopokova's personality, her lovability, and makes her come alive.
Bloomsbury Ballerina is a compelling account of the extraordinary life and times of an unforgettable woman. Mackrell is to be congratulated
Mackrell's enthralling biography restores Lydia Lopokova to her rightful position centre-stage
Mackrell shows us exactly what made Lopokova one the last century's "true originals".
Mackrell captures the fizz of Lopokova's personality, her lovability, and makes her come alive.
Judith Mackrell has used her resources to rescue the ballerina from an undeserved obscurity
Superb ... Mackrell, with her insider's knowledge of ballet and theatre, lovingly recreates Lydia's many worlds
Judith Mackrell ... is brilliant at making the reader see why Lopokova matters
How shrewd and kind of Mackrell to extricate Lopokova from so many decades as the snubbed alien in Bloomsbury footnotes
A hugely entertaining and informative study of the Ballets Russes star
Mackrell's unfailingly vivacious and scholarly biography pays splendid tribute