Undimmed Lustre

Undimmed Lustre: The Life of Antony Tudor is a chronological biography of one of the most creative forces in dance of the 20th century. Born in 1908 in London, Tudor was raised in a lower middle class family on the streets of London's meat market district. Although he had no formal exposure to dance, he spent the first decade of his professional life as one of the founding members of the Ballet Rambert. In America, he became an all-important force and a prime mover in American Ballet Theatre for the most of its early history. His contributions to the development of the art of the classical ballet are inestimable, for he single-handedly introduced a new direction into the ballet world. Tudor imbued the simplest gesture with profound meaning, bringing drama into "academic" ballet, by mixing classical vocabulary, Freudian ideas, and Stanislavkian methodology and cinematic techniques into his dances. Tudor's enigmatic personality, his English propriety mixed with his rapier-sharp and often vulgar wit, his insecurities, and his total inability to compromise artistically, all made him a controversial figure in the very communal dance world. This book, written by Muriel Topaz, student, colleague, notator, assistant, and long time friend of Tudor's, reveals the misconceptions and contradictions that have attached themselves to the artist. Based on never-before seen personal archives, correspondence, and copious interviews as well as grant-supported research conducted in England, the United States, Sweden, Australia, Israel, Japan, and France, this work is a wonderful resource for dance teachers and students or anyone interested in classical ballet.