Dance historian and author Susan Au was an archivist, dance historianand writer; James Rutter is a freelance arts critic and former lecturerbased in Philadelphia.

• Introduction (new, by JR) • 1. A Most Obedient Servant • 2. The Rise of Professionalism • 3. The Development of the Ballet d’Action • 4. Ascent and Descent • 5. Crystallization and Ferment in Russia • 6. First Steps towards a New Form • 7. ‘Astonish Me’ • 8. Truly Modern • 9. The Decentralization of Ballet • 10. The Metamorphosis of Growth • 11. A Time of Growth • 12. Moving into the New Millennium (revised and extended by JR) • Endmatter

'Immediately readable and impressively panoramic…with a wealth of illustrations and newly-researched detail' - Times Literary Supplement