Lincoln Kirstein

The Program Notes

Randall Bourscheidt

In the hands of a dance enthusiast like Lincoln Kirstein, the mundane form of the program note became a short essay providing useful information for the audience and beating a drum for the value of classical dance and the intimacy achieved by the greatest choreographers and their living or historical musical collaborators. This delightful collection of notes from the School of American Ballet, from the man who brought Balanchine to America, shows the young Kirstein learning about ballet and passing this knowledge on to his readers, and eventually espousing a New Deal faith in the power of American culture to transform traditional modes into populist expressions with a native resonance. A modest but irrepressible complement to Lincoln Kirstein’s other published work, in his inimitable voice.

Add to your order