An exciting, wonderfully researched look onstage and backstage at the Russian Ballet between 1810 and 1910. The story is built on a framework of famous ballets by such celebrated choreographers as Charles Didelot, Filippo Taglioni, Jules Perrot, Arthur Saint-Leon, Marius Petipa and Mikhail Fokine. Onto this framework are placed eyewitness accounts and criticisms, including biographies of choreographers, accounts of life in the imperial theater school, reminiscences of important artists, and reviews of first performances. Each of the ten chapters is introduced with further commentary that draws on press accounts and literature of the time. Out of the mists of time, this story of the fabled Russian Ballet comes as close as possible to the reality of being a student, dancer and choreographer in its richest period. This is a reprint of a book first published by Oxford University Press in 1990, and long out of print.