Costumes By Karinska

Rating:
Summary: NOT JUST COSTUMES
Review: If you have ever seen a ballet by George Balanchine, then you are familiar with the name Karinska. In the foreward to this magnificently produced book, the great Balanchine is quoted as saying to the Ford Foundation that what he needed most for his work was "Karinska." Truth or overstatement, it is an obvious tribute to the woman who designed the costumes for more than 75 ballets by one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century.

The author, Toni Bentley was not only a dancer with Balanchine's New York City Ballet, she also wrote the best book on ballet I've ever read: WINTER SEASON, A DANCER'S JOURNAL.

In COSTUMES BY KARINSKA Bentley traces Barbara Karinska's life and work in Russia and then, after becoming one of the numerous emigrees to the West, in Paris, Monte Carlo, London, Hollywood and, finally, Manhattan in 1949. Karinska worked with many other famous creative people in her long and varied career including Agnes De Mille, Jerome Robbins, Franco Zeffirelli and George Cukor to name just a few.

This oversized book contains scores of wonderful photographs and sketches in color and in black and white including, to me, the most interesting part of the book: descriptions of how Karinska took "raw" sketches by artists such as Noguchi, Dali, Chagall, etc. and, literally, turned them into costumes.

Bentley writes gracefully and wittily and, most importantly, she doesn't only write for dance professionals.

Treat yourself to this relatively expensive but very much worthwhile history of costume in the last century and the personal and professional life of the woman who "dressed" so many major stars from Gypsy Rose Lee to Laurence Olivier. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.