Barry Kitcher’s delightful memoir tells the improbable story of a boy from the Australian bush who fell under the spell of ballet and found himself in the midst of some of the most exciting developments in Australian ballet history. He danced with the Borovansky Ballet, Australia’s most important and successful professional company before government subsidy lead to the formation of The Australian Ballet, of which he then became a founding member.Major figures like Edouard Borovansk...

Justine Picardie has spent the last decade puzzling over the truth about Coco Chanel, attempting to peel away the accretions of romance and lies. In this critically acclaimed, bestselling biography she shares the history of the incredible woman who created the way we look now.Coco Chanel was an extraordinary inventor – she conjured up the little black dress, bobbed hair, trousers for women, contemporary chic, best-selling perfumes, and the most successful fashion brand of all time ...

The heroine of MARY POPPINS and THE SOUND OF MUSIC tells her life story from the music halls of London to Broadway stardom.Over the years Julie Andrews has been much interviewed in the press and on television, but she has never before revealed the true story of her childhood and upbringing. In HOME she vividly recreates the years before the movies.An idyllic early childhood in Surrey was cut short when her parents divorced and her mother remarried. The fami...

This book is a perceptive and critical account of the first 75 years of The Royal Ballet, tracing the company's growth, and its great cultural importance - an indispensable book for all lovers of ballet.In 1931, Ninette de Valois started a ballet company with just six dancers. Within twenty years, The Royal Ballet - as it became - was established as one of the world's great companies. It has produced celebrated dancers, from Margot Fonteyn to Darcey Bussell, and one of the richest ...

The story of an Australian girl who defied convention and became the most famous singer of her era.Growing up in Melbourne, Nellie Mitchell dreamed of fame, but her devout father disapproved. When a chance arose to go to Paris, she trusted in her musical talent and hoped for a lucky break.Within a few years, reborn as Nellie Melba, she was performing to overflowing concert halls, hobnobbing with European royalty and collaborating with some of the most renow...

Over the course of his career, Pavarotti never lost his enthusiasm for performing, and he devoted his last years to singing for charities and humanitarian causes - until sudden ill-health made it impossible for him to continue to appear on stage.

Daria Klimentová's sizzling chemistry with Russian dancer Vadim Muntagirov, who is nearly 20 years her junior, has reignited the prima ballerina's career - and marks a metamorphosis after her Black Swan-style torments depicted in BBC Four's Agony and Ecstasy, the gripping documentary series aired last year. There has been a metamorphosis since the 'old ballerina' allowed herself to be browbeaten by domineering choreographer Derek Deane, and Daria and Vadim are being applauded as the new Fo...

Florence Broadhurst, the one-time chanteuse of Shanghai, Bond Street salon owner, world-renowned wallpaper designer and Sydney socialite lived a life steeped in subterfuge and deception. Here for the first time we get a glimpse at the fascinating woman behind the hand-printed brocades.Late in the afternoon of 16 October 1977, seventy-eight year-old Florence Broadhurst was brutally murdered. Her killer was never found.The mystery surrounding Florence's death...

This edition does not include illustrations.Please note that due to the level of detail, the family tree is best viewed on a tablet.The wayward life (1898–1979) of the voracious art collector and great female patron of world-famous artists.‘Mrs Guggenheim, how many husbands have you had?’ ‘Do you mean my own, or other people’s?’ Peggy Guggenheim was an American millionairess art collector and legendary lover, whose father died on the Titanic returning from installin...

The fully authorised biography of the late, great David Hockney. Discover the life and legacy of one of the greatest British artists of our time.David Hockney's career spanned and helped to define the major art movements of the last five decades. His story is one of precocious achievement at Bradford Art College and the Swinging Sixties in London, where he befriended many of the iconic cultural figures of the era; of California and the iconic swimming-pool painting...

A memoir of the London Symphony Orchestra on tour in the US and beyond, focusing on their historical first visit to America in 1912 when they were due to sail on the Titanic, and their most recent travels. Gareth Davies, Principal Flautist at the LSO, tells the remarkable story of a groundbreaking expedition through recently discovered diaries, archive material from London and New York and newspaper reports from the time. Against this is set a behind-the-scenes account of the LSO's worldwi...