Making of Markova

May 20, 2013
This admiring biography of Lilian Alicia Marks, known professionally as Alicia Markova, is just as hardworking as its namesake—but not nearly as elegant. Journalist Sutton lumbers through the story of Markova’s stunning dancing career, beginning with Markova in utero, her mother attending Anna Pavlova’s 1910 debut performance in London. As a girl in England, the flat-footed, knock-kneed, and weak-legged Markova enrolled in ballet lessons and surprised everyone with her astonishing talent and ability to overcome physical shortcomings. So impressive was the young dancer that Sergei Diaghilev hired her for his Ballets Russe just after she turned 14. When Diaghilev died, Markova returned to London and helped transform England into an important ballet destination. She performed the lead in Giselle (often touted as the most demanding role in ballet), became one of only 11 dancers to be recognized as a prima ballerina assoluta, and went on to start her own dance company with Anton Dolin. Markova’s popularity continued unabated until she retired from dancing in 1963. It was a stellar career, but under Sutton’s direction, it falls flat. The author fails to distinguish between the interesting and the trivial, and she grossly overuses block quotations from many sources, nearly eclipsing the star of the show. 32 pages of b&w photos. Agent: Laura Gross, Laura Gross Literary Agency.

Starred review from October 1, 2013

Alicia Markova (nee Lilian Alicia Marks, 1910-2004) was England's first homegrown ballerina. Her career began when, as a young teen, she was asked to join the Ballets Russes. Markova danced professionally for half her life and was universally considered the greatest ballerina of her generation. Several biographies about her have been written throughout the 20th century, but journalist Sutton (Color Harmony Compendium: A Complete Color Reference for Designers of All Types) is the first to have had access to her archive of extraordinary materials, housed at Boston University's Gotlieb Center. Although Sutton's prose can be occasionally repetitive and less than elegant, she maintains a genuine fascination with all aspects of Markova's life. Told chronologically, with a judicious blend of diary excerpts, letters, interviews, newspaper clippings, and straightforward narrative, this book is a compellingly readable history of Markova, her family--both biological and balletic--and her world of arts and culture. VERDICT Though several excellent ballet biographies and histories have been written over the past few years (including Sjeng Scheijen's Diaghilev: A Life and Jennifer Homans's Apollo's Angels: A History of Ballet), this work stands out for its inclusiveness. As Sutton states, "Markova believed firmly in ballet for everyone, not just the elite." That belief is a theme in this work, which will be appreciated by anyone who enjoys informative, entertaining biographies or mid-20th-century performing arts and culture.--Martha Stone, Treadwell Lib., Boston

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from July 1, 2013
Dame Alicia Markova, once the most famous ballerina in the world, was a Jewish Londoner, born Lilian Alicia Marks and given her stage name by Sergei Diaghilev when he brought her into the Ballet Russes at age 14. The unlikeliest of ballerinas bone thin, flat-footed, knock-kneed, and sicklyshe was nonetheless a true prodigy, possessing not only technical bravura but also a sterling work ethic, a phenomenal memory for music and choreography, and a versatile gift for design. Sutton, an arts journalist for the Boston Globe, makes superlative use of the extraordinarily comprehensive archive Markova maintained until her death at 94 in 2004. Sutton's sense of wonderment lights up every page of this hard-to-believe, utterly transporting story of discipline, commitment, hardship, and steely self-reliance. An artist and a hero, Markova publicly expressed pride in her heritage when Hitler came to power and refused requests to have her nose reduced to look less Jewish. She endured vicious sabotage attempts, grueling tours, and heartache. A brilliant classical dancer, she also performed revolutionary modern works with soaring artistry, collaborating with Ashton, Balanchine, Stravinsky, and Chagall. And she circled the globe to spread the gospel of ballet. Quoting dexterously from Markova's electrifying journals, Sutton brings Markova and her world to scintillating life in this ravishing biography of perpetual motion, limelight and darkness, courage and creativity.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)