Frederic Franklin

With a ballet career spanning well over eight decades, legendary dancer Frederic Franklin was one of the twentieth century’s great ballet stars. This biography, rich with original interviews, covers his entire career from young dance student in the early 1920s to his most recent position as choreographer with Britain’s Royal Ballet in November 2004. Each chapter covers a different period of Franklin’s life, including the peak of his performing career as a principal dancer with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, his legendary professional partnership with Alexandra Danilova, and his role in introducing ballet to millions of Americans during World War II.

The late Leslie Norton was an associate professor in dance at the Hamilton College Theatre and Dance Department and lived in Clinton, New York.
The late Frederic Franklin lived in New York City.

Leslie Norton with Frederic Franklin
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 235
Bibliographic Info: 51 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2007
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3051-2
Imprint: McFarland

Preface and Acknowledgments      1

1. Finding Ballet in a Roundabout Way      5

2. “Three Times a Star”: The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo      26

3. A Roper, a Pimp and a Poet: Agnes, Ruth and Mr. B.      73

4. Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo: The Twilight Years      109

5. A Company in the Capital: The National Ballet      141

6. Franklin and the Rise of Regional Ballet      158

7. Back to the Big Apple: Dance Theatre of Harlem and American Ballet Theatre      175

8. Still Going Strong as the Years Pass Along      200

Chapter Notes      211

Bibliography      221

Index      223

“comprehensive…interesting”—Ballet Magazine; “exhaustively researched…fascinating”—Dance Magazine; “a labor of love”—Dance Chronicle.