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Explores how four influential dancers embraced the persona of the femme fatale and transformed the misogynist image of a dangerously sexual woman into a form of personal liberation

About the Author

Toni Bentley danced with George Balanchine’s New York City Ballet for ten years. Her books include Winter Season: A Dancer’s Journal, Holding On to the Air, Costumes by Karinska, and The Surrender: An Erotic Memoir.

Reviews

"Here is a book that will scare the pants off John Ashcroft. A highbrow survey of what generally passes as a lowbrow art... The detail is as delicious, and as revealing, as a Dance of the Seven Veils." New York Times "Bentley studies the figure of the fin-de-siecle femme fatale, in particular four women-Colette, Maud Allan, Mata Hari, and Ida Rubinstein-who chose the way of Salome. They danced exotically to wield their power, reinvent themselves, and, paradoxically, hide their sad pasts by becoming as nude as possible." Village Voice "This fascinating slice of popular culture will appeal to both social and dance historians." Booklist

"Here is a book that will scare the pants off John Ashcroft. A highbrow survey of what generally passes as a lowbrow art... The detail is as delicious, and as revealing, as a Dance of the Seven Veils." New York Times "Bentley studies the figure of the fin-de-siecle femme fatale, in particular four women-Colette, Maud Allan, Mata Hari, and Ida Rubinstein-who chose the way of Salome. They danced exotically to wield their power, reinvent themselves, and, paradoxically, hide their sad pasts by becoming as nude as possible." Village Voice "This fascinating slice of popular culture will appeal to both social and dance historians." Booklist