Fisher, Barbara M. 1931- (Barbara Milberg Fisher)

PERSONAL:

Born 1931; daughter of a dentist; married; children: three. Education: Holds bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees.

CAREER:

Writer, dancer, memoirist, and educator. City University of New York, New York, NY, professor emerita of English. Ballet Society and New York City Ballet, soloist, 1947-58; Ballets: USA, principal dancer.

WRITINGS:

Wallace Stevens: The Intensest Rendezvous, University Press of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA), 1990.

Noble Numbers, Subtle Words: The Art of Mathematics in the Science of Storytelling, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press (Madison, NJ), 1997.

In Balanchine's Company: A Dancer's Memoir, Wesleyan University Press (Middletown, CT), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Teacher and writer Barbara M. Fisher, who is professor emerita of English at the City University of New York, also enjoyed a long career as a ballet dancer with the prestigious New York City Ballet. The daughter of immigrant Ukrainian Jews, Fisher spent her early years in Brooklyn, growing up during the Depression. An indefatigable and constant reader, Fisher was an energetic child who gravitated naturally to music and physical performance. Dance lessons at age six were intended to help her regain strength after bouts with dysentery and pneumonia, related interviewer Rebecca Milzoff in an article posted at Nextbook. At eleven years of age, she was accepted at the School of American Ballet in Manhattan. At age fifteen, she was a professional dancer and working with famed choreographer George Balanchine in his early organization, Ballet Society. Fisher spent more than twelve years dancing with Balanchine's companies, and she relates her experiences with the great choreographer in her book In Balanchine's Company: A Dancer's Memoir. Fisher discusses a pivotal collaboration, the 1957 production of Agon by Balanchine and Igor Stravinsky. Fisher relates stories that illuminate Balanchine's personality and his genuine affection for his dancers. She notes his fascination for motor scooters and his occasional ribaldry. Fisher "warmly and consistently animates the choreographer as a human being and a creative force, and she does so in the context of a profound love for his imagination and a sense of great privilege for having known him," noted Mindy Aloff in the Moscow Times. Fisher's "recollections are exact, vivid, well written, and illustrated by a fine selection of photos," noted a reviewer in Commentary. "To this day, the influence of her mentor Balanchine is omnipresent, and her appreciation of a remarkable association is evident in every page in this delightful book," commented Leland Windreich in Ballet-Dance Magazine. Booklist critic Whitney Scott concluded: "Graced with archival photos, Fisher's elegant memoir is a must for dance lovers." Fisher's "observations as both dancer and literary critic are unparalleled," stated a reviewer in Publishers Weekly, who concluded: "This book is indispensable for lovers of ballet and theater."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Fisher, Barbara M., In Balanchine's Company: A Dancer's Memoir, Wesleyan University Press (Middletown, CT), 2006.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 15, 2006, Whitney Scott, review of In Balanchine's Company, p. 14.

Dance Magazine, October, 2006, review of In Balanchine's Company, p. 80.

Moscow Times (St. Petersburg, Russia), March 9, 2007, Mindy Aloff, review of In Balanchine's Company.

Publishers Weekly, July 10, 2006, review of In Balanchine's Company, p. 64.

ONLINE

Ballet-Dance Magazine, http://www.ballet-dance.com/ (April 24, 2007), Leland Windreich, review of In Balanchine's Company.

Commentary,http://www.commentarymagazine.com/ (April 24, 2007), biography of Barbara M. Fisher.

ForeWord,http://www.forewordmagazine.net/ (April 24, 2007), Peter Skinner, "ForeWord's Ninth Annual Look at the Big Ten/Outstanding Books from University Presses," review of In Balanchine's Company.

Nextbook,http://www.nextbook.org/ (November 15, 2006), Rebecca Milzoff, "Turning Point," interview with Barbara M. Fisher.