What makes a publishing house great? The easy answer is the consistency with which it produces books of value over a lengthy period of time.
Diana Vishneva is not only a magnificent dancer but a magnificent actress - no one works harder or understands more.
As ye sow, so shall ye reap. When a ballet company spends a lot of money on gimmicky pieces, it's stuck with them for a while - they have to earn their keep.
Dickens was born in 1812 and died in 1870, having produced fifteen novels, many of which can confidently be called great, as well as having accomplished outstanding work in activities into which his insatiable need to expend his vast energies - to achieve, to prevail - carried him: journalism, editing, acting, social reform.
'Eclipse' is a concept piece, and its concept centers on 36 large light bulbs strung from above in a geometrical pattern and at different heights, some of them at times down below the dancers' chest level.
Either 'Deuce Coupe' has aged badly, or I have. I suspect it's the latter.
I hated Matthew Bourne's 'Swan Lake' when it first turned up, and then when it was televised, and then when it returned.
We all need each other in publishing to make publishing work for authors in a variety of formats now and in the future. Anyone who thinks publishers don't bring anything to the table has a very narrow view and lack of knowledge about the industry as a whole.
No agent/publisher is in a position to create across a spectrum of media and distribution what major publishers can accomplish for authors.
The mystery of Christopher Wheeldon deepens. Yes, he's the most talented of the younger ballet choreographers - indeed, where's the competition? Yes, he's particularly good at nurturing dancers and identifying their essential qualities.
Shakespeare has always been up for grabs, and choreographers have every right to use him any way they choose.
'Eclipse' is overlong and overly self-conscious, but it isn't a fake or a zero; it just gets exhausting. It raises a crucial question: 'When does Concept morph into Gimmick?'
With literary fiction, generally a film maker falls in love with a book. In commercial fiction, it's a producer or studio falling in love with a book they can make into a movie with worldwide appeal.
Writing happened to me. I didn't decide to start writing or to be a writer. I never wanted to be a writer.
I don't like writing - it's so difficult to say what you mean. It's much easier to edit other people's writing and help them say what they mean.
Like all editors, I assume, I'm a reactor.
Ballet is like any other art form in that we all start out knowing nothing about it.
Dance stories, unlike those in opera, are usually simple.
If Tom Clancy didn't write any Op-Centers, he would be $60 million less rich.
Remember: TV is a format, film is a format, and books are a format.
