NATIONAL BESTSELLER For more than four hundred years the art of ballet has stood at the center of Western civilization. Its traditions serve as a record of our past. Lavishly illustrated and beautifully told Apollos Angelsthe first cultural history of ballet ever writtenis a groundbreaking work. From ballets origins in the Renaissance and the codification of its basic steps and positions under Frances Louis XIV himself an avid dancer the art form wound its way through the courts of Europe from Paris and Milan to Vienna and St. Petersburg. In the twentieth century migr dancers taught their art to a generation in the United States and in Western Europe setting off a new and radical transformation of dance. Jennifer Homans a historian critic and former professional ballerina wields a knowledge of dance born of dedicated practice. Her admiration and love for the ballet as Entertainment Weekly notes brings a dancers grace and surefooted agility to the page. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW LOS ANGELES TIMES SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE PUBLISHERS WEEKLY show more