Ray Barra A Life in Ballet

Ray Barra A Life in Ballet is a celebration of the life and works of ballet dancer Ray Barra, written by Victor Hughes.

It relates how Barra was a principal dancer for John Cranko and Kenneth MacMillan in Stuttgart, and how he was fundamental in defining the role of the male dancer in modern terms, bringing a manliness to the role of the male dancer.

Victor Hughes takes his readers on an extraordinary journey through the professional life of Barra, dancer, ballet master and choreographer.

He covers his early days with the San Francisco Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre and then onto Europe, in Germany and Spain and Greece as he worked as an international presence in the world of ballet as he worked as a freelance dancer.

The biography also covers a great deal about Barra's private life, including his time when he was drafted into the US Army and served in the Korean War and how he came to learn of the existence of Japanese ballet. And how he was asked to perform dancing to entertain other troops and that he had given dance workshops, too, during his military years.

Victor Hughes (a dancer himself, as well as a writer) has extensively interviewed Ray Barra and this is obvious as the book gives a detailed account of his life, his homosexuality and his relationships with other dancers and people from outside the world of ballet.

The book is also well illustrated with a wide range of photographs

As Ray Barra is now nearing his 90th birthday this will become an important work in the world of ballet.

It's published by The Book Guild at £12.99.