Reading Group



Cecchetti Institute Reading Group

Mondays a la Maestro -- 2nd Mondays

The reading group has launched as an in-person activity for the purpose of more fully engaging those in the D.C. area as we continue to work toward a physical presence in the nation's capital.  We plan to eventually feature a publicly-available Reading Room for our existing, extensive dance library, which is currently available by appointment only.


Meets monthly at the Tenley-Friendship Library, directly across the street from the Tenley Metro. 

Usual date is the first or second Monday of the month. Usual time 10:30-11:30 or 12:30-1:30 (always check the sign-up schedule)

If you are driving, know that paid parking is available in the Target parking garage (access off of River Road.)


 Advance registration is required

Our reserved room has a limit of 15 attendees, which the library strictly enforces.


Sign-up deadline is the Sunday prior to each gathering.

Registration is free, but contributions to our effort, of any size (even $1), will be gratefully received.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP, either to 1.) attend this month or, 2.) to be added to the Reading Group email list

What we're reading next:

December 2024: "Imperial Dancer: Mathilde Kschessinska and the Romanovs" by Coryne Hall



What we've read thus far:

December 2024: "Imperial Dancer: Mathilde Kschessinska and the Romanovs" by Coryne Hall

November 2024: "Ida Rubinstein: Revolutionary Dancer, Actress, and Impressario" by Judith Chazin-Bennahum

October 2024: "Leanne Benjamin: Built for Ballet" by Leanne Benjamin with Sarah Crompton

September 2024: "Balanchine's Apprentice: From Hollywood to New York and Back" by John Clifford

July 2024: "The Christensen Brothers: An American Dance Epic" by Debra Hickenlooper Sowell

June 2024: "Jerome Robbins: His Life, His Theater, His Dance" by Deborah Jowitt

May 2024: "Catherine Littlefield: A Life in Dance" by Sharon Skeel

April 2024: "The Pursuit of Perfection: A Life of Celia Franca" by Carol Bishop-Gwyn

March 2024: "The Boy from Kyiv: Alexei Ratmansky's Life in Ballet" by Marina Harss

February 2024: "Come Dance With Me: a memoir, 1898-1956" by Ninette de Valois

January 2024:  "Choura: The Memoirs of Alexandra Danilova

December 2023:  "Diaghilev's Empire: How the Ballets Russes Enthralled the World" by Rupert Christiansen

November 2023:  Carlos Acosta -- "No Way Home: A Cuban Dancer's Story" 

October 2023:  Agnes deMille -- memoir "Dance to the Piper" OR Carol Easton's biography "No Intermissions: The LIfe of Agnes deMille" 

July 2023:  "I Was a Dancer" by Jacques d'Amboise 

June 2023:  "Out Loud: A Memoir" by Mark Morris and Wesley Stace

May 2023: "Maria Tallchief: America's Prima Ballerina" by Maria Tallchief with Larry Kaplan

 April 2023: "Distant Dances" by Sono Osato

 March 2023: "Secret Muses: The Life of Frederick Ashton" by Julie Kavanagh

February 2023: "Night's Dancer: The Life of Janet Collins" by Yael Tamar Lewin

January 2023: "Dulcie Howes: Pioneer of Ballet in South Africa" by Richard Glasstone

December 2022: "Bravura!: Lucia Chase and the American Ballet Theatre" by Alex C. Ewing

November 2022: "A Body of Work: Dancing to the Edge and Back" by David Hallberg

October 2022: "Dance or Die" by Ahmad Joudeh


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