| Foreword | p. ix |
| Preface | p. xiii |
| Introduction | p. xv |
| The History of Ballet | |
| Let the History Begin ... | p. 3 |
| Le Ballet: A Man's World | p. 11 |
| Ballerinas and the Danse d'Ecole | p. 15 |
| Gentle Women and Gentle Men of the Ballet | p. 22 |
| The Pre-Romantic and Romantic Eras | p. 28 |
| French Art in Danish and Russian Quarters | p. 35 |
| Grand Pa Petipa and His Empire | p. 40 |
| Russia Surpasses France | p. 47 |
| Diaghilev Does Paris | p. 51 |
| Ballet's Roving Ambassadress | p. 60 |
| Nijinska and Neoclassicism | p. 63 |
| George Balanchine in Europe | p. 66 |
| Ballet Takes Root in Britain | p. 72 |
| Fred and Margot | p. 78 |
| Paris, Opera, and Ballet | p. 84 |
| Soviet Russia, Nureyev, England, and the World | p. 90 |
| Rudi in England and Around the World | p. 98 |
| America, Ballet, and Balanchine | p. 102 |
| America, New York City, and Ballet | p. 107 |
| Beyond the Paris Opera and Beyond Paris | p. 112 |
| Starry Nights | p. 116 |
| A Top Three and More | p. 120 |
| At War and Peace with Modern Dance | p. 123 |
| Back in the USSR | p. 127 |
| Far from Denmark | p. 131 |
| Leading Male Dancers Lead | p. 134 |
| Harlem, Cuba, China, Japan, South America | p. 137 |
| Post-Script: Dancers, Dancers, Dancers | p. 141 |
| The Dancers | |
| Ladies and Gentlemen of the Ballet | p. 145 |
| Men and Women at Work | p. 150 |
| Boys to Men | p. 161 |
| Corpsmen and Middlemen | p. 164 |
| Primo Ballerinos | p. 170 |
| Corps de Ballet Feminin | p. 176 |
| Queen Bees | p. 181 |
| Looking At a Ballet | |
| Looking at Ballets | p. 187 |
| Ballets Without Stories | p. 197 |
| Getting Ballet on the Stage | p. 202 |
| Revivals and Resurrections | p. 206 |
| Salut du Roi | p. 211 |
| The Famous Ballets | |
| At the Ballet | p. 217 |
| Romantic Classical Ballet: Swan Lake | p. 222 |
| Popular Beyond Ballet: The Nutcracker | p. 253 |
| Classical Classical Ballet: The Sleeping Beauty | p. 273 |
| Mature Romantic Ballet: Giselle | p. 298 |
| Ballet Embodying the Ideal: La Sylphide | p. 325 |
| Ballet of Mood: Les Sylphides | p. 347 |
| Romantic Turning Classical: La Bayadere | p. 359 |
| Renewing Classicism: Apollo | p. 382 |
| Neo-Romanticism, Neo-Primitivism, and Neoclassicism: Diaghilev's Ballets Russes Triple Bill | p. 397 |
| Sunny and Funny and Fine: La Fille Mal Gardee | p. 419 |
| Romantic: Small "r," Big Emotions: Romeo and Juliet | p. 448 |
| Pushing and Shoving Ballet a Bit: Push Comes to Shove | p. 481 |
| Glossary of Ballet Terms and Phrases | p. 499 |
| Videography | p. 531 |
| Selected Bibliography | p. 591 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 607 |
| Index | p. 609 |
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