Nothing to Hide: A Dancer's Life

New York: D.I. Fine, c1987. First Printing. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. 24 cm, 278, illus. This autobiography of one of ballet's most talented stars tells Robert La Fosse's story from his beginning as a corps dancer in 1977, through his eight-year rise as Mikhail Baryshnikov's protege, to his present position with the New York City Ballet. He studied at the Marsha Woody Academy and at Harkness House, joining American Ballet Theatre in 1977, and becoming principal in 1983. In 1985 he danced Romeo in MacMillan's staging of Romeo and Juliet for ABT, and in 1986 moved to New York City Ballet, creating roles in Robbins's Quiet Lady and West Side Story Suite, Tharp's Octet and Septet, and Martins's A Fool for You and Tea Rose, among others. He also appeared for three months in the musical Jerome Robbins' Broadway. He guested with Twyla Tharp during 1992 and directed the touring company, Stars of American Ballet, through many seasons. He choreographed his first ballet, a pas de deux Rappacini's Daughter, for Baryshnikov's temporary company in 1985 and developed a parallel career as a choreographer. He has additionally choreographed for opera. In 2002 he retired from NYCB but continued to make work for the company, including Land of Nod, as well as to teach and choreograph. He published his autobiography Nothing to Hide in 1987 and has made numerous appearances on television. As a principal dancer with the New York city Ballet, Robert La Fosse has mesmerized audiences and critics as one of ballet's most talented stars. Nothing to Hide is a searing and candid autobiography about an extraordinary life, that until now, has never been publicly revealed. Derived from a Library Journal review: La Fosse presents us with a ballet-world expose. Catapulted to an early success with American Ballet Theatre (ABT) as a protege of Baryshnikov, La Fosse is frank about both his early drug use and his lifestyle. In 1985, personal doubts caused him to resign from ABT to "find himself" and do choreography, but he shortly joined the New York City Ballet. La Fosse shows the most insight when he discusses his fellow dancers, the differences between the two companies, and the difficulties of partnering various ballerinas.