David Leonard is pleased to announce the publication, under the Dance Books Imprint, of Dynamo, Michael Somes, A Life in The Royal Ballet, by Sarah Woodcock.

Michael Somes is the unsung hero of The Royal Ballet - the dynamo driving performances as dancer and partner to Margot Fonteyn and as overseer of performances in the company’s greatest years.  
Starting out when when ballet belonged to the exotic foreigner and an Englishman becoming a ballet dancer was unthinkable, he challenged existing prejudices to become a star and a maker of stars, serving The Royal Ballet longer and contributing more to its development than anyone except its founder, Ninette de Valois.  The Royal Ballet was his life.  
The Royal Ballet was founded in 1931 as the Vic-Wells Ballet; Somes won the first scholarship to its school; only three years later ballets were being created for him, but four years of wartime service, culminating in serious injury, threatened to put an end to his career. 
His masterly partnering skills underlay Fonteyn’s transformation into an international star.  In the 1950s they were the great ballet partnership, glamour incarnate, feted throughout the world and cultural ambassadors for Britain. Under Somes’ stern editorial eye, Ashton created masterpieces for them.   
As Assistant Director in the 1960s, Somes nurtured a wealth of talent at all levels, notably Sibley and Dowell, and developed a corps de ballet of unsurpassed perfection. Now the legend of Somes the ruthless upholder of standards, of iron discipline and unpredictable rages was born, overshadowing his endless patience, kindness, and deep concern for every member of the company.  
Drawing on Somes’ hitherto unseen letters and diaries augmented by interviews with contemporaries and those he mentored, Dynamo is a first-hand account of successes and failures, day to day struggles, grumbles and disagreements as British ballet grew from a few dancers in an unfashionable fringe theatre to a company that was among the greatest in the world. 

Sarah Woodcock worked as Press Officer for the Sadler’s Wells (now Birmingham) Royal Ballet in the early 1970s.  In 1976 she became Curator of photographs and costumes at the Theatre Museum at the Victoria & Albert Museum and the department’s dance specialist, working on a wide range of exhibitions, including the major dance costume exhibition Spotlight and Kenneth MacMillan, The Outsider.  She is the author of The Royal Ballet: A Picture History (with Katherine Sorley Walker) and The Birmingham Royal Ballet, and is co-author of Oliver Messel: In the Theatre of Design.  She was appointed MBE for services to Arts Heritage and Dance in 2007.  
ISBN 978-1-85273-187-8 360 pages, hardback, 234 x 156 mm, 40 illustrations, rrp £25.00

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