Arnold Lionel David Haskell

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(19 July 1903, London – 14 November 1980,

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

) was a British dance critic who founded the Camargo Society in 1930. With Ninette de Valois, he was influential in the development of the

Royal Ballet School The Royal Ballet School is a British school of classical ballet training founded in 1926 by the Anglo-Irish ballerina and choreographer Ninette de Valois. The school's aim is to train and educate outstanding classical ballet dancers, especially ...

, later becoming the school's headmaster.

Biography

Son of banker Jacob Silas Haskell and Emmy (née Mesritz), Haskell grew up at

Queen's Gate Queen's Gate is a street in South Kensington, London, England. It runs south from Kensington Gardens' Queen's Gate (the edge of which gardens are here followed by Kensington Road) to Old Brompton Road, intersecting Cromwell Road. The street i ...

South Kensington South Kensington is a district at the West End of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with the advent of the ra ...

, London, and was educated at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

and

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...

(where he read law, and was a friend of fellow Old Westminsters Angus MacPhail and

Ivor Montagu Ivor Goldsmid Samuel Montagu (23 April 1904, in Kensington, London – 5 November 1984, in Watford) was an English filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, film critic, writer, table tennis player, and Communist activist and spy in the 1930s. He help ...

). Haskell became fascinated by

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

when his mother prevailed on him to come with her to see the thirteen-year-old Alicia Markova at Seraphine Astafieva's studio in Chelsea. Haskell first went to Australia in 1936 with the visiting Monte Carlo Russian Ballet as a publicist/reporter, writing articles and reviews for several Australian newspapers and journals, such as ''The Home'', and sent reports home to England for magazines such as the ''Dancing Times''. His book ''Dancing Round The World'', published in London in 1937, is an account of his adventures on that tour. He returned to Australia in 1938 to gather material for ''Waltzing Matilda: a background to Australia'' published in 1943. On this second visit he continued writing articles and reviews for Australian newspapers and magazines, this time for the second Ballets Russes company to tour Australia, the Covent Garden Russian Ballet. In 1974, Haskell was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Letters) by the

University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

. His son Francis Haskell was Professor of

Art History Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

1967–1995.

Publications

* Sir Jacob Epstein, ''The Sculptor speaks: Jacob Epstein to Arnold L.Haskell. A series of conversations on art'' (London: Heinemann, 1931) * A contributor to ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' (1934–1947) *''Balletomania: the story of an obsession'' (London: V. Gollancz, 1934). *''Diaghileff: his artistic and private life'' (London: Victor Gollancz, 1936).] Cheap edition. Written in collaboration with Walter Nouvel. * ''Felicity dances; a children's tale about the ballet'' (London, New York (etc.): T. Nelson and Sons, Ltd. (1937)) *''Dancing round the world: memoirs of an attempted escape from ballet'' (London: V. Gollancz, 1937).] Drawings by

Daryl Lindsay Sir Ernest Daryl Lindsay (31 December 1889 – 25 December 1976), known as Dan Lindsay, was an Australian artist. Early life He was the youngest son in a large family born to Anglo-Irish surgeon Robert Charles Alexander and Jane Elizabeth Linds ...

. Published in New York by Dodge Publishing Co. in 1938 *''Ballet; a complete guide to appreciation, history, aesthetics, ballets, dancers'' (Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Eng.: Penguin Books, 1938) *''Waltzing Matilda: a background to Australia'' (London: Adam and Charles Black, 1940) *''Ballet to Poland'' (London: Adam and Charles Black, 1940) *''Australia'' (London: Collins for Penns in the Rocks Press, 1941). From the series ''The British Commonwealth in pictures''. *''The Australians: the Anglo-Saxondom of the southern hemisphere: an historical sketch'' (London: A.& C. Black, 1943) *''The national ballet: a history and a manifesto'' (London: A. & C., Black, 1944). 'With an overture by Ninette de Valois'. *''Miracle in the Gorbals: a study'' (Edinburgh: The Albyn Press, 1946). A discussion of Robert Helpmann's choreography, Michael Benthall's scenario, and Arthur Bliss' music for the ballet of the same name. *''The making of a dancer, and other papers on the background of ballet'' (London, A. & C. Black, 1946) *''Ballet since 1939'' (London, New York etc.: Pub. for the British council by Longmans Green & co (1946)). Bibliography of books on British ballet published since 1939. *''Prelude to ballet: an analysis and a guide to appreciation'' (London : Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1947). New and revised edition. *''Ballet, a reader's guide'' ((London): Cambridge Univ. Press, 1947).] *''Ballet vignettes'' (Edinburgh: Albyn Press, 1948) *''Going to the ballet'' (London: Phoenix House, 1950) *''Ballet, 1945–1950'' (London, New York: Published for the British Council by Longmans, Green (1951)) *''A picture history of ballet'' (London: Hulton Press, 1954) * Arnold Haskell, Mark Bonham Carter, Michael Wood (eds.) ''Gala performance'' (London: Collins, 1955). With a foreword by H.R.H. the Princess Margaret. *''Ballet retrospect'' (London: B. T. Batsford (1964)) *''Heroes and roses: a view of Bulgaria'' (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1966) *''Ballet russe: the age of Diaghilev'' (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1968) *''The wonderful world of dance'' (Garden City, NY: Doubleday (1969)) *''Infantilia: the archaeology of the nursery'' (London: Dobson, 1971) *''Balletomane at large: an autobiography'' (London: Heinemann, 1972) * ''Ballet panorama - an illustrated chronicle of three centuries'' (London: B T Batsford, 1938)

Notes

External links

RMF Classic
(Polish)

(About publishings) {{DEFAULTSORT:Haskell, Arnold Lionel David 1903 births 1980 deaths Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Ballet critics British theatre critics Dance critics Dance historians English male journalists English music critics English people of Dutch descent English people of Iraqi-Jewish descent People educated at Westminster School, London People from South Kensington Writers from London 20th-century English historians 20th-century British male writers Commanders_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire

Biography

Publications

See also

Notes

External links