Toni Bentley (born 1958) is an Australian-German dancer and writer. Bentley was born in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia.

Family and early life

Bentley's father, P. J. Bentley, is an Australian

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

and

endocrinologist Endocrinology (from ''endocrine'' + '' -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the integration of developmental events ...

. Her brother, Dr. David Bentley, is a

molecular biologist Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

at the

University of Colorado Denver The University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver) is a Public university, public research university in Denver, Colorado. It is part of the University of Colorado system. History University of Colorado System Anschutz Medical Campus The University ...

. She took her first ballet class at age four in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, England, and entered the

School of American Ballet The School of American Ballet (SAB) is the most renowned ballet school in the United States. School of American Ballet is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New ...

, the official school of

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company' ...

, at age ten. At age seventeen she joined

George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; ka, გიორგი მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე; January 22, 1904 (O. S. January 9) – April 30, 1983) was ...

's New York City Ballet where she performed for ten years under his tutelage. She retired from the stage at age 26 owing to a hip injury.

Career

Bentley has written five books. ''Winter Season, A Dancer's Journal'', was published when she was 22 years old by

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

. It is a diary of her life as a corps-de-ballet dancer in the New York City Ballet. It was called "a mini-marvel" by

Robert Craft Robert Lawson Craft (October 20, 1923 – November 10, 2015) was an American conductor and writer. He is best known for his intimate professional relationship with Igor Stravinsky, on which Craft drew in producing numerous recordings and books. ...

in ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...

''. Her other books include ''Holding On to the Air: the

Autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

Suzanne Farrell Suzanne Farrell (born August 16, 1945) is an American ballerina and the founder of the Suzanne Farrell Ballet at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Farrell began her ballet training at the age of eight. In 1960, she received a scholarship t ...

'' (co-authored with Farrell,

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

, 1990); ''Costumes by Karinska'' (

Harry N. Abrams Abrams, formerly Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (HNA), is an American publisher of art and illustrated books, children's books, and stationery. The enterprise is a subsidiary of the French publisher La Martinière Groupe. Run by President and CEO Michael ...

, 1995) about Russian costumer designer

Barbara Karinska Varvara Jmoudsky, better known as Barbara Karinska or simply Karinska (October 3, 1886 – October 18, 1983), was the Oscar-winning costumier of cinema, ballet, musical and dramatic theatre, lyric opera and ice spectacles. Over her 50 year caree ...

; ''Sisters of Salome'' (

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

Press, 2002), a cultural history of the

femme fatale A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; ), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype of ...

and origins of modern

striptease A striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer gradually undresses, either partly or completely, in a seductive and sexually suggestive manner. The person who performs a striptease is commonly known as a "stripper" or an "ex ...

; and ''The Surrender, An Erotic Memoir'' (

ReganBooks ReganBooks was an American bestselling imprint or division of HarperCollins book publishing house (parent company is News Corporation), headed by editor and publisher Judith Regan, started in 1994 and ended in late 2006. During its existence, Regan ...

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

, 2004). All of her books have been named as Notable Books of the Year by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. She has written essays and reviews for ''

The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

'', ''

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'', ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...

'', ''

Bookforum ''Bookforum'' is an American book review magazine devoted to books and the discussion of literature that was based in New York City, New York. The magazine was founded in 1994 and announced in December of 2022 it would cease publishing after ...

'', and ''CR Fashionbook''. Her essay "The Bad Lion", originally published in ''The New York Review of Books'', was selected for ''

The Best American Essays ''The Best American Essays'' is a yearly anthology of magazine articles published in the United States.Robert Atwan (ed.), Adam Gopnick (guest ed.). ''The Best American Essays 2008'', Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008. It was started in 1986 and is ...

'' (2010) by editor

Christopher Hitchens Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was a British-American author and journalist who wrote or edited over 30 books (including five essay collections) on culture, politics, and literature. Born and educated in England, ...

. She has given lectures at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, the

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

Society, the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin Fr ...

, the

Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum (known popularly as the Zimmerli Art Museum) is located on the Voorhees Mall of the campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The museum houses more than 60,000 works, including Russian and ...

, the

University of North Florida The University of North Florida (UNF) is a public research university in Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of the State University System of Florida and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Sch ...

, the Philoctetes Society, and at THiNK 2013. In 2008 she was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

''The Surrender''

Harper Collins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Corp ...

published Bentley's book ''The Surrender'' (2004), a memoir of her experiences with heterosexual

sodomy Sodomy () or buggery (British English) is generally anal or oral sex between people, or sexual activity between a person and a non-human animal ( bestiality), but it may also mean any non- procreative sexual activity. Originally, the term ''sodo ...

and a celebration of female sexual submission. At the time the book caused Bentley considerable notoriety given her perceived status as part of cultured society and the taboo nature of the subject matter. The subject has since received considerable mainstream attention because of the worldwide profile gained by ''

Fifty Shades of Grey ''Fifty Shades of Grey'' is a 2011 erotic romance novel by British author E. L. James. It became the first instalment in the ''Fifty Shades'' novel series that follows the deepening relationship between a college graduate, Anastasia Steele, ...

''. The book has been translated into eighteen languages. A one-woman play adaptation of ''The Surrender'', ''La Rendición'' directed by Spanish film director adapted by Swiss-German actress had its premiere in Spanish in Madrid at the Microteatro Por Dinero in January 2012. Stoffel starred in the production. It was subsequently produced by the Spanish National Theatre (

Centro Dramático Nacional The Centro Dramático Nacional ("National Drama Centre" or CDN) is a Madrid-based Spanish theatre company operating under the Instituto de las Artes Escénicas y de la Música (Institute for Performing Arts and Music), an autonomous body of the S ...

) in January 2013 at the

Teatro María Guerrero Teatro may refer to: * Theatre * Teatro (band) Teatro, Italian for "theatre", is a vocal group signed to the Sony BMG music label. The members of Teatro are Jeremiah James, Andrew Alexander, Simon Bailey and Stephen Rahman-Hughes. Band members ...

in Madrid. The play had its English-language world premiere at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

in August 2013, and had its American premiere at the Clurman Theatre in New York City in January 2014. It has also been performed in Buenos Aires, Barcelona, Valencia, and in a German-language version, ' in Kiel, Germany, and Bern, Switzerland.

Selected works

Books

* ''Winter Season: A Dancer's Journal'' (Random House, 1982) * ''Holding On to the Air'' (Simon & Schuster, 1990) * ''Costumes by Karinska'' (Harry N. Abrams, 1995) * ''Sisters of Salome'' (Yale University Press, 2002) * ''The Surrender: An Erotic Memoir'' (Ecco/HarperCollins, 2004) * ''Serenade: A Balanchine Story'' (Pantheon Books, 2022)

Anthologies

* ''Remembering Lincoln'' (editor Nancy Reynolds, The Ballet Society, 2007) * ''Reading Dance'' (editor Robert Gottlieb, Pantheon Books, 2008) * ''Dirty Words, A Literary Encyclopedia of Sex'' (editor

Ellen Sussman Ellen Sussman is a ''New York Times'' bestselling author of four novels. She was born in Trenton, New Jersey and resides in Sebastopol, California with her husband. Sussman's work features settings and characters from France to Bali to the Unite ...

, Bloomsbury, 2008) * ''Best American Essays 2010'' (editor

, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010) * ''New York Diaries 1609–2009'' (editor Teresa Carpenter, Modern Library, 2012)

Reviews

''Upstairs, Downstairs'': 'Vagina: A New Biography', by Naomi Wolf

* ttps://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/28/books/review/Bentley-t.html?hp ''Taking Flight'': 'Apollo's Angels, A History of Ballet' by Jennifer Homans
''Meet, Pay, Love'': 'Hos, Hookers, Call Girls, and Rent Boys' edited by David Henry Sterry and R. J. Martin Jr

* ttps://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E07EFDA1739F93AA15756C0A9639C8B63&pagewanted=all ''A 'Hyena in Petticoats: 'Vindication, A Life of Mary Wollstonecraft' by Lyndall Gordon
''Two-Step'': ‘The Astaires' by Kathleen Riley

* ttps://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/books/review/Bentley-t.html?_r=1&em ''Casanova, The Man Who Loved Women'': 'Casanova' by Ian Kelly
''The Brando of Ballet'': 'Nureyev' by Julie Kavanagh

* ttps://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/22/books/review/Bentley.t.html?_r=1&ref=review&oref=slogin ''Nip and Tuck'': 'Beauty Junkies' by Alex Kuczynski
''The Master'': 'George Balanchine: The Ballet Maker' by Robert Gottlieb, 'All in the Dances: A Brief Life of George Balanchine' by Terry Teachout

* ttp://www.vanityfair.com/vf-hollywood/nymphomaniac-toni-bentley ''The Rage of Joe: Lars von Trier’s 'Nymphomaniac' and the Female Scream'' by Lars von Trier
Zumanity' heralds a burlesque revival''

''A Picture of Passion'': 'The Company' by Robert Altman

''Shutters and Shudders'': 'Lee Miller, A Life' by Carolyn Burke

''The Girl Can't Help It'': 'The Female Thing' by Laura Kipnis

''Sex and the 'Girls' Woman'': Lena Dunham

''I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman'' by Nora Ephron

Essays

* ttps://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/arts/dance/balanchine-and-toumanova-in-a-teenagers-eyes.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1419102119-TEkWyfshXfR5Ss+ZUA9Qtw ''Related, by Devotion, to Balanchine''
''Dancers: The Agony And The Ecstasy''

* ttp://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2009/nov/05/the-bad-lion/ ''The Bad Lion''
''A Ballerina, Inside Out''

''Boxers and Ballerinas''

''The Thin End of the Whip''

''The Legend of Henry Paris''

''Critic's Argument for Heftier Dancers Is Thin''

References

External links

*
Contributions
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'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Bentley, Toni 1958 births Living people Australian ballerinas Australian women writers Australian writers Writers from Perth, Western Australia