The Boy From Kyiv: Alexei Ratmansky's Life in Ballet

Marina Harss

Nov 2023 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Whitney Dykhouse

About this audiobook

The Boy from Kyiv is the life story of Alexei Ratmansky, the most celebrated ballet choreographer of our time. Before Ratmansky was the artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet, the resident choreographer at American Ballet Theatre, the artist in residence at New York City Ballet, and generally, as The New Yorker has it, "the most sought-after man in ballet," he was just a boy from Kyiv, sneaking into the ballet at night, concocting his own juvenile adaptations of novels and stories, and dreaming up new possibilities for bodies in motion. In The Boy from Kyiv, the first biography of this groundbreaking artist, the celebrated dance writer Marina Harss takes us behind the curtain to reveal Ratmansky's fascinating life, from his Soviet boyhood through his globe-spanning career. Over a decade in the making, this biography arrives at a pivotal moment in Ratmansky's journey, one that has seen him painfully and publicly break ties with Russia, the country in which he made his name, in solidarity with his native Ukraine, and take on a new challenge at the storied New York City Ballet. Told with the lyricism, drama, and verve that befit its subject, The Boy from Kyiv is a riveting account of this artist's ascent to the peaks of his field, a mesmerizing study of creativity in action, and a triumphant testament to ballet's enduring vitality.

About the author

Marina Harss is a dance writer, journalist, and critic based in New York City. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, The New Yorker, The Nation, the Guardian, the Boston Globe, The Threepenny Review, Dance Magazine, and Fjord Review.

A proud member of SAG-AFTRA, Whitney Dykhouse's credits include national industrial voice-overs for Netflix and Facebook and over 100 audiobooks with a focus on YA, thriller, and faith-based genres. She has theatrical, vocal, and linguistic training from Western Michigan University and is fluent in English and Spanish.