Toni Bentley Explained

Toni Bentley
Birth Place:Perth, Western Australia
Occupation:Writer
Period:1982–present
Genre:Non-fiction
Awards:Guggenheim Fellowship

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

Family and early life

Bentley's father, P. J. Bentley, is an Australian biologist and endocrinologist. Her brother, Dr. David Bentley, is a molecular biologist at the University of Colorado Denver.[1] She took her first ballet class at age four in Bristol, England, and entered the School of American Ballet, the official school of New York City Ballet, at age ten. At age seventeen she joined George Balanchine'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.[2]

Career

Bentley has written five books. Winter Season, A Dancer's Journal, was published when she was 22 years old by Random House. 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 in The New York Review of Books.[3] Her other books include Holding On to the Air: the Autobiography of Suzanne Farrell (co-authored with Farrell, Simon & Schuster, 1990); Costumes by Karinska (Harry N. Abrams, 1995) about Russian costumer designer Barbara Karinska; Sisters of Salome (Yale University Press, 2002), a cultural history of the femme fatale and origins of modern striptease; and The Surrender, An Erotic Memoir (ReganBooks/HarperCollins, 2004). All of her books have been named as Notable Books of the Year by The New York Times. She has written essays and reviews for The New York Times Book Review,[4] [5] [6] Vogue,[7] The New Republic,[8] Bookforum,[9] [10] and CR Fashionbook.[11] [12] Her essay "The Bad Lion", originally published in The New York Review of Books,[13] was selected for The Best American Essays (2010) by editor Christopher Hitchens.

She has given lectures at Harvard University,[14] the Oscar Wilde Society, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University, the University of North Florida, the Philoctetes Society, and at THiNK 2013. In 2008 she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship.[15]

The Surrender

HarperCollins published Bentley's book The Surrender (2004), a memoir of her experiences with heterosexual sodomy 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.[16] [17] The subject has since received considerable mainstream attention because of the worldwide profile gained by Fifty Shades of Grey. The book has been translated into eighteen languages. A one-woman play adaptation of The Surrender, La Rendición[18] 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)[19] in January 2013 at the Teatro María Guerrero in Madrid. The play had its English-language world premiere at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 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

Anthologies

Reviews

Essays

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/medicalschool/departments/biochemistry/Faculty/PrimaryFaculty/Pages/Bentley.aspx David Bentley, PhD – Professor
  2. Web site: A Ballerina, Inside Out. Toni. Bentley. 23 April 2010. The New York Review of Books. 11 March 2017.
  3. Keeping Up with Mr. B. Robert. Craft. 12 August 1982. The New York Review of Books. 11 March 2017.
  4. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E07EFDA1739F93AA
  5. Web site: Book Review – Ballet's Magic Kingdom: Selected Writings on Dance in Russia, 1911–1925, by Akim Volynsky. Toni. Bentley. 23 January 2009. 11 March 2017. The New York Times.
  6. Web site: Up Front: Toni Bentley. 22 January 2009. The New York Times. 11 March 2017.
  7. Web site: Platform: Sex and the Girls Woman - Culture - Vogue . www.vogue.com . 17 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130317063803/http://www.vogue.com/culture/article/platform-sex-and-the-girls-woman/#1 . 17 March 2013 . dead.
  8. Shutters and Shudders. 27 February 2006. The New Republic. 11 March 2017.
  9. Web site: Bookforum – Summer 2006. Bookforum.com. 11 March 2017.
  10. Web site: The girl can't help it. Bookforum.com. 11 March 2017.
  11. The Master. Toni. Bentley. 10 March 2005. The New York Review of Books. 11 March 2017.
  12. Web site: Boxers and Ballerinas. Toni. Bentley. Nybooks.com. 11 March 2017.
  13. The Bad Lion. Toni. Bentley. 5 November 2009. The New York Review of Books. 11 March 2017.
  14. Web site: Dance – Ten to a hundred. Marcia B.. Siegel. Bostonphoenix.com. 11 March 2017. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150923194059/http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/arts/dance/documents/03767140.asp. 23 September 2015. dmy-all.
  15. Web site: Toni Bentley - John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation . gf.org . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090211022643/http://gf.org/fellows/1089-Toni-Bentley . 11 February 2009 . dead.
  16. Web site: Once Forbidden, Now Championed. Charles. Mcgrath. 15 October 2004. The New York Times. 11 March 2017.
  17. Web site: The Ballerina Who Bent. 4 October 2004. Observer. 11 March 2017.
  18. Web site: The Surrender – Oficial site. Thesuurendershow.com. 11 March 2017.
  19. Web site: La rendición. Centro Dramático Nacional. Cdn.mcu.es. 11 March 2017.

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