Birthday celebrations
What sustains an insightful cultural critic?
THREE MUSES turns two this week! Thank you for giving it such a warm, loving welcome. We writers are in partnership with you readers; it’s readers who breathe life into our work. We cannot do what we do without you. So, from my heart, thank you. (And please save a little reading time for DUET FOR ONE, coming out May 6, 2025.)
To celebrate the occasion, please check out my book giveaway on Goodreads.
More important, I wanted to introduce you to Marina Harss, an insightful and imaginative ballet and cultural critic.
Harss is an intellectual omnivore. I was already a devoted reader of her work when I had the opportunity to review her terrific biography of Alexei Ratmansky: THE BOY FROM KYIV.
Ratmansky, one of the greatest living choreographers, is half Ukrainian and half Russian. In other words, a man for our time. From my review:
Harss does an elegant job of introducing this quiet man with a big career…. Her book takes a fascinating journey with Ratmansky against his place in history. Readers watch him till new ground, taking the world stage through determination, drive, and a capacious imagination.
Like most of us, Harss’s journey to her own work has been winding. I had the chance to interview her by email.
1. What do you do for work?
I write about dance. I’m a freelancer. I write for The New York Times and The New Yorker’s "Goings On About Town" section, The New York Review of Books, Dance Magazine, and a ton of other places. I also have a Substack called Dancing Around, where I post reviews and interviews. A year ago, I published my first book, a critical biography of the choreographer Alexei Ratmansky.
2. How did you get into it?
I got into writing about dance almost by chance. I have training in music, speak several languages, and have always been musical. For years, I worked as a literary translator. I also worked at The New Yorker as a fact-checker for several years, where I met the dance writer Joan Acocella. She was my inspiration and my model—I loved the vividness with which she wrote about what she saw happening onstage. Because of her, I developed the desire to combine all my interests—music, translation, observation, reading, and writing—and to try my hand at writing about the ideas that dance evoked in me. My entry point was the ballets of George Balanchine. They are the best teacher.
3. What sustains you in your work?
What sustains me is my admiration for dancers and choreographers—I think what they do is extraordinary, mysterious, verging on miraculous—and the way good choreography stimulates my brain and my heart all at once. Choreography that tells me something about the music, reveals something hidden in its structure, delights me, surprises me, or shows me something I didn’t expect—there’s nothing more exciting. Watching it makes me want to write about it. I almost can’t help myself.
Thanks for your wonderful work, Marina Harss!
And happy birthday THREE MUSES!
Love,
Martha
PS ICYMI, here’s last week’s newsletter: September brings Emmanuel Coppey
PPS I’m looking forward to showing you the cover of my new novel, DUET FOR ONE. Coming soon….
Happy Birthday, Three Muses.