"Esteemed dance critic Aloff offers up a delicious and provocative pastiche of anecdotes from the world of dance . . . The stories are insightful, witty, occasionally juicy and often dark. Aloff is delightfully subjective and partial in her choices . . . This volume is destined to be bedside reading for those fond of backstage insight and intrigue." —Publishers Weekly [on Dance Anecdotes]

"In this delightful collection, Mindy Aloff redefines the notion of anecdote as topical fluff. While her book has its share of today's amusing stories, the reader will also find a range of subjects from Ancient Greece to the courts of France to Balanchine and a look, both serious and humorous, at such issues as stagefright, criticism, creativity, and backstage politics. Her selections are not only entertaining but informative." —Nancy Reynolds, Director of Research at the George Balanchine Foundation, and co-author of No Fixed Points: Dance in the Twentieth Century [on Dance Anecdotes]

"Aloff, herself a fine writer and critic, has plucked the best of Agnes de Mille, one of the most vivid writers in dance, and made a bouquet of them that is as pungent as de Mille’s writing." —Alexandra Tomalonis, editor of Dance View [on Leaps in the Dark]