A FEW BARRES

Re “Shadowplay: The Life of Antony Tudor” (July 21), I was a dancer in Ballet Theatre during its first 10 years and in Tudor’s then existing and future creative ballets of that period.

He was my teacher, my choreographer and, to the best of his ability, my friend. Although our careers took different channels in the ensuing years, we bridged the gap of our friendship during the last 10 or 15 years of his life.

(Author) Donna Perlmutter, to my knowledge, is the first to undertake what became a mammoth job, against adversity, to research, decipher and piece together the complexities of a man who could reveal himself only through his art.

I don’t think Perlmutter’s intentions were a chronology or an analysis of his ballets or his choreographic style, but more that Tudor’s ballets were an extention of his life.

Brava! Donna Perlmutter for documenting and so vividly capturing his persona--and none too soon!

MURIEL BENTLEY, LOS ANGELES