Haskell, Arnold Lionel

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HASKELL, ARNOLD LIONEL

HASKELL, ARNOLD LIONEL (1903–1980), British ballet critic and author. In 1927 Haskell started his career with a firm of London publishers, devoted himself to ballet and in 1930 was joint founder of the Camargo Society, which was influential in the revival of ballet in England. For three years Haskell was critic of the Daily Telegraph (1935–38). He was director of the Royal Ballet School from 1946 and a governor of the Royal Ballet from 1957. In 1954 he advised the Dutch government on the formation of a National Ballet. His books on ballet were important in the cultivation of popular taste. Among them were Balletomania (1934), a word he introduced into the English language; Diaghileff (1935); The Making of a Dancer (1946); In His True Centre (1951), his autobiography; The Russian Genius in Ballet (1963); What is Ballet? (1965); and Heroes and Roses (1966).