Night Waves - Jennifer Homans, Turner Prize 2010, Rob Lemkin

Anne McElvoy talks to historian and critic Jennifer Homans about the history of classical ballet. Jennifer Homans is an ex-professional dancer who trained at the School of American Ballet. Her new book Apollo's Angels: A History of Classical Ballet traces the art from from its origins in the courts of Europe to the present day. Originally it was a form of aristocratic etiquette and a political event as much as a work of art. Homans shows how ballet evolved to reflect political and cultural upheaval in places as diverse as Cuba and France and how dancers and dance makers were influenced by the Renaissance and French Classicism, by Revolution and Romanticism, by Expressionism and Modernism and by the Cold War. There'll also be an assessment of this year's winner of the Turner Prize and Rob Lemkin the co-director of an extraordinary Oscar nominated documentary about the Khmer Rouge will be discussing his reasons for making the film. Producer: Zahid Warley.