The Prickly Rose: A Biography of Viola Farber

Click this link to read a review of The Prickly Rose.

Dancer, choreographer and renowned teacher, Viola Farber performed with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company for thirteen years.  The Viola Farber Dance Company toured the United States and Europe from 1968-1983.  Director of the National de Danse Contemporaine in Angers for three years and the recipient of many awards, Farber became the chairperson of the Dance Department at Sarah Lawrence College in 1987, and held that position until her sudden death in 1998.  Written for dancers by her ex-husband and dance partner, The Prickly Rose offers excerpts from her letters and journals, reviews, articles regarding her work, interviews with dancers who worked with her, interviews with family members, and more.  Viola Farber's legacy still lives on in the muscles of every dancer who was fortunate enough to study with her.

Jeff Slayton began his professional career with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, and later became a principal dancer with the Viola Farber Dance Company.  After moving to California, he was the artistic director/choreographer of Jeff Slayton & Dancers from 1978 to 1983.  Ms. Farber and Mr. Slayton were married from 1971 to 1980.  Slayton has taught and choreographed for soloists, university and college dance department students, and at dance festivals throughout the United States, Europe, South America and Korea.  He was on the the dance faculty of the American Dance Festival in Durham, NC from 1988 to 1996, and a faculty member of the Dance Department at California State University, Long Beach from 1978 to 1999.  He retired from CSULB as a tenured full professor.  Mr. Slayton now resides in Long Beach, CA and continues to choreograph and write.