Deborah Bull - Publishing

Publishing

In addition to her work as a dancer, she has regularly written and lectured on the arts. In January 1996 she debated at the Oxford Union, opposing the motion 'This House Believes the National Lottery Gives Too Much Money to the Elitist Arts'. Her address was described by Lord Gowrie, her debating partner, as 'the best speech I have heard on the Arts in 30 years'. The motion was heavily defeated, a triumph which the Evening Standard attributed largely to 'the eloquence of a ballerina, unaccustomed to public speaking', describing her speech as 'cogently argued and delivered with generosity of spirit'.

In October 1996 she was invited by Lord Gowrie to deliver the Arts Council Annual Lecture at the Royal Society for the Arts, 'From Private Patronage to Public Purse'.

She has written articles for The Times, The Telegraph, The Sunday Times, The Sunday Telegraph, Classic FM Magazine, New Statesman and The Spectator, and reviewed for The Telegraph, The Literary Review and several dance magazines. From 1999-2001 she wrote a regular column, Private View, for The Telegraph.

Aside from the Arts, she has a passionate interest in health and fitness, and has taught nutrition to the students of the Royal Ballet School as well as chairing the Prix de Lausanne’s annual seminars on dance related health matters.

She has published three books. The Vitality Plan, (Dorling Kindersley, January 1998) was published simultaneously in the United States as Totally Fit, and has since been translated into seven different languages. Dancing Away (Methuen, October 1998) is a diary of The Royal Ballet's first year ‘on the road’, as the Royal Opera House underwent its extensive and controversial redevelopment. To mark publication, Deborah was commissioned to read five extracts from the book on BBC Radio 4. Dancing Away was described by The Spectator as ‘arguably the most amusing and fascinating dance book ever published’. The Faber Guide to Classical Ballets, jointly with Luke Jennings, was published in 2005. She is currently writing a second book for Faber, The Everyday Dancer, due for publication in Autumn 2011.