Description:
For Indigo Stevens, ballet classes at Miss Roberta’s ballet studio offer the stability and structure that are missing from her crazy home life. At almost 16, she hopes this is the year she will be accepted into the New York School of Ballet. First she must prove she’s ready, and that means ignoring Jesse Sanders – the cute boy with dimples who is definitely at the top of Miss Roberta’s List of Forbidden Things for Dancers.
But Jesse is the least of Indigo’s concerns. When she discovers her mom is an alcoholic, it simultaneously explains everything and heaps more worry on Indigo’s shoulders. As her mom’s behavior becomes increasingly erratic, Indigo fights to maintain balance, protect her younger brothers from abuse, and keep her mother from going over the edge. When the violence at home escalates, Indigo realizes she can no longer dance around the issue. At the risk of losing everything, she must take matters into her own hands before it’s too late.
Debunking Ballet Myths
While many people admire ballet as art form, it's also often criticized. Unhealthy body image is one of the most common complaints. But are these criticisms based on reality or myth? Let's examine some of the most common ballet myths and see what's real:
1. All ballet dancers are anorexic.
The average professional ballet dancer spends anywhere from five to eight hours each day dancing their butts off; imagine how slim you would be if you exercised that much! Ballet also naturally creates longer, leaner lines in the body, unlike other athletic pursuits such as running, which create bulkier muscles. Although they are slender, most dancers are health-conscious—they have to be in order to have enough energy to get through their long, active days...although their busy schedules mean they snack throughout the day as opposed to eating huge meals (it's hard to be light on your feet with a full belly!).
2. If you want to be a professional ballet dancer you have to start taking ballet classes early, like when you are still in the womb.
Just look at ballet superstar Misty Copeland; her story will burn that myth right out of your head. Copeland didn't begin taking ballet classes until she was thirteen, yet in 2007 she made dance history when she became the third African American female soloist (and the first in two decades) at American Ballet Theater. Another classmate of mine at the School of American Ballet didn't begin ballet until she was twelve but later went on to dance with New York City Ballet.
3. All male ballet dancers are gay.
There are certainly a lot of good-looking men in ballet but just because they put on tights doesn't mean there aren't some hot-blooded heterosexuals in the mix. The real-life partnership between New York City Ballet principal dancers Robert Fairchild and Tiler Peck is not just one of the most romantic love stories in ballet history (teen sweethearts, drama, breakup(s) and a happy ending when Fairchild proposed in Paris), it is one of the most prominent ballet marriages today. Other well-known ballet couples include San Francisco Ballet Principal Dancers Vanessa Zahorian and Davit Karapetyan, Boston Ballet principals Carlos Molina and Erica Cornejo and Nelson Madrigal and Lorna Feijoo, Ballet West soloists Easton Smith and Haley Henderson. Still not convinced? Rent “The Turning Point” (a classic ballet film) and watch Baryshnikov make his moves.
4. You have to be a twig if you want to be a ballet dancer.
While this was true during the Balanchine era, perspectives on dancers' bodies is changing dramatically and today's dancers are more muscular and feminine. Take a look at the lineup of dancers from companies like LINES Ballet, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet and Ballet Black. English National Ballet Artistic Director Tamara Rojo recently made it known that she's not interested in employing underweight ballerinas. Ballet dancers such as Kathryn Morgan, a former New York City Ballet soloist, St. Paul Ballet dancer Brittany Adams and New York City Ballet veteran Jennifer Ringer are becoming more vocal about promoting a healthy body image. If you want to delve deeper on the issue, check out "Strength and Beauty," a documentary about ballerinas' personal accounts of dealing with issues like weight.
5. Ballet dancers are weak, timid girlie girls who love anything pink.
If that were true, why are droves of football players signing up for ballet? Headliner Steve McLendon of the Pittsburgh Steelers says, “ballet is harder than anything else I do”. Ballet dancers are not delicate little flowers, nor is ballet easy. It's actually enormously difficult both physically AND mentally. A dancer has to remember several ballets' worth of choreography at any given time PLUS be strong enough to leap, turn, grande battement, and relevé for (sometimes) HOURS on end.
6. Pointe hurts. Stretching hurts.
It doesn't hurt if you're doing it right! Well, okay, pointe shoes sometimes hurt when you wear them day after day for hours at a time. But dancers build up their flexibility and foot strength over time. It's a process where things progress slowly. Beginning pointe classes, for instance, are very brief. If things hurt, it's time to slow down or back off and if you experience pain when you're stretching it's actually a clear indication that you're pushing things too far.
7. Ballet dancers naturally dance well at parties and nightclubs.
Just because someone is a ballet dancer does not mean they'll be a hit on the dance floor at your next party. Trust me; these are two very different types of dancing. In fact, ballet is so regimented and precise that it's difficult for ballet dancers to cut loose. It's much more likely they'll resemble a spastic electrocuted chicken on the dance floor.
8.All female ballet dancers are ballerinas.
Typical cocktail party conversation: "Oh, I didn't know that you were a ballerina!" Um, I'm not. I'm a ballet dancer. Only the highest-ranking female dancers in a ballet company are ranked as ballerinas. The corps and soloist dancers in the company are not ranked as ballerinas yet.
9. Since ballet terms are French all ballet dancers speak fluent French.
Sadly, no ( je suis desolée). Just because ballet terms are in French does not mean that we speak French fluently, nor is there any guarantee that our pronunciation incredible...or even correct.
10. Ballet dancers are not the brightest bulbs in the pack.
Refer to item number 5 above, for how much dancers have to remember (A LOT). This skill also serves dancers well in school, since more dancers are choosing take college courses in the midst of their dance careers, with the blessings of top ballet companies including American Ballet Theater and New York City Ballet (who offer scholarship money to their dancers). Boston Ballet recently teamed up with Northeastern University to offer a program to help dancers earn their degrees while they are dancing. The university's flexible schedule accommodates dancers' routines and the company's scholarship fund covers up to 80% of tuition...which means there are a lot of brainiacs on pointe out there.
As you can see, most myths don't stand up to investigation. Whether your attitude towards ballet is “love it” or “leave it”, you can now make an educated choice.
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Grier began ballet lessons at age five and left home at fourteen to study at the School of American Ballet in New York. She has performed on three out of seven continents with companies such as San Francisco Ballet, Miami City Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet, totaling more than thirty years of experience as a dancer, teacher and performer.
Her work has been praised as “poignant and honest” with “emotional hooks that penetrate deeply.” She writes and blogs about dance in the San Francisco Bay Area and has interviewed and photographed a diverse collection dancers and performers including Clive Owen, Nicole Kidman, Glen Allen Sims and Jessica Sutta. She is the author of Build a Ballerina Body and The Daily Book of Photography.
Grier Cooper has performed on three out of seven continents with companies such as San
Francisco Ballet, Miami City Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet, totaling more than thirty years of experience as a dancer, teacher and performer.
She blogs about dance in the San Francisco Bay Area and has interviewed and photographed a diverse collection dancers and performers including Clive Owen, Nicole Kidman, Glen Allen Sims and Jessica Sutta. She is the author of Build a Ballerina Body and the new ballet-based young adult novel, WISH. Grier can be reached through her website:
3 comments:
wow nice giveaway thank you very much great excerpt too
awesome excerpt and awesome giveaway. thanks for the chance!
I love ballet and stories about ballet and dancers. Fim, books or otherwise. I'm sure I would enjoy this. Thank you for the giveaways!
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