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In Ballet Book Club, we read one ballet related title each month and discuss it in our private Facebook group.
This page is our running book list.
Below you'll find more info about each of our books of the month. (You can click a title to jump to it!)
July 2020 Book of the Month
You may know Michaela DePrince from the documentary First Position, which follows three young ballet dancers through their pre-professional training and participation in the Youth America Grand Prix.
Michaela, now a soloist with the Dutch National Opera and Ballet, wrote her memoir, Taking Flight, in collaboration with her adoptive mother, Elaine DePrince.
Born into war-torn Sierra Leone and orphaned at a young age, DePrince's story is one of unprecedented strength and resilience.
After her biological father is killed by a militant group of government rebels, Michaela (then known by the name Mabinty Bangura) and her mother are forced to live with Michaela's abusive uncle.
When Michaela's mother dies of a fever, her uncle abandons her at an orphanage.
At the orphanage, she stumbles across a page from a magazine, featuring a beautiful photo of a ballerina en pointe.
Michaela decides that one day she will be like the ballerina on the page.
When she is four, an American family — the DePrinces — adopt Michaela and put her in dance classes.
This incredible journey, from war orphan to ballerina, is a page-turner and must-read.
June 2020 Book of the Month
Set in 19th century France, The Painted Girls follows the two oldest van Goethem sisters who, after the death of their father, find their family struggling to make ends meet.
Their mother works cleaning laundry but spends her meager earnings on her absinthe addiction.
Marie and her younger sister Charlotte soon join the Paris Opéra, where they are paid a low wage to train as ballet dancers. Their oldest sister Antoinette also works in theater, as an extra in performances.
Marie works hard at her ballet training, and eventually finds herself modeling for the artist Edgar Degas, who bases his sculpture “Little Dancer Aged Fourteen” on her image.
As the van Goethem family struggles to survive on their practically nonexistent wages, Marie and Antoinette each face a similar dilemma.
Marie could accept assistance from a wealthy ballet patron.
But what would he expect in return?
Antoinette faces the choice of hard work for little pay or the only higher paying work available to poverty sticken women in 19th century France.
But at what cost to her wellbeing?
By telling the stories of the van Goethem sisters, this book paints a vivid picture of the 19th century Paris slums and the stark contrast between the lavish, glittering theater productions and the real lives of the young performers.
If you'd like to read The Painted Girls, the ebook, audiobook, paperback, and hardcover are all available on Amazon.
You can also find this book at:
Painted Girls is poignant and beautifully written, but it is worth noting that this book goes into quite a bit of detail about some of its darker themes. If you would like to read a lighter retelling of the same story (the lives of the van Goethem sisters), consider reading the young adult novel Marie, Dancing instead.
May 2020 Book of the Month
In Dancing Through It, New York City Ballet dancer Jenifer Ringer shares how an eating disorder almost ends her ballet career — but of how she ultimately goes on to have a long, successful tenure at NYCB, even being promoted to principal dancer in the year 2000.
She also shares an interesting milestone of her life: she receives a throng of media attention in 2010, when New York Times reviewer Alastair Macaulay writes that, on stage, Ringer "looked as if she'd eaten one sugar plum too many."
Many of Ringer’s fans, aware of her previous struggles with an eating disorder, feel a collective sense of outrage toward Macaulay.
His review goes viral, and thousands of people rise to Ringer’s defense, a surreal but also encouraging experience for her.
She ends up discussing the review and her reaction to it on national television, in appearances on both Oprah and The Today Show.
Dancing Through It is available on Amazon and at the following online shops:
Readers will appreciate Ringer's behind-the-scenes insights into life at NYCB and also her unique views on body image and self-acceptance.
April 2020 Book of the Month
In Raising the Barre, immersive journalist Lauren Kessler decides — in her fifties — to pursue her lifelong dream of dancing in the Nutcracker, even though she hasn't stepped foot in a ballet studio since she was a child.
This story is particularly appealing to adult ballet students, for many of us secretly wish we could go all-in with ballet.
Kessler, for several months anyway, does just that.
She covers the ups and downs of her training and cumulative performance, but she also touches on topics such as body image, perfectionism, and the shift in perspective that many people experience in middle age.
Kessler is open about both her insecurities and her triumphs, and her humor and relatability is endearing.
Raising the Barre is a fascinating and inspirational read for anyone who loves ballet.
This book is available on Amazon. Here are a few more places you can grab a copy of Raising the Barre:
Read this book for a rare glimpse into what can happen when an adult goes after ballet with all their heart.
March 2020 Book of the Month
Joanna Marsh's debut novel tells the story of adult ballet beginner Colette Larsen.
Cantique follows Colette through a jarring career change and a tumultuous time of self-discovery. It explores how she grapples with her passion for ballet — she longs to be part of the ballet world, but isn't she too late?
Perhaps, but perhaps not.
When Colette happens across handwritten, eighteenth century sheet music from a long lost ballet, she suddenly finds herself immersed in the arts community that she has admired from afar.
She also, by chance, meets James Brennan — a laid-back, confident professional ballet dancer — and these two twenty-somethings form a deep connection.
As a modern-day love story peppered with historical fiction and plenty of relatable adult ballet moments, this book is one of a kind.
If you would like to read Cantique, it is available on Amazon. You can also find it at the following online shops:
This book is special, not only because it tells a beautiful story, but also because it is one of only a few books in the entire world that focus on the topic of beginning ballet as an adult.
