I’m fascinated by the lives of dancers. Even though I was one, I can never seem to get past the fact that each of us has such a distinctly different path–and a totally unique perspective on what it is like to live this life.

Because of that, I was excited to read Every Step You Take, a memoir written by Jock Soto (with Leslie Marshall). After all, this is a man that I grew up watching in the ballet world. Soto was a principal dancer with NYCB when he retired at the age of 40, and this book begins with the end of his career on stage. A peek inside the thoughts and fears that swirl around one’s head when the final performance looms, I thought it was a great opener.

Where, I thought, will this book go from here?

Interestingly, Soto weaves the story of his life and his heritage together with his career in ballet. We see the influence his family and background had on him, and he is free with his inner thoughts, which was quite refreshing. It is obvious that he spent time thinking through how the person he is inside influenced the person he was on stage–and the man he has become on the other side of his life as a performer. This intimate look at his thoughts and feelings becomes the centerpiece of what draws the reader in to this memoir–an an opinion shared by my friend and colleague, Henrik Lamark in his review of Soto’s book on Tights and Tiaras.

There was a kind of unexpected twist in the book in that Soto includes a variety of recipes throughout. This was such a fun thing to do, and it added another dimension to the book that I really enjoyed. I just might have to try his “Grilled Skirt Steak with Arugula” or the “Paradise Valley Potato Salad”.

I don’t like to give too much away when writing a review of a book, so I won’t spoil the details. Suffice it to say that I enjoyed the memoir, the photos–and the recipes, and think it would make good reading for both ballet dancers and those interested in dance alike. Soto takes us on a rich trip through his career, whirls us back in time to see what shaped him and let’s us tag along with him as he processes those things that helped him find his way once he retired.

It’s a fun ride.

Learn more about Jock Soto’s book or purchase a copy.

by Catherine L. Tully

Better late than never–right?

It has taken me a long while to get around to doing this review. I was hesitant about watching this movie–not sure if I wanted to see what the depiction was of the ballet world. Somehow I knew it would fall short, and for me it did.

As I had heard, the movie rang true to overarching stereotypes of ballet dancers and what goes on behind the scenes, and I found myself disappointed that it didn’t try a little harder to stretch beyond the typical. After all, not every director is “grabby”, not every retiring ballerina is morose and suicidal, and not every dance mom is overbearing. It would have been nice to depart a bit from these images and strive to create real characters with dimension rather than falling back on old, tired images of these roles. Here, the director played it safe, but, admittedly, it is difficult subject matter to tackle. Still, it would have been nice to have had more range.

The behind-the-scenes look into the ballet world was again somewhat typical, but served as a decent bit of background for those who may not be aware of what goes on in a dance company. Many dancers can relate to things such as the cramped physical therapy office, the nerves as everyone checks the board for their name when ballets are posted and the hush that comes over a room when the director appears.

I loved the scene where you get to see how pointe shoes are “worked” and broken in and the realism of the dancers sitting around in the hallway with their ballet bags. How true, how true. Still, it would have been wonderful to have a little more of that–I think it would have helped explain dancers in a way that would have helped make sense of things better in the movie. After all, there is a lot more to the life of a ballet dancer than people may realize.

Nina, the main character, is driven in a way that pretty much drives her mad. I get that. But her character is also very fragile–I would argue too fragile to be at that level in ballet. There is an inner strength one needs to have to dance that type of role which was simply missing. To me, it made for a mix that just didn’t make sense. Perhaps this pairing is needed to make for a character that we see losing touch with reality, but it was hard for me to buy into.

I will say that Natalie Portman did manage to convince me that she was indeed frigid and naieve, but the push/pull in her dancing white swan and black swan was something I was not able to hone in on–until the scene where she takes the stage as the black swan.

To me, this scene was the movie’s triumph by far. The camera work, the facial expressions – even the choreography – all came together seamlessly. The transformation was at once powerful and intense, especially as she came offstage and circled around for her next entrance – I was spellbound for this one brief time in the movie, and from here out I thought it worked quite well. Portman did a lovely job of portraying a ballerina I thought–and although it was obvious this was from the waist up, it still worked for me. Pretty arms and lovely épaulement, which is an enormous challenge.

I have to say that I’m glad I finally did see the movie. While I can’t give it two thumbs up in terms of a dance movie, I do think that the conversation and controversy that it has caused in its wake are a good thing. At least people are talking about dance–and having some pretty intelligent conversations about it. And that’s something I like to see.

For other perspectives, read what Henrik had to say about this movie on Tights and Tiaras and see Rebecca King’s thoughts on Tendus Under A Palm Tree.

What did you think about this movie?

The author, Ann-Marie Williams speaks with serious authority. She is the director of the Movement Lab, a dance school for kids, and she is also a certified RAD (Royal Academy of Dance) instructor–and she has also written for The Dance Current. Williams has a knack for simplifying the information she shares about dance while still being interesting–a tough combination that she pulls off with considerable skill.

Some of the topics covered in this book include: what dance is, how to make dances, performing, promoting a show, making costumes and dance videos and information about several styles of dance, including ballet, contemporary dance and flamenco. Peppered throughout are a bunch of quotes from professionals in a variety of fields, which is a cool way to add interest to the book for kids of this age. It’s educational–but it’s fun too.

The language is right–hip and cool without trying too hard, and I think it addresses a lot of the questions that children this age may have about dance–especially if they don’t have a lot of prior experience or aren’t sure how to get started. The book helps to make dance accessible rather than mysterious, which I loved. It really was written in an encouraging tone.

The illustrations by Jeff Kulak were a nice touch as well. Visuals definitely help bring concepts to life, and the imagery worked very well here.

All in all I think this is a great book with mass appeal for the age group it was intended to serve. There’s a lot of information packed into the pages, and I think it is quite readable. A great resource for the dance community–and for parents.

Learn more about the book or purchase it for your child.

If you’ve read it–I’d love to hear what you think!

Maddock is truly an artist–his work is just beautiful, and I am looking forward to using it in my adult ballet class. Although it was developed for a pre-professional class, this CD would work well for most levels, and it is a refreshing departure from the standard ballet class music. There is more of a gentle, yearning feel to Maddock’s slower tracks that should coax out feeling from your dancers–even at the barre.

The more upbeat tunes are lively and well-played too, but I believe Maddock is at his best when the more lyrical music is running through his fingers. All-in-all this album of tracks created for ballet class is something that would round out any dance teacher’s collection nicely. When you are in the mood for something that will motivate your dancers to experiment with phrasing and emotion, this is the CD you will reach for. The port de bras music is especially lovely.

I found Maddock’s CD to be an unexpected and wonderful addition to my collection of ballet class music. It’s really nice to have some original compositions to include–especially when they are arranged and played as well as they are here. It can be challenging to find great CDs for ballet class. This is one of them.

Maddock has sample tracks on his website and you can also purchase CDs there. In addition, his work can be found on Amazon and iTunes if you are looking for digital downloads.

Disclosure

Sophie Flack

This week on “10 Questions With…” we’re featuring Sophie Flack, author of “Bunheads”… a book about the ballet world. I’m reading it right now, and it’s fabulous!

1. How did you get involved in dance?

When I was seven, the Boston Ballet studios were under renovation and they temporarily relocated to my school gymnasium. I’d see these lithe ballerinas lingering in the hallways as they stretched and spoke to one another between rehearsals. I begged my mother to take ballet classes, but I was too shy to walk into theclass that first day. I wanted my mother to go with me. It took me six months to find the courage to walk in alone.

2. What is your dance background?

I began my training at the Boston Ballet School learning the Vaganova technique. When I was eleven I was introduced to the Balanchine technique by Patricia McBride at the Chautauqua summer intensive. After watching a video of McBride dancing Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, I decided that I wanted to dance with the New York City Ballet, because I wanted to move like she did.

When I returned home, I transferred to Ballet Workshop of New England in order to study Balanchine technique. I spent my summers training with Suzanne Farrell, Gloria Govrin, Violette Verdy and Patricia McBride.

My mother would drive me to New York City in order to take private lessons with Nancy Bielski and Wilhelm Burmann, some of the best coaches in the country. I took open classes at Steps on Broadway alongside New York City Ballet dancers, and regular Pilates privates with Laurie Hurt.

At fifteen, I was accepted into the School of American Ballet on full scholarship and moved to New York City alone. At age seventeen, I joined the New York City Ballet as an apprentice and became a member of the corps de ballet the following year.

After dancing with the New York City Ballet for nine years, I retired from professional dance in 2009.

3. What is your book about, and who is it written for?

After dancing professionally for nearly a decade I wanted to give readers an inside look at what happens backstage, and what it’s like to grow up in the professional dance world.

The world is viewed though the eyes of a corps de ballet dancer named Hannah Ward, who is conflicted about whether she wants to continue to compete against her friends for a promotion, or see what’s beyond the windowless theater. Even though the novel is set in the elite and insular world of professional dance, Hannah’s coming of age story is really universal – she is trying to figure out what sort of person she wants to be.

4. What made you decide to write this book?

Though Bunheads is a work of fiction, I was inspired by the relationships between the women in the corps de ballet – we relied on one another for emotional support and yet we were competitors. When I was in the corps, the dressing room was a safe haven to vent and commiserate and laugh together. In the dressing room, everything was shared and intimate; we discussed every aspect of our lives, and yet there was a distinct air of distrust, too. We were still competitors.

The ballet world has been reluctant to draw back the velvet curtains for fear that the art form would loose it’s magic. I’ve always found the backstage drama really interesting, and I think that allowing the audience a peek will only increase interest.

I was also interested in the non-dancers that are involved in putting on a performance; the stagehands, Greenroom dressers and hairdressers all had unique stories and interesting relationships to the ballet world.

5. How did being a dancer impact your writing? 

Because I was writing fiction in the setting of a familiar place, writing this book was a proverbial John Malkovich experience: I peered out of someone else’s eyes – be it a stagehand, a pianist, an apprentice, or a principal dancer. It felt a bit like an acting exercisebecause I imagined that I was right there experiencing what the character was experiencing.

6.  6. What has been the most challenging part of the process?

The writing process was at times emotionally exhausting, because I put myself right back into the world that I had just departed. As I was moving forward with my life, and attending classes at Columbia, nearly all of my free time was spent imagining I was still in thetheater. Writing proved to be an important tool for me as I transitioned from the ballet world into academia. But I was so entrenched in writing that there were times when I had to remind myself that I had left and wasn’t going back. Even today I still have ballet anxiety dreams in which I hear my music and miss my entrance.

7. What has been the most rewarding part of the process? 

When I received the very first advanced copy of the book from my editor, I held the book in my hands and started to cry. I was able to feel the weight of my experience in my hands. It was very moving.

8. What do you love most about the dance world?

I love how dancers, and all artists for that matter, need to be incredibly tough, fearless, and resilient, and yet in order to be an artist they must be vulnerable, and be willing to expose their inner most bits.

9. Do you think your dance training helped you at all with writing? Why or why not?

Studying ballet certainly instills discipline, focus, and perseverance – all of which are paramount in writing.

While writing the book, I was taking a fewclasses at Columbia, which sounds insane, but the intensity of the work load actually fueled me, and felt familiar coming from the rigorous schedule of the corps de ballet. When I was dancing I used to comfort myself by thinking, “You’ve done more difficult things before, and you survived,” and the same mantra rang true in writing a book.

10. What’s next for you?

I’ve begun to write scenes for my next novel! Stay tuned.

Today I’d just like to share a few cute dance gifts with you…two darling dance books and a fun mug. Gwendolyn The Graceful Pig is a sweet book for kids–it’s hardcover–something they’ll read again and again.

This site also offers a mug to go with it…Gwendolyn appears on an unbreakable, lightweight, 11 oz. plastic cup. It’s dishwasher and microwave safe.

Finally, Soldiers of Beauty combines poetry and dance artwork–extremely pretty!

Do you know of any dance gifts out there that you can share with 4dancers readers? Please do tell…

The book tells the story of best friends, Leo and Carla, who take classes at a dance studio. They sample everything from swing to foxtrot to tango. Throughout their journey, the reader learns about the history and background of each dance style as their teacher, Miss Paulina teaches them.

The book is visually engaging from the moment you see it. The cover features a darling picture of Carla and Leo dancing together, and he has sparkles on his tie while she has them dotted throughout her skirt–a detail you can’t see from the photo.

Thierry Perez is the illustrator, and he is nothing short of amazing. Every picture is imaginative and skillfully drawn–the book is really a feast for the eyes. It’s the kind of thing that as a child I would have cherished, and looked at again and again.

Author, Agatha Relota has done a wonderful job of capturing her love of dance here–it’s contagious. She strikes a nice balance between educating the reader and sharing the excitement of discovering dance for the first time. I also appreciated the fact that she chose something other than ballet to highlight, as so many dance books limit themselves to that as subject matter. This one exposes kids to a wide range of styles and teaches them what countries they hail from as well. You can tell a great deal of thought went into the format. Also, Relota’s friend, Jessica Alba penned a forward for her–something that was a bit unexpected, yet interesting.

If you are looking for a terrific dance book, “Carla and Leo’s World of Dance” is as good as they come. I wish I had something this cool when I was a 10-year-old girl.

It’s stunning.

You can purchase this book on Amazon.com.

If you love Michael Jackson’s dance moves, now you have the opportunity to learn them. This XBOX 360 Kinect game, Michael Jackson, The Experience, features his actual choreography, as well as the chance to sing along with the music if you are so inclined. One of my favorite parts of this game was the stage backgrounds for the different songs. They were fun!

There are plenty of great MJ songs here to choose from, including Billie Jean, Smooth Criminal and Bad. To me, one of the things that makes this game is the fact that you are actually on-screen with the group, thanks to the advances with Kinect technology. It never ceases to amaze me how far we’ve come these days.

This game is a good one to play with friends, as there is a multi-player option, and other cool features include the opportunity to star in your own Michael Jackson video and “Michael’s Dance School”.

I’d be hard-pressed to say whether younger dance fans would find this game as fun as I did, since they are so used to this type of technology…but I enjoyed the chance to try my hand at the “King of Pop’s” moves. I’ve long been a fan of his dancing and thought the game was a good time. I will say that I had no difficulty picking up the dance steps, but hesitate to make a blanket statement about them being simple since I have a dance background.

The real value in this XBOX game is the fact that you can learn the actual choreography. Michael Jackson had some pretty smooth moves, and I always loved to watch him dance. It was cool to break the movements down and do them myself.

If you’ve played this game, I’d love to hear your thoughts…

Review copy courtesy of Ubisoft

It’s lovely to have original music to use, and this collection fits the bill. The tracks are expertly played by pianist and composer Ellina Akimova, who plays in France for the Ballet School of the Paris National Opéra, as well as the CNSMDP, at the CND, and at the Danse school of the conservatoire of the XVIIe district of Paris.

There is nothing quite like taking class with an accomplished pianist providing accompaniment, and if you can’t have live music, this is the next best thing. The phrasing is perfect, and the musical choices suit the exercises in a way that only someone who knows ballet well could choose, with perky music for tendus and a pretty selection for plies. Everything is well-matched.

The complexity of some of the tracks here make me lean toward recommending this CD to teachers with more advanced students. Some of the slower pieces may be a bit difficult for brand new students in terms of using the phrasing properly for movement. Advanced students will appreciate the opportunity to get into the spirit of things and practice their musicality. Akimova’s Russian roots shine through in her music, making the selections all the more beautiful.

This album features repeated tracks for easy instruction at the barre. There is a complete class here–barre and centre, with music for pointe and for tracks geared toward men.

This is what happens when you have an expert pianist at the helm–I can recommend this CD easily for ballet class. It would make a great addition to any teacher’s collection. The cost is $30, and you can find it, as well as other ballet music on Mediaphorie’s site.

Get your hand-silkscreened canvas ballet bag now–before supplies run out! I have made 7 of these unique tote bags and will be selling them for only $8 each! Get one for yourself, or as a gift for someone you know–they make a great bag to cart your dance shoes and miscellaneous gear back and forth to the studio, or even to show your love for dance and “go green” at the grocery store.

I got into silkscreening a while back and have been working on developing dance designs for the past couple of years. It’s a long process from photograph to finished product, but I now have several screens and I’ll be sharing the designs with the dance community over the summer months. The nice part about these bags is that you will never see them anywhere else–these are all my own designs.

Soon I’ll add t-shirts to the mix as well, so keep checking back. I’d love to hear what people think about the design–and I’d love for you to help me spread the word!

Here are the specs:

Canvas (cotton woven)

Navy Blue

10.5 x 12.5 inches

$8.00 (plus $2 shipping and handling – continental US prices – inquire about overseas…)

If you’d like to purchase one of these bags, drop me an e-mail at info(at)catherineltully(dot)com and we’ll work out the details.

Thanks!