Book
Don't think, dear : on loving & leaving ballet / Alice Robb.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780358653332 (hardcover)
- Physical Description: 293 pages ; 24 cm
- Edition: First edition.
- Publisher: New York : Mariner Books, 2023.
Content descriptions
| Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Formatted Contents Note: | Introduction -- Mr. B -- A very extreme sense of escape and control -- Little rats -- Brought up to turn off -- Just try to look nice, dear -- Crown of thorns -- They make you feel like an hourglass -- Brains in their toes -- Reverence. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Robb, Alice. School of American Ballet > History. Ballerinas > United States > Biography. Ballerinas > United States > Social conditions. Ballet > History > United States. |
| Genre: | Biographies. Personal narratives. |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at Tsuga Consortium.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeshore Branch | 792.80973 Rob | 31681010311041 | NONFIC | Available | - |
- Baker & Taylor
A former student at the elite School of American Ballet describes how the strict codes of that world, which included thinness, stoicism and submission, forced her to grapple with the contradictions and challenges of modern womanhood. 50,000 first printing. - Baker & Taylor
"An incisive exploration of ballet's role in the modern world, told through the experience of the author and her classmates at the most elite ballet school in the country: the School of American Ballet. Ballet is an art full of hyper-feminine trappings, but beneath the ornate costumes and exaggerated stage makeup, traits like thinness, stoicism, and submission are valued above all else. Journalist Alice Robb spent years immersed in that universe as a child, but as an adult, she couldn't shake the feelingthat the same laws that governed the dance world still applied in the regular one. Certain bodies hold more value than others, and men oftentimes hold the most power of all. Pain is best left concealed, along with sexuality, in all of its messiness. Obedience and conformity are rewarded, while standing out comes at a cost. Profound, nuanced, and obsessively researched, Don't Think, Dear, is Robb's excavation of her adolescent years as a dancer, and an exploration of how those days informed her life for years to come. As she grapples with the pressure she faced as a student at the storied School of American Ballet, she explores the fates of her former classmates as well. From sweet and shy Emily--whose body was deemed "thin enough" only when she was too ill to eat--to the precocious and talented Meiying--who despite her success, had to contend with the fact that she was the only Vietnamese-American in the school. Altogether, their stories are ones of heartbreak and resilience, of reinvention and regret. Along the way, Robb weaves in the myths of famous ballerinas past and present, from the groundbreaking Misty Copeland, to the controversial George Balanchine. Ballet does not exist in a vacuum, it is a laboratory of womanhood, a test-tube world in which traditional femininity is exaggerated. By exploring the psyche of a dancer, Don't Think, Dear grapples with the contradictions and challenges of being a woman today. It's also a story about chasing your dreams, however complicated, and learning when to let them go"-- - HARPERCOLL
"Expertly choreographed and long overdue, this is the nuanced reckoning ballet needs, ballerinas deserve, and all feminists should note." -Oprah Daily
An incisive exploration of balletâs role in the modern world, told through the experience of the author and her classmates at the most elite ballet school in the country: the School of American Ballet.
Growing up, Alice Robb dreamed of becoming a ballet dancer. But by age fifteen, she had to face the reality that she would never meet the impossibly high standards of the hyper-competitive ballet world. After she quit, she tried to avoid balletâonly to realize, years later, that she was still haunted by the lessons she had absorbed in the mirror-lined studios of Lincoln Center, and that they had served her well in the wider world. The traits ballet takes to an extremeâstoicism, silence, submissionâare valued in girls and women everywhere.
Profound, nuanced, and passionately researched, Donât Think, Dear is Robbâs excavation of her adolescent years as a dancer and an exploration of how those days informed her life for years to come.
As she grapples with the pressure she faced as a student at the School of American Ballet, she investigates the fates of her former classmates as well. From sweet and innocent Emily, whose body was deemed thin enough only when she was too ill to eat, to precocious and talented Meiying, who was thrilled to be cast as the young star of the Nutcracker but dismayed to see Asians stereotyped onstage, and Lily, who won the carrot they had all been chasingâan apprenticeship with the New York City Balletâonly to spend her first season dancing eight shows a week on a broken foot.
Theirs are stories of heartbreak and resilience, of reinvention and regret. Along the way, Robb weaves in the myths of famous ballet personalities past and present, from the groundbreaking Misty Copeland, who rose from poverty to become an icon of American ballet, to the blind diva Alicia Alonso, who used the heat of the spotlights and the vibrations of the music to navigate space onstage. By examining the psyche of a dancer, Donât Think, Dear grapples with the contradictions and challenges of being a woman today.
