Summary Of Georgina Pazcoguins Swan Dive

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Swan Dive

Author : Georgina Pazcoguin
Publisher : Henry Holt and Company
ISBN 13 : 1250244293
Total Pages : 290 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (52 download)

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Book Synopsis Swan Dive by : Georgina Pazcoguin

Download or read book Swan Dive written by Georgina Pazcoguin and published by Henry Holt and Company. This book was released on 2021-07-27 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Don't expect just tulle and toe shoes. In this fascinating insider's tale, NYCB dancer Pazcoguin reveals her world. . . . A striking debut." —People Award-winning New York City Ballet soloist Georgina Pazcoguin, aka the Rogue Ballerina, gives readers a backstage tour of the real world of elite ballet—the gritty, hilarious, sometimes shocking truth you don’t see from the orchestra circle. In this love letter to the art of dance and the sport that has been her livelihood, NYCB’s first Asian American female soloist Georgina Pazcoguin lays bare her unfiltered story of leaving small-town Pennsylvania for New York City and training amid the unique demands of being a hybrid professional athlete/artist, all before finishing high school. She pitches us into the fascinating, whirling shoes of dancers in one of the most revered ballet companies in the world with an unapologetic sense of humor about the cutthroat, survival-of-the-fittest mentality at NYCB. Some swan dives are literal: even in the ballet, there are plenty of face-plants, backstage fights, late-night parties, and raucous company bonding sessions. Rocked by scandal in the wake of the #MeToo movement, NYCB sits at an inflection point, inching toward progress in a strictly traditional culture, and Pazcoguin doesn’t shy away from ballet’s dark side. She continues to be one of the few dancers openly speaking up against the sexual harassment, mental abuse, and racism that in the past went unrecognized or was tacitly accepted as par for the course—all of which she has painfully experienced firsthand. Tying together Pazcoguin’s fight for equality in the ballet with her infectious and deeply moving passion for her craft, Swan Dive is a page-turning, one-of-a-kind account that guarantees you'll never view a ballerina or a ballet the same way again.

Summary of Georgina Pazcoguin's Swan Dive

Author : Everest Media,
Publisher : Everest Media LLC
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 33 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (225 download)

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Book Synopsis Summary of Georgina Pazcoguin's Swan Dive by : Everest Media,

Download or read book Summary of Georgina Pazcoguin's Swan Dive written by Everest Media, and published by Everest Media LLC. This book was released on 2022-06-21T22:59:00Z with total page 33 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 I was quiet in the middle of the middle seat, sandwiched between my two younger siblings, who were dragged along for the epic journey from Altoona, Pennsylvania, to Lincoln Center. My mother always sat in the back on any long drives. #2 I was sent to the School of American Ballet in New York City, which was the only way a dancer could get into New York City Ballet. It was an elitist cult, and all of its young, moldable members were picked right from the school. #3 I noticed my people right away. The line of almost identical-looking, long-legged girls snaked across the plaza. The ultimate ballerina giveaway was the per petual bun. I wondered why anyone would bother with a bun if they weren’t in class. #4 The moment I left my parents’ house to go to ballet camp, I felt a ball of emotion take root in my gut. I was 14 years old and about to spend a good chunk of my summer away from everything I knew. I was apart from my five siblings.

Turning Pointe

Author : Chloe Angyal
Publisher : Bold Type Books
ISBN 13 : 1645036723
Total Pages : 298 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (45 download)

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Book Synopsis Turning Pointe by : Chloe Angyal

Download or read book Turning Pointe written by Chloe Angyal and published by Bold Type Books. This book was released on 2021-05-04 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A reckoning with one of our most beloved art forms, whose past and present are shaped by gender, racial, and class inequities—and a look inside the fight for its future Every day, in dance studios all across America, legions of little children line up at the barre to take ballet class. This time in the studio shapes their lives, instilling lessons about gender, power, bodies, and their place in the world both in and outside of dance. In Turning Pointe, journalist Chloe Angyal captures the intense love for ballet that so many dancers feel, while also grappling with its devastating shortcomings: the power imbalance of an art form performed mostly by women, but dominated by men; the impossible standards of beauty and thinness; and the racism that keeps so many people of color out of ballet. As the rigid traditions of ballet grow increasingly out of step with the modern world, a new generation of dancers is confronting these issues head on, in the studio and on stage. For ballet to survive the twenty-first century and forge a path into a more socially just future, this reckoning is essential.

Being a Ballerina

Author : Gavin Larsen
Publisher : University Press of Florida
ISBN 13 : 081306595X
Total Pages : 268 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (13 download)

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Book Synopsis Being a Ballerina by : Gavin Larsen

Download or read book Being a Ballerina written by Gavin Larsen and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2021-04-27 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Finalist, the Arts Club of Washington Marfield Prize A look inside a dancer’s world Inspiring, revealing, and deeply relatable, Being a Ballerina is a firsthand look at the realities of life as a professional ballet dancer. Through episodes from her own career, Gavin Larsen describes the forces that drive a person to study dance; the daily balance that dancers navigate between hardship and joy; and the dancer’s continual quest to discover who they are as a person and as an artist. Starting with her arrival as a young beginner at a class too advanced for her, Larsen tells how the embarrassing mistake ended up helping her learn quickly and advance rapidly. In other stories of her early teachers, training, and auditions, she explains how she gradually came to understand and achieve what she and her body were capable of. Larsen then re-creates scenes from her experiences in dance companies, from unglamorous roles to exhilarating performances. Working as a ballerina was shocking and scary at first, she says, recalling unexpected injuries, leaps of faith, and her constant struggle to operate at the level she wanted—but full of enormously rewarding moments. Larsen also reflects candidly on her difficult decision to retire at age 35. An ideal read for aspiring dancers, Larsen’s memoir will also delight experienced dance professionals and fascinate anyone who wonders what it takes to live a life dedicated to the perfection of the art form.

Ballerina

Author : Deirdre Kelly
Publisher : Greystone Books Ltd
ISBN 13 : 1771640006
Total Pages : 264 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (716 download)

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Book Synopsis Ballerina by : Deirdre Kelly

Download or read book Ballerina written by Deirdre Kelly and published by Greystone Books Ltd. This book was released on 2012 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout her history, the ballerina has been perceived as the embodiment of beauty and perfection--the feminine ideal. But the reality is another story. From the earliest ballerinas in the 17th century--who often led double lives as concubines--through the poverty of the corps de ballet dancers in the 1800's and the anorexic and bulimic ballerinas of George Balanchine, starvation and exploitation have plagued ballerinas throughout history. Using the stories of great dancers such as Anna Pavlova, Isadora Duncan, Suzanne Farrell, Gelsey Kirkland, Evelyn Hart, Marie Camargo, and Misty Copeland, Deirdre Kelly exposes the true rigors for women in ballet. She rounds her critique with examples of how the world of ballet is slowly evolving for the better. But to ensure that this most graceful of dance forms survives into the future, she says that the time has come to rethink ballet, to position the ballerina at its center and accord her the respect she deserves.

The Ballerina Mindset

Author : Megan Fairchild
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0143136046
Total Pages : 177 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (431 download)

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Book Synopsis The Ballerina Mindset by : Megan Fairchild

Download or read book The Ballerina Mindset written by Megan Fairchild and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2021-12-07 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Learn how to thrive in intense, competitive environments with these secrets from one of America's premiere ballerinas--and get a sneak peek at what her life is really like. Ballet may look glamorous and effortless to audience members, but it requires grueling discipline. It's a competitive and physically and mentally demanding career that combines elite athleticism, artistry, and performance. Not only do dancers rehearse for six to eight hours a day before performing at night, but they also must make it all look easy! As a principal ballerina with New York City Ballet and a one-time Broadway star--not to mention a mother of three and an MBA student--Megan Fairchild is all too familiar with these challenges. In The Ballerina Mindset, she shares all the wisdom she's learned from her nearly two-decade career, drawing upon her own experiences to show us how she learned to overcome challenges ranging from stage fright to negative feedback to a packed calendar to weight management--and how we can do the same. Inspiring, warm, and revelatory, The Ballerina Mindset is the perfect how-to guide for dancers, athletes, artists, and anyone struggling to stay sane in a high-pressure environment.

Mozart in the Jungle

Author : Blair Tindall
Publisher : Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
ISBN 13 : 1555847463
Total Pages : 344 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (558 download)

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Book Synopsis Mozart in the Jungle by : Blair Tindall

Download or read book Mozart in the Jungle written by Blair Tindall and published by Grove/Atlantic, Inc.. This book was released on 2007-12-01 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The memoir that inspired the two-time Golden Globe Award–winning comedy series: “Funny . . . heartbreaking . . . [and] utterly absorbing” (Lee Smith, New York Times–bestselling author of Guests on Earth). Oboist Blair Tindall recounts her decades-long professional career as a classical musician—from the recitals and Broadway orchestra performances to the secret life of musicians who survive hand to mouth in the backbiting New York classical music scene, where musicians trade sexual favors for plum jobs and assignments in orchestras across the city. Tindall and her fellow journeymen musicians often play drunk, high, or hopelessly hungover, live in decrepit apartments, and perform in hazardous conditions—working-class musicians who schlep across the city between low-paying gigs, without health-care benefits or retirement plans, a stark contrast to the rarefied experiences of overpaid classical musician superstars. An incisive, no-holds-barred account, Mozart in the Jungle is the first true, behind-the-scenes look at what goes on backstage and in the orchestra pit. The book that inspired the Amazon Original series starring Gael García Bernal and Lola Kirke, this is “a fresh, highly readable and caustic perspective on an overglamorized world” (Publishers Weekly).

Center Center

Author : James Whiteside
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0593297849
Total Pages : 257 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (932 download)

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Book Synopsis Center Center by : James Whiteside

Download or read book Center Center written by James Whiteside and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2021-08-17 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “James Whiteside is an electrifying performer, an incredible athlete, and an artist, through and through. To know James is to love him; with Center Center, you are about to fall in love.” —Jennifer Garner “A frank examination and celebration of queerness.” —Good Morning America A daring, joyous, and inspiring memoir-in-essays from the American Ballet Theatre principal dancer-slash-drag queen-slash-pop star who's redefining what it means to be a man in ballet There's a mark on every stage around the world that signifies the center of its depth and width, called "center center." James Whiteside has dreamed of standing on that very mark as a principal dancer with the prestigious American Ballet Theatre ever since he was a twelve-year-old blown away by watching the company's spring gala. The GLAMOUR. The VIRTUOSITY. The RIPPED MEN IN TIGHTS! In this absurd and absurdist collection of essays, Whiteside tells us the story of how he got to be a primo ballerino—stopping along the way to muse about the tragically fated childhood pets who taught him how to feel, reminisce on ill-advised partying at summer dance camps, and imagine fantastical run-ins with Jesus on Grindr. Also in these pages are tales of the two alter egos he created to subvert the strict classical rigor of ballet: JbDubs, an out-and-proud pop musician, and Ühu Betch, an over-the-top drag queen named after Yoohoo chocolate milk. Center Center is an exuberant behind-the-scenes tour of Whiteside’s triple life, both on- and offstage—a raunchy, curious, and unapologetic celebration of queerness, self-expression, friendship, sex, creativity, and pushing boundaries that will entertain you, shock you*, inspire you, embolden you . . . and maybe even make you cry. *THIS IS NOT A BOOK FOR CHILDREN.

Dancing Through It

Author : Jenifer Ringer
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 069815150X
Total Pages : 335 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (981 download)

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Book Synopsis Dancing Through It by : Jenifer Ringer

Download or read book Dancing Through It written by Jenifer Ringer and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2014-02-20 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A glimpse into the fragile psyche of a dancer.” —The Washington Post Jenifer Ringer, a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, was thrust into the headlines after her weight was commented on by a New York Times critic, and her response ignited a public dialogue about dance and weight. Ballet aficionados and aspiring performers of all ages will want to join Ringer behind the scenes as she shares her journey from student to star and candidly discusses both her struggle with an eating disorder and the media storm that erupted after the Times review. An unusually upbeat account of life on the stage, Dancing Through It is also a coming-of-age story and an inspiring memoir of faith and of triumph over the body issues that torment all too many women and men.

Winter Season

Author : Toni Bentley
Publisher : University Press of Florida
ISBN 13 : 0813040922
Total Pages : 163 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (13 download)

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Book Synopsis Winter Season by : Toni Bentley

Download or read book Winter Season written by Toni Bentley and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2003-03-20 with total page 163 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An irresistible inside look at one of the world's great dance companies, Winter Season is also a sensitive, intimate, and almost painfully honest account of the emotional and intellectual development of a young woman dedicated to one of the most demanding of all the arts. Bentley's association with the New York City Ballet began when she was accepted by the affiliated School of American Ballet at the age of eleven. Seven years later, she became a member of the company. In the fall of 1980, as the winter season opened, she found herself facing an emotional crisis: her dancing was not going well. At 22 she felt that her life had lost direction. To try to make something of her experience, on paper if not on stage, she began to keep a journal, describing her day-to-day activities and looking back on her past. The result is perhaps the closest that most of us will ever come to knowing what it feels like to be a dancer, on stage and off. It also offers memorable glimpses of some notable members of the City ballet, with, at the center, the man whose vision they all served--George Balanchine.

Final Bow for Yellowface: Dancing Between Intention and Impact

Author : Phil Chan
Publisher : R. R. Bowker
ISBN 13 : 9781734732481
Total Pages : 238 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (324 download)

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Book Synopsis Final Bow for Yellowface: Dancing Between Intention and Impact by : Phil Chan

Download or read book Final Bow for Yellowface: Dancing Between Intention and Impact written by Phil Chan and published by R. R. Bowker. This book was released on 2020-06-30 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Who would have guessed that one short conversation with New York City Ballet Artistic Director Peter Martins would change the course of how we approach America's favorite holiday ballet, and serve as a catalyst for changing how we talk about race in America? Phil Chan, arts advocate and co-founder of Final Bow for Yellowface, chronicles his journey navigating conversations around race, representation, and inclusion arising from issues in presenting one short dance-the Chinese variation from The Nutcracker. Armed with new vocabulary, he recounts his process and pitfalls in advising Salt Lake City's Ballet West on the presentation of a lost Balanchine work from 1925, Le Chant du Rossignol.Chan encounters orientalism, cultural appropriation, and yellowface, and witnesses firsthand the continuing evolution of an Old World aristocratic dance form in a New World democratic environment. As a storyteller, Chan presents a mix of dance and Chinese American history, personal anecdotes, and best practices for any professional arts organization to use for navigating issues around race, while outlining an essential path American ballet must take in order for our beloved art form to stay alive for a growingly diverse 21st century audience.

Balanchine's Apprentice

Author : John Clifford
Publisher : University Press of Florida
ISBN 13 : 0813072018
Total Pages : 289 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (13 download)

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Book Synopsis Balanchine's Apprentice by : John Clifford

Download or read book Balanchine's Apprentice written by John Clifford and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2021-09-14 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A talented young dancer and his brilliant teacher In this long-awaited memoir, dancer and choreographer John Clifford offers a highly personal look inside the day-to-day operations of the New York City Ballet and its creative mastermind, George Balanchine. Balanchine’s Apprentice is the story of Clifford—an exceptionally talented artist—and the guiding inspiration for his life’s work in dance. Growing up in Hollywood with parents in show business, Clifford acted in television productions such as The Danny Kaye Show, The Dinah Shore Show, and Death Valley Days. He recalls the beginning of his obsession with ballet: At age 11 he was cast as the Prince in a touring production of The Nutcracker. The director was none other than the legendary Balanchine, who would eventually invite Clifford to New York City and shape his career as both a mentor and artistic example. During his dazzling tenure with the New York City Ballet, Clifford danced the lead in 47 works, several created for him by Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and others. He partnered famous ballerinas including Gelsey Kirkland and Allegra Kent. He choreographed eight ballets for the company, his first at age 20. He performed in Russia, Germany, France, and Canada. Afterward, he returned to the West Coast to found the Los Angeles Ballet, where he continued to innovate based on the Balanchine technique. In this book, Clifford provides firsthand insight into Balanchine’s relationships with his dancers, including Suzanne Farrell. Examining his own attachment to his charismatic teacher, Clifford explores questions of creative influence and integrity. His memoir is a portrait of a young dancer who learned and worked at lightning speed, who pursued the calls of art and genius on both coasts of America and around the world.

Taking Flight

Author : Michaela DePrince
Publisher : Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
ISBN 13 : 0385755112
Total Pages : 258 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (857 download)

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Book Synopsis Taking Flight by : Michaela DePrince

Download or read book Taking Flight written by Michaela DePrince and published by Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers. This book was released on 2014 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The memoir of Michaela DePrince, who lived the first few years of her live in war-torn Sierra Leone until being adopted by an American Family. Now seventeen, she is one of the premiere ballerinas in the United States"--

Apollo's Angels

Author : Jennifer Homans
Publisher : Random House
ISBN 13 : 0679603905
Total Pages : 640 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (796 download)

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Book Synopsis Apollo's Angels by : Jennifer Homans

Download or read book Apollo's Angels written by Jennifer Homans and published by Random House. This book was released on 2010-11-02 with total page 640 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, LOS ANGELES TIMES, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, AND PUBLISHERS WEEKLY For more than four hundred years, the art of ballet has stood at the center of Western civilization. Its traditions serve as a record of our past. Lavishly illustrated and beautifully told, Apollo’s Angels—the first cultural history of ballet ever written—is a groundbreaking work. From ballet’s origins in the Renaissance and the codification of its basic steps and positions under France’s Louis XIV (himself an avid dancer), the art form wound its way through the courts of Europe, from Paris and Milan to Vienna and St. Petersburg. In the twentieth century, émigré dancers taught their art to a generation in the United States and in Western Europe, setting off a new and radical transformation of dance. Jennifer Homans, a historian, critic, and former professional ballerina, wields a knowledge of dance born of dedicated practice. Her admiration and love for the ballet, as Entertainment Weekly notes, brings “a dancer’s grace and sure-footed agility to the page.”

The Ballerinas

Author : Rachel Kapelke-Dale
Publisher : St. Martin's Press
ISBN 13 : 1250274249
Total Pages : 332 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (52 download)

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Book Synopsis The Ballerinas by : Rachel Kapelke-Dale

Download or read book The Ballerinas written by Rachel Kapelke-Dale and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2021-12-07 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dare Me meets Black Swan and Luckiest Girl Alive in a captivating, voice-driven debut novel about a trio of ballerinas who meet as students at the Paris Opera Ballet School. "Enthralling...irresistible." ––New York Times "A standing ovation to this debut." ––E! News Thirteen years ago, Delphine Léger abandoned her prestigious soloist spot at the Paris Opera Ballet for a new life in St. Petersburg––taking with her a secret that could upend the lives of her best friends, fellow dancers Lindsay and Margaux. Now thirty-six years old, Delphine has returned to her former home and to the legendary Palais Garnier Opera House, to choreograph the ballet that will kickstart the next phase of her career––and, she hopes, finally make things right with her former friends. But Delphine quickly discovers that things have changed while she's been away...and some secrets can't stay buried forever. Moving between the trio's adolescent years and the present day, The Ballerinas explores the complexities of female friendship, the dark drive towards physical perfection in the name of artistic expression, the double-edged sword of ambition and passion, and the sublimated rage that so many women hold inside––all culminating in a twist you won't see coming, with a magnetic cast of characters you won't soon forget.

Time on Rock

Author : Anna Fleming
Publisher : Canongate Books
ISBN 13 : 1838851771
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (388 download)

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Book Synopsis Time on Rock by : Anna Fleming

Download or read book Time on Rock written by Anna Fleming and published by Canongate Books. This book was released on 2022-01-06 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE AND THE BOARDMAN TASKER AWARD FOR MOUNTAIN LITERATURE With great lyricism, Anna Fleming charts two parallel journeys: learning the craft of traditional rock climbing and the developing appreciation of the natural world it brings her. Through the story of her progress from terrified beginner to confident lead climber, she shows us how placing hand and foot on rock becomes a profound new way into the landscape. Anna takes us from the gritstone rocks of the Peak District and Yorkshire to the gabbro pinnacles of the Cuillin, the slate of North Wales and the high plateau of the Cairngorms. Each landscape, and each type of rock, brings its own challenges and invites us into the history of a place.

Dancer Interrupted: A True Expose of a Ballerina's Fall from Grace.

Author : Susan Priver
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780989919425
Total Pages : 194 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (194 download)

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Book Synopsis Dancer Interrupted: A True Expose of a Ballerina's Fall from Grace. by : Susan Priver

Download or read book Dancer Interrupted: A True Expose of a Ballerina's Fall from Grace. written by Susan Priver and published by . This book was released on 2019-12-13 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Actress Susan Priver began her love affair with the stage as a young ballerina handpicked to attend George Balanchine's School of American Ballet at age 14. But at 17 she blows her chance to become part of the New York City Ballet when she succumbs to a bout of debilitating depression.She eventually restarts her ballet career, dancing with New York's Eglevsky Ballet and the Hannover State Opera, in Germany. But when she's fired by the Cleveland Ballet at age 24, she finds herself overwhelmed with shame, without the strength or confidence to audition for another company. For a dancer, not being employed and not performing, means you don't exist. Susan travels back to her parent's Los Angeles home hoping to get the love and compassion she never got. Instead, she's reminded that she was never good enough. Life becomes a descent into hell. A series of waitressing jobs and bad relationships (including one with a Russian psychologist who has a penchant for shoplifting), ensue. Searching for a self without ballet, Susan unconsciously seeks to feel the pain that ballet dancers must endure on a daily basis. Only after hitting rock bottom does she find the courage to reconnect to her love for the stage. This is her personal story of discovering meaning without the veil of ballet, a story of overcoming and learning how to live in the real world without a tiara.