In preparation for publication of my ballroom-set romance series, I thought I’d point to a few other books I’ve recently read and enjoyed that are also largely about ballroom dance or ballet:
Patrice Tanaka’s charming memoir illustrates how learning to ballroom dance made her a better business partner, CEO of her publicity company, and all-around happier person.
Sharon Savoy is an icon in the world of ballroom show dance. She’s one of the first dancers I ever saw perform a cabaret routine, at a swing championship in Atlanta, and I was immediately mesmerized. Her memoir traces her early days training with Balanchine (which I hadn’t known!) at the School of American Ballet, to becoming a Blackpool show dance champ.
American dance fans likely remember Pasha Kovalev from So You Think You Can Dance, where he was a finalist on one of that show’s early seasons. Since then he’s gone on to become a champion pro dancer on Strictly Come Dancing -the U.K.’s version of Dancing With the Stars. (He’s also my former teacher 🙂 ) I didn’t even know he had a memoir out!
Former New York City Ballet dancer Sophie Flack’s enjoyable young adult novel is set in the ballet world. What I found most compelling were the main character’s body image issues and the way she was treated for not having the ideal ballet body.
Former New York City Ballet principal Jenifer Ringer’s memoir deals largely with her eating disorder, which led to “Sugarplumpgate.” Her writing and voice are so sweet and engaging, you really feel like you know her through this book.
Carlos Acosta’s memoir delineates his journey from growing up poor in Havana with a super hardass father, to becoming a superstar at the Royal Ballet.
I haven’t yet read Misty Copeland’s memoir, about her journey from underprivileged youth to becoming the first African American female soloist at a major ballet company. As I said in an earlier post, I’ve loved watching her dance at ABT for a long time now and must read this.
One of my all time favorite books, Colum McCann’s novel is a fictionalized account of the fascinating life of Rudolf Nureyev.
I’m sure I’ll find more later. Until then, happy reading 🙂
