The beauty and pressures of the dance world are a popular subject for stories. Tokyopop has recently released a translation of one such French graphic novel for tween readers, Emma and Capucine. Read on for the review.

Emma and Capucine are sisters and best friends, who have worked their whole lives to attend the most prestigious ballet school in Paris. However, when Capucine passes the auditions and Emma doesn’t, their world collapses completely. Dealing with parental pressure, new friendships, and first loves, the two girls learn to follow their hearts – and that, sometimes, what you really want is something you never expected. Growing up and finding yourself isn’t so hard… when you can dance through it!

Emma and her younger sister Capucine share a dream of becoming professional ballet dancers together, a dream that has the enthusiastic support of their mother. But when Emma fails her third audition to the Paris Opera Ballet School while Capucine passes on her first try, Emma wonders if ballet is just a pipe dream for her.

This is a dance graphic novel series. This particular story focuses less on what goes on in the studio and stage and more on dealing with parental pressure, processing disappointment and expectations, and–because it is a ballet story– the bullying that goes on behind the scenes. However, the content does stay within the series’ Age 10+ rating.

The main characters are Emma (who I am guessing is at the start of high school?) and her 11-year-old sister Capucine. Both are dedicated dancers, but while Capucine’s self-controlled style is a perfect fit for the Paris Opera Ballet, Emma’s freer movements get her rejected time and again. Unwilling to compromise on the way she expresses herself, Emma quits classical ballet to pursue other dance forms, a decision that devastates her mother and sister.

As indicated by Chapter 1’s title, “A Dream for Three,” the mother is as (and probably more) driven as her daughters to see their ballet dreams come true. Yes, she absolutely is living vicariously through her children, but not in the way you expect. At any rate, the first half of the volume is predominantly about Emma questioning her long-held goals and her mother’s opposition to and eventual acceptance of Emma’s decision to quit.

Meanwhile, Capucine is reluctant to enroll at the Paris Opera Ballet School without her sister. The shy girl is attached to her family, and she’d rather train at a less prestigious school if it means staying with Emma. Unfortunately, because Capucine is so withdrawn and the dispute between the mother and Emma is so charged, Capucine doesn’t make much of an impression in Chapter 1.

She does get more screen time in Chapter 2 when she enters ballet school as a boarding student while big sister Emma figures out her post-ballet life. Although the mother takes a less prominent role in the book’s second half, Emma still overshadows Capucine. Emma takes an active role in experimenting with hip-hop and stumbling through possible romantic feelings with her long time friend Jake. Capucine, on the other hand, gets bullied by classmates without much explanation and wants to leave school. It doesn’t help that a ton of ballet classmates get introduced all at once, so readers have to keep track of them even as we’re trying to learn what kind of person Capucine is.

That’s one of the drawbacks of this graphic novel’s illustration style. Drawings are digitally rendered and printed in full color on matte stock. Overall, pictures are pleasing to look at, and the artist includes nice effects like light/shadow and blurring/focus. Unfortunately, the female characters look extremely familiar with only minor differences in hair color/texture to distinguish them. That’s fine for Chapter 1 where you can separate Emma, Capucine, and their mom as blonde, brunette, and auburn. But in the studio and stage scenes where multiple dancers have their hair bound and shadows obscuring hair color, it’s impossible to tell who’s who.

Extras include a creator’s afterword.

Looking for a tween dance graphic novel? Give Emma and Capucine a try. It’s got parental pressure and drama with jealous classmates, but nothing inappropriate for an Age 10+ audience. Right now, ballerina-turned-hip-hop-dancer Emma is dominating the storyline, and it remains to be seen if Capucine can be more than a talented, good girl victim at her prestigious ballet school.

First published in The Fandom Post.