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Ballerina: Sex, Scandal, and Suffering Behind the Symbol of Perfection
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, and Evelyn Hart, 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.
Using the stories of great dancers such as Anna Pavlova, Isadora Duncan, Suzanne Farrell, Gelsey Kirkland, and Evelyn Hart, 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.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2012
70 people are currently reading
1146 people want to read
About the author
Deirdre Kelly
3 books3 followersDEIRDRE KELLY has written on dance, fashion, and pop culture since 1985. She started as the award-winning dance critic, pop music columnist, investigative and senior fashion reporter for Canada’s The Globe and Mail newspaper. She continues writing, reporting and editing today as correspondent for the Dance Gazette in London, England, the bilingual Chinese-Canadian magazine Fête Chinoise, and the Toronto-based arts e-zine, Critics At Large, where she also writes on the Beatles, among other favourite topics. Her published books are Paris Times Eight, Ballerina: Sex, Scandal and Suffering Behind the Symbol of Perfection and Fashioning The Beatles: The Looks That Shook The World.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
December 13, 2022
4 Stars for Ballerina: Sex, Scandal, and Suffering Behind the Symbol of Perfection (ebook) by Deirdre Kelly.
I was really expecting a different book by the title. Maybe I should have read the synopsis instead of going by the cover. I’m a huge fan of ballet, and ultimately I found this book interesting but I wasn’t expecting a history lesson about women in the Paris Opera Ballet from the 1600’s to the 1800’s. Then an acknowledgment that there was some ballet going on in Russia, Italy, and Uk too. Then we are off to New York and what an evil genius George Balanchine was. And we finish up in the 2000’s with dancers that are finally getting treated fairly.
A tremendous amount of work went into compiling all the information that went into this book. But the story seems rather disjointed. If you’re interested in the history of ballet then you might like this.
I was really expecting a different book by the title. Maybe I should have read the synopsis instead of going by the cover. I’m a huge fan of ballet, and ultimately I found this book interesting but I wasn’t expecting a history lesson about women in the Paris Opera Ballet from the 1600’s to the 1800’s. Then an acknowledgment that there was some ballet going on in Russia, Italy, and Uk too. Then we are off to New York and what an evil genius George Balanchine was. And we finish up in the 2000’s with dancers that are finally getting treated fairly.
A tremendous amount of work went into compiling all the information that went into this book. But the story seems rather disjointed. If you’re interested in the history of ballet then you might like this.
December 27, 2022
I found reading this to be extremely dry much of the time. I did enjoy getting to know more in depth biographical details about certain ballerinas of the past, such as Marie Guimard and Marie Taglioni and Francoise Prevost, though the writing style left some to be desired overall. It is a very dark look at the history of the ballerina, with a heavy focus on France during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the conjunction between ballet during that time and prostitution. I was eager to completely enjoy the read of it, but mostly I couldn't help but feel I was reading a dusty academic paper rather than a book.
March 14, 2014
Ballerina is a decent read, especially the first half covering the history of the art form. There's emphasis placed on individual dancers giving context to various points being made and Kelly does a fair job in her presentation. The second half covering the 20th century rambles a bit and loses focus in parts, but it still holds the reader's attention well enough that reading through to the end doesn't feel like a painful slog. My one complaint is her attempts to end on a happy note, trying to be uplifting as she claims great progress in the traditionally abhorrent atmosphere behind the curtain: no exploitation, drastic reduction in eating disorders, much increase in pay, etc. Nonsense. Certainly ballerinas now experience a much improved quality of living but there are still major, even unacceptable, practices plaguing the dance world. I could've done without the final chapter but recognize the fact that writers dislike ending on a down note and readers prefer happy (or at least happy-ish) endings.
Overall a good read but probably only for above average ballet lovers.
Overall a good read but probably only for above average ballet lovers.
April 4, 2013
Excellent, albeit brief, history of the role of the ballerina in France, Russia and the United States. This book provides an excellent introduction into the genre and paints a horribly negative picture of what the ballerina has endured over time. Like many women, I always idealized the ballerina as the perfect human form with an incredible talent that few could master. The real story is that these woman have been abused, degraded and paid poorly. The good news is that the attitude is changing to one where where these woman are viewed as athletes. However, the changes are currently taking didn't really convince me that the sacrifice that these women had made and the resulting payoffs were worth it. I certainly won't be encouraging my 4 year old daughter to go down the ballet path, that's for sure.
April 16, 2013
I had originally been interested in reading ballerina Gelsey Kirkland's 1986 expose of the ballet world, Dancing On My Grave. I've never been interested in dancing myself, having found out early that I was born with two left feet. However, middle age has found me reasonably well read in the areas at which I excel, and that has given me the freedom and interest to read about sports, ballet, and other things that have never been a part of my personal universe. I already know about my interests; now let's see about someone else's.
I became more interested when I found out that the physical therapist I've worked with is a ballerina with Pacific Northwest Ballet (NW USA). I was shocked! I asked her whether that wasn't pretty terrible for the body, but she said things were changing, and indeed, although she is a slender person who walks with the distinctive grace of a ballerina, she is not emaciated, and appears to be the picture of health. So when I ran across Kelly's e-book, given me as part of a gift bundle, I decided to have a look.
Kelly has done a lot of research, and for the most part (and in all ways central to the ballet), she really appears to know her field. She begins with the French "Opera rats" of the 1500s who were either recruited or often, promoted by their mothers as dancer-prostitutes during the dark times. (Its roots are in Greece, where fencing began.) The first publicly famous ballerina was La Fontaine, who starred in "Le Triomphe de l'Amour, at the Academie Royale de Musique, the first recorded appearance of professional ballerinas on the proscenium stage". However, the moneyed class of men showed up for these performances, not to watch the pretty dancers, but to choose a courtesan, and the girls were taught at early ages to preen themselves to this expectation. On the one hand, those who proved themselves desirable got to eat, and so did their families; on the other, they worked like slaves, and in at least one case, a ballerina died young of venereal disease (early 1700s). Though it was possible to live at home and not become a courtesan while dancing ballet, it was unusual. This dubious opportunity had spread across Europe by the 1700's, to Sweden, Italy, and Prussia. The French dancer Camargo created the first dancing slippers, and offered erotic promise as well as improved physical movement on the stage by moving her hemline up nearly to what fashion magazines now refer to as "ballerina length" (comparison mine, based on the photo in the book and her reference to raised skirts). Camargo also choreographed her own works, & not until I had read the full book did I appreciate how much power this represented. Guimard was the last famous French ballerina prior to the revolution.
During the "second empire" of the 19th century (a backlash against the French Revolution), Emma Livry declined to wear flame-proofing on her costume because it interfered with the other-worldly appearance she wanted to project as a Romantic dancer. (Here I found myself wondering whether the word of a 14 year old ballerina would permit the exception to be made today!)At a dress rehearsal, she fluffed her gown out and was instantly consumed in flame. She was saved by a stage hand only to live out 8 more months in horror and agony, and then die of her wounds.
"Russian ballet was rooted in the culture of the disenfranchised," the author explains. Here is where we move off of Kelly's turf and onto mine; she all but ignores the effect of the Russian Revolution, merely noting that there was experimentation with the dance during that period, and that the revolutionary "angry mobs" were outraged when the tsar (here I would add, as brutal a dictator as ever lived) let the peasantry freeze but sent 4 military trucks full of coal to his ballerina mistress, Kschessinska. Consequently, Lenin chose her balcony, which had become a symbol of the effete ruling class, to address his audience after the revolution. (Lenin did not revel in the luxury, but had contempt for it, using her sunken bathtub as an ashtray.) Kelly does point to changes in Russia such as "emancipation of women" and "mass democratization", but does not comment much on how this changed ballet, apart from no longer pushing women into concubinage. I found this glossing over a bit strange, since she had just stated that Russia was the center stage of ballet; it could be she had difficulty obtaining more material. By 1931 (and Stalin), international ballet superstar Pavlova was able to dance her way to an early grave by dancing while very ill against her doctor's wishes.
The 20th century introduced the choreographer as the new, higher power in ballet. Kelly puts more voice and less detachment into the second half of this ballet history, taking serious exception to New York's late star director, George Balanchine, whose emphasis on frailty among his dancers and caustic remarks about the appearance of individual dancers in front of others created the toxic culture of anorexia and bulimia which gradually took over the world-wide stage for ballerinas everywhere. Numerous cited instances of ballerinas starving, yet still feeling too fat, and of instance after instance in which ballerinas were simply fired from their low-paying but hard-won positions if they attempted to advocate for themselves. Gelsey Kirkland's memoir (the one I had originally set out to read, but couldn't find) says that Balanchine told her "repeatedly" to "eat nothing". Ballerinas were subsisting on coffee and chewing gum, and in addition to many other health problems, experienced more fractures because their bones had been deprived of nutrition.
One small error was the author's nod to women's rights issues and their effect on ballet. I understand that her realm is not feminism, but ballet, but once she decided to include it, she needed to avoid making errors. She says in this volume that "Everywhere,women were burning their bras" but this is one case where there is no citation. This is because it is myth and legend, rather than fact. Again, she has moved out of her field and into mine (contemporary U.S. and Russian history), and offered a non-fact to bolster her own arguments.
The arguments themselves are well-taken here, and are well argued in the book. Though there are progressive companies, mostly, it appears, on the US west coast and Canada, as well as Australia, where dancers are offered nutritional expertise and encouraged to envision a future without ballet, abuse and eating disorders continue. Most problematic may be that the very ballerinas who need work teaching, are those who previously starved themselves in the "old" Balanchine-rooted style, are coaching the new ballerinas and mis-teaching and mis-training them to harm their own bodies.
I won't go into more detail about the latter half of the book, because something should be left to the reader. There are myriad outstanding quotations that make this a very interesting read.
The jury is still out, in my opinion, as to whether there is any wholesome way for a ballerina to practice and earn a living while taking care of her body. Companies that embrace modern dance, such as Alvin Alley (California, USA) seem to fare a little better, but that is my take merely from the little knowledge I have, put together with having read this book. If the history of ballet interests you, I encourage you to read it yourself.
I became more interested when I found out that the physical therapist I've worked with is a ballerina with Pacific Northwest Ballet (NW USA). I was shocked! I asked her whether that wasn't pretty terrible for the body, but she said things were changing, and indeed, although she is a slender person who walks with the distinctive grace of a ballerina, she is not emaciated, and appears to be the picture of health. So when I ran across Kelly's e-book, given me as part of a gift bundle, I decided to have a look.
Kelly has done a lot of research, and for the most part (and in all ways central to the ballet), she really appears to know her field. She begins with the French "Opera rats" of the 1500s who were either recruited or often, promoted by their mothers as dancer-prostitutes during the dark times. (Its roots are in Greece, where fencing began.) The first publicly famous ballerina was La Fontaine, who starred in "Le Triomphe de l'Amour, at the Academie Royale de Musique, the first recorded appearance of professional ballerinas on the proscenium stage". However, the moneyed class of men showed up for these performances, not to watch the pretty dancers, but to choose a courtesan, and the girls were taught at early ages to preen themselves to this expectation. On the one hand, those who proved themselves desirable got to eat, and so did their families; on the other, they worked like slaves, and in at least one case, a ballerina died young of venereal disease (early 1700s). Though it was possible to live at home and not become a courtesan while dancing ballet, it was unusual. This dubious opportunity had spread across Europe by the 1700's, to Sweden, Italy, and Prussia. The French dancer Camargo created the first dancing slippers, and offered erotic promise as well as improved physical movement on the stage by moving her hemline up nearly to what fashion magazines now refer to as "ballerina length" (comparison mine, based on the photo in the book and her reference to raised skirts). Camargo also choreographed her own works, & not until I had read the full book did I appreciate how much power this represented. Guimard was the last famous French ballerina prior to the revolution.
During the "second empire" of the 19th century (a backlash against the French Revolution), Emma Livry declined to wear flame-proofing on her costume because it interfered with the other-worldly appearance she wanted to project as a Romantic dancer. (Here I found myself wondering whether the word of a 14 year old ballerina would permit the exception to be made today!)At a dress rehearsal, she fluffed her gown out and was instantly consumed in flame. She was saved by a stage hand only to live out 8 more months in horror and agony, and then die of her wounds.
"Russian ballet was rooted in the culture of the disenfranchised," the author explains. Here is where we move off of Kelly's turf and onto mine; she all but ignores the effect of the Russian Revolution, merely noting that there was experimentation with the dance during that period, and that the revolutionary "angry mobs" were outraged when the tsar (here I would add, as brutal a dictator as ever lived) let the peasantry freeze but sent 4 military trucks full of coal to his ballerina mistress, Kschessinska. Consequently, Lenin chose her balcony, which had become a symbol of the effete ruling class, to address his audience after the revolution. (Lenin did not revel in the luxury, but had contempt for it, using her sunken bathtub as an ashtray.) Kelly does point to changes in Russia such as "emancipation of women" and "mass democratization", but does not comment much on how this changed ballet, apart from no longer pushing women into concubinage. I found this glossing over a bit strange, since she had just stated that Russia was the center stage of ballet; it could be she had difficulty obtaining more material. By 1931 (and Stalin), international ballet superstar Pavlova was able to dance her way to an early grave by dancing while very ill against her doctor's wishes.
The 20th century introduced the choreographer as the new, higher power in ballet. Kelly puts more voice and less detachment into the second half of this ballet history, taking serious exception to New York's late star director, George Balanchine, whose emphasis on frailty among his dancers and caustic remarks about the appearance of individual dancers in front of others created the toxic culture of anorexia and bulimia which gradually took over the world-wide stage for ballerinas everywhere. Numerous cited instances of ballerinas starving, yet still feeling too fat, and of instance after instance in which ballerinas were simply fired from their low-paying but hard-won positions if they attempted to advocate for themselves. Gelsey Kirkland's memoir (the one I had originally set out to read, but couldn't find) says that Balanchine told her "repeatedly" to "eat nothing". Ballerinas were subsisting on coffee and chewing gum, and in addition to many other health problems, experienced more fractures because their bones had been deprived of nutrition.
One small error was the author's nod to women's rights issues and their effect on ballet. I understand that her realm is not feminism, but ballet, but once she decided to include it, she needed to avoid making errors. She says in this volume that "Everywhere,women were burning their bras" but this is one case where there is no citation. This is because it is myth and legend, rather than fact. Again, she has moved out of her field and into mine (contemporary U.S. and Russian history), and offered a non-fact to bolster her own arguments.
The arguments themselves are well-taken here, and are well argued in the book. Though there are progressive companies, mostly, it appears, on the US west coast and Canada, as well as Australia, where dancers are offered nutritional expertise and encouraged to envision a future without ballet, abuse and eating disorders continue. Most problematic may be that the very ballerinas who need work teaching, are those who previously starved themselves in the "old" Balanchine-rooted style, are coaching the new ballerinas and mis-teaching and mis-training them to harm their own bodies.
I won't go into more detail about the latter half of the book, because something should be left to the reader. There are myriad outstanding quotations that make this a very interesting read.
The jury is still out, in my opinion, as to whether there is any wholesome way for a ballerina to practice and earn a living while taking care of her body. Companies that embrace modern dance, such as Alvin Alley (California, USA) seem to fare a little better, but that is my take merely from the little knowledge I have, put together with having read this book. If the history of ballet interests you, I encourage you to read it yourself.
September 6, 2020
Canadian journalist Deidre Kelly's behind-the-scenes exploration and history of dance through the revered and enigmatic figure of the ballerina is particularly thorough, well-researched and written. The juicy subtitle aside, its contents will come as no surprise to anyone who has had any involvement with this relentlessly demanding profession. The 'tyranny of thin' ( i.e. the ideal body - preferably anorexic ) is particularly well-documented, as are other hazards, including long training, injuries and early retirement (until recently, around forty but now closer to thirty with new contemporary choreographic demands on the body).
As Kelly says, ' It's hard, it's injurious and the pay stinks.' As a professionally-trained ex-dancer and teacher, I really enjoyed this book, but it's certainly a realistic and clear-eyed look at a beautiful, but deadly life and career.
As Kelly says, ' It's hard, it's injurious and the pay stinks.' As a professionally-trained ex-dancer and teacher, I really enjoyed this book, but it's certainly a realistic and clear-eyed look at a beautiful, but deadly life and career.
January 6, 2013
Wow, great book covering how the art of ballet evolved from the start, in Paris, to present day. We learn about the different problems each century faced: prostitution, catching on fire, injury, lack of funds, suppressed rights, critical body issues and insufficient job coverage and pay. Sometimes the language is repetitive, but the ammount of research Deirdre Kelly would have had to do to create the work is astounding.
December 31, 2012
Interesting read. Much more readable than Apollo's Angels, which I'm still working my way through. This one focuses mainly the history of the ballerina. I read it quickly after the first chapter (this might be my problem with Apollo's Angels - too much about the history of kings prancing around in the 17th century France). I learned a lot.
April 24, 2017
oh boy. not a great read for me. i know kelly's work from the globe and mail and have appreciated her columns over the years. she previously worked as the dance critic for the paper. so i went into the read hoping for good things. but i found it really clunky and awkward, the flow was totally off for me throughout the read. there were parts of the book that were very interesting, but things just didn't go deep enough for me on those occasions. i also enjoyed moments in the book talking about dancers i have had the good fortune to see perform, and particularly appreciated the canadian content. i guess, for me, the subtitle should have been a clue -- the book definitely felt totally sensational... but not in a constructive or good way. bummer!
August 27, 2014
I would gladly make it a criminal offense to criticize skinniness in ballet. Skinny is beautiful, deal with it!
May 1, 2024
Brilliant and engrossing examination of ballet and the construct of the ballerina as the idealized woman.
September 5, 2013
Very thought provoking, especially if you've made it through the refiners fire that is a solid ballet training. However, some of the most shocking and valid modern and relevant material is barely skimmed over--Baryshnikov, Balanchine, and Gelsey Kirkland. Most of the focus is on the early days of ballet and the admittedly titillating details of how ballerinas carved out fabulous lifestyles for themselves as both dancers and concubines. Disappointingly vague on the horrific Balanchine/NYCB 1970's-1980's male dominated era of ballet, though. I will be picking up Kirkland's much more honest "Dancing on My Grave" again to refresh my memory on that.
July 16, 2013
The best thing about this book, about ballet and about what ballerinas have been put through and have done to themselves, is the assurance with which Deirdre Kelly speaks of the ballerina. She definitely speaks of them as strong, self-empowered people with their own minds and their own wants in a way that is sadly lacking in most ballerina narratives.
This book is a fresh take on a much beloved and much examined subject - showing the truth without belittling those she is exposing.
This book is a fresh take on a much beloved and much examined subject - showing the truth without belittling those she is exposing.
January 30, 2013
As a ballerina myself for 14 years this book was an amazing book of what went on so many years ago and even now for the life of a professional ballerina.
Dark and enlightening to read, so many things I would have never known.
This was a wonderful read and I have a new found respect for the challenging and difficult life the professional ballerina can endure past and present.
Dark and enlightening to read, so many things I would have never known.
This was a wonderful read and I have a new found respect for the challenging and difficult life the professional ballerina can endure past and present.
January 28, 2013
A great book that shares the history of ballet and the ballerina from its beginning to present day. The author is able to share history without it being boring. Very interesting and well researched. A book I will be keeping in my collection to read again.
June 13, 2025
A very good book! It was much more readable than Apollo's Angels! I really enjoyed reading this history with anecdotes thrown in. I also really liked that the author discussed how the ballet world is changing
December 1, 2019
I picked this up immediately when I saw the author interviewed on the Sergey Polunin biopic Dancer, but just kept not getting to reading it. I found this a very interesting and informative history of the more controversial elements of Ballet. The chapters are topical, but also happen to be in linear time as well, so we can see how major scandals/issues seem to dominate for a period then are worked through.
We start at the beginning, women break into a male dominated field around 1700s and those who do become singular stars, spectators are in awe that women can accomplish such physical feats. Centering around the Paris ballet scene we see singular female performers surrounded by male casts, the ballerinas turn this into their route to independence, making themselves courtesans - often with multiple partners depending on what power, money, or influence can be gained. This becomes institutionalized, eventually with box seats so the men can indulge their fantasies in private, traditions of dancers mingling with the spectators before or after the performance (a gentleman's club at one point even negotiated that all ballets first acts be choreographed without the ballerinas, so they could prolong pre-performance mingling). Eventually this became so profitable, Paris started the practice of a female corps de ballet - literally bringing in mass the desperate, fragile, and poverty stricken young girls for nothing roles to stack the available women to pair with wealthy men who might benefit the ballet (we also learn later, in Russia the corp is populated in some cases by literally turning orphanages into ballet schools). Interestingly, as barely a passing note, someone from the Royal Danish Ballet visited Paris and was so horrified by the situation they saw caused by monetary desperation there leading to the depravity, that on return instituted fair pay to male and female dancers at the Danish ballet.
Probably the weirdest chapter recounts the 1800s romantic period of ballet (think mid-length airy tutus) which coincided with the gaslight era, focusing on the fact that an absurd number of ballerinas during this time burned to death, but not only that they got stuck in hoists or had scenery dropped on them as the feats of showmanship somewhat exceeded the technology. In a particularly morbid tidbit we read a dancer's letter rejecting the use of fire retardant on their costumes, who later indeed did herself catch fire.
Progressing to Russian ballet, with the cheapening of the ballerina having pulled in masses of desperate girls, Russia instituted the career progression that remains mostly in place today. It also meant the Ballerina was no longer the power position, a steady transition here begins with the choreographer or director becoming all powerful over the fate of the ballerina.
More toward modern, Balanchine was the all powerful director, his sense of aesthetic defined the modern ballerina, but also heralded the eating disorder culture of the dance world. Women were expected to suffer and give up everything to the ballet, a long way from where they started often having families (or at least multiple children with their lovers), the standard here is no committed partners no children the work is your life and the director demands full control. Dancers who didn't fall in line would be pushed out, often under the guise of weight gain.
Fully into the modern culture, the discussion remains one of a world that is just overcoming eating disorders pervasive hold (there are still contractual disputes over 5 lbs), the fact that ballerinas are only just being recognized as athletes rather than performance artists with companies finally taking serious sports medicine approaches to maintaining their bodies, and the harsh reality of a dance career's intensity & brevity still leading to incredible numbers of retirement suicides.
As someone who grew up in ballet, read or watched every single thing available to me and obsessed over it, but pushed out for not having the body for it... this is all to familiar and rings brutally true. For such salacious topics the writing is a bit academic and dense, but I just really enjoyed reading this, it is a very unique perspective to take on the history of ballet.
Nonfiction November: Sport
We start at the beginning, women break into a male dominated field around 1700s and those who do become singular stars, spectators are in awe that women can accomplish such physical feats. Centering around the Paris ballet scene we see singular female performers surrounded by male casts, the ballerinas turn this into their route to independence, making themselves courtesans - often with multiple partners depending on what power, money, or influence can be gained. This becomes institutionalized, eventually with box seats so the men can indulge their fantasies in private, traditions of dancers mingling with the spectators before or after the performance (a gentleman's club at one point even negotiated that all ballets first acts be choreographed without the ballerinas, so they could prolong pre-performance mingling). Eventually this became so profitable, Paris started the practice of a female corps de ballet - literally bringing in mass the desperate, fragile, and poverty stricken young girls for nothing roles to stack the available women to pair with wealthy men who might benefit the ballet (we also learn later, in Russia the corp is populated in some cases by literally turning orphanages into ballet schools). Interestingly, as barely a passing note, someone from the Royal Danish Ballet visited Paris and was so horrified by the situation they saw caused by monetary desperation there leading to the depravity, that on return instituted fair pay to male and female dancers at the Danish ballet.
Probably the weirdest chapter recounts the 1800s romantic period of ballet (think mid-length airy tutus) which coincided with the gaslight era, focusing on the fact that an absurd number of ballerinas during this time burned to death, but not only that they got stuck in hoists or had scenery dropped on them as the feats of showmanship somewhat exceeded the technology. In a particularly morbid tidbit we read a dancer's letter rejecting the use of fire retardant on their costumes, who later indeed did herself catch fire.
Progressing to Russian ballet, with the cheapening of the ballerina having pulled in masses of desperate girls, Russia instituted the career progression that remains mostly in place today. It also meant the Ballerina was no longer the power position, a steady transition here begins with the choreographer or director becoming all powerful over the fate of the ballerina.
More toward modern, Balanchine was the all powerful director, his sense of aesthetic defined the modern ballerina, but also heralded the eating disorder culture of the dance world. Women were expected to suffer and give up everything to the ballet, a long way from where they started often having families (or at least multiple children with their lovers), the standard here is no committed partners no children the work is your life and the director demands full control. Dancers who didn't fall in line would be pushed out, often under the guise of weight gain.
Fully into the modern culture, the discussion remains one of a world that is just overcoming eating disorders pervasive hold (there are still contractual disputes over 5 lbs), the fact that ballerinas are only just being recognized as athletes rather than performance artists with companies finally taking serious sports medicine approaches to maintaining their bodies, and the harsh reality of a dance career's intensity & brevity still leading to incredible numbers of retirement suicides.
As someone who grew up in ballet, read or watched every single thing available to me and obsessed over it, but pushed out for not having the body for it... this is all to familiar and rings brutally true. For such salacious topics the writing is a bit academic and dense, but I just really enjoyed reading this, it is a very unique perspective to take on the history of ballet.
Nonfiction November: Sport
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 15, 2018
I loved Ballerina by Deirdre Kelly. It is a thoroughly researched treatise on the life of a ballerina over the centuries. I am a fan of ballet but had never realized before this book the struggles that ballerinas face in their careers.
Ballet is currently associated with Russia but, interestingly, it began in France. Ballet started off as a realm of males before women also became dancers. But women ballet dancers straddled a fine line between courtesans and artists in the way society perceived them. They faced many hazards in their profession—sometimes, they literally caught fire. It was particularly heartbreaking to read an account of a talented ballerina called Emma whose dress caught flame and who suffered grave burns over the expanse of her body, eventually dying a tormented death.
Today, ballet continues to be a tough field. Dancers are paid little and have careers that culminate at thirty years of age. Facing criticism of their bodies and a relentless pressure to be slim, they can also develop eating disorders.
I will be going to watch The Nutcracker this holiday season and will certainly be looking at it with different eyes—behind the beautiful and the ethereal is a reality that appears serious and heavy. I highly recommend Deirdre Kelly’s Ballerina book to all who are interested in ballet, dance, culture, and history.
Ballet is currently associated with Russia but, interestingly, it began in France. Ballet started off as a realm of males before women also became dancers. But women ballet dancers straddled a fine line between courtesans and artists in the way society perceived them. They faced many hazards in their profession—sometimes, they literally caught fire. It was particularly heartbreaking to read an account of a talented ballerina called Emma whose dress caught flame and who suffered grave burns over the expanse of her body, eventually dying a tormented death.
Today, ballet continues to be a tough field. Dancers are paid little and have careers that culminate at thirty years of age. Facing criticism of their bodies and a relentless pressure to be slim, they can also develop eating disorders.
I will be going to watch The Nutcracker this holiday season and will certainly be looking at it with different eyes—behind the beautiful and the ethereal is a reality that appears serious and heavy. I highly recommend Deirdre Kelly’s Ballerina book to all who are interested in ballet, dance, culture, and history.
March 10, 2018
Great book by Deidre Kelly. It was eloquently written and blazed with passion. Every dancer should read this work. It gives a heart wrenching display of the hardships ballerinas go through to get to the stage. After reading this, I feel relieved that I will never be a professional ballerina because the lifestyle just sounds too draining physically and emotionally. I was most interested learning about the dark side of the Great Balanchine. He may be one of the most influential ballet masters in American history, but what kind of remembrance is that when you were an exploitive human being? The one aspect missing regarding the scandals of the ballerina was drug abuse. Not always, but usually when there’s eating disorders there’s also drugs involved. I would have liked a more in-depth look at that. I also thought I’d learn more about sexual exploitation of the ballerina in the present day, because it, of course, is still an occurrence.
February 5, 2020
Meh. Made me glad not to be a ballerina. Ballet started with men in the French Court of Louis Something, the Sun King was called that because he played Apollo in a ballet. Then there were poor girls who were trained to be ballerinas, but they weren't paid anything so they had to take rich men as lovers to make ends meet. Then Balanchine came along, and told ballerinas they shouldn't eat and shouldn't think and they should just be entirely subservient to his ideas. Nowadays things are getting a little better, ballerinas have more muscle and are being considered and treated more as athletes whom it is economically good to keep healthy so they don't get injuries all the time from being weak. But still, the average ballerina retires at age 29 while the average modern dancer retires at 40, pointe work is never going to be good for the ankles, and ballerinas have had hip replacements at the appallingly young age of 40. Eek.
Not very well-written, the transitions were very rough.
Not very well-written, the transitions were very rough.
September 21, 2017
This was a really engaging look at the trajectory of women in ballet, how they have transformed the art form, and of course, how the men in dance have tried to keep women on a pedestal - because if she's up there, you can do whatever you want to her.
It's fascinating.
While I've never been interested in dancing ballet myself, I do find that whole word really .... I don't know. Attractive isn't the right word, but I love to watch these elite dancers where nothing is as it seems. I go to youtube to watch various ballerinas walk viewers through how they sew* their shoes. I find it to be very calming.
*sewing includes: hammering, shellacking, burning, cutting and yeah, sewing the ribbons on at the end. EVERY. DAY.
Ballerinas are more hardcore than you.
It's fascinating.
While I've never been interested in dancing ballet myself, I do find that whole word really .... I don't know. Attractive isn't the right word, but I love to watch these elite dancers where nothing is as it seems. I go to youtube to watch various ballerinas walk viewers through how they sew* their shoes. I find it to be very calming.
*sewing includes: hammering, shellacking, burning, cutting and yeah, sewing the ribbons on at the end. EVERY. DAY.
Ballerinas are more hardcore than you.
April 28, 2022
Definitely learned much, much more about ballerinas than I knew. I had an idea about the pressure and the disordered eating but no idea about the courtesan history, extremely low pay, and the abuse of body. I was shocked at learning that the aesthetic that Balanchine preferred had such an impact on ballet for so freaking long!! My limited knowledge of ballet was based on the Balanchine dancer and now that I know that it was just his preference, I'm a bit sickened. Not cool, dude. Not cool.
This history book was very easy to read, well sourced, and just fascinating. Ballet dancers routinely caught fire because of gaslight?? What??
Recommended for anyone with an interest in ballet and marginalized athletics.
This history book was very easy to read, well sourced, and just fascinating. Ballet dancers routinely caught fire because of gaslight?? What??
Recommended for anyone with an interest in ballet and marginalized athletics.
June 16, 2022
You won't find another ballet book like this one---it is meticulously researched and eye-opening. History at its best, but the book also reads like a thriller. Did you know that 19th-century ballerinas used to burn to death after the gas stage lamps accidentally singed their flammable tutus? The tragedies and triumphs in the dancers' personal lives, their needs and hopes and dreams, all come vividly to life in these pages. Kelly manages to make the art form both grand and gossipy, thrilling and terrible. I loved it and highly recommend.
July 16, 2024
4 stars for effort. Was this a thesis?
A well-researched book with an enticing title that turns out to be a history of miserable women in ballet unfortunately. Not every woman ends up hating her profession or fighting the powers that be, but it is interesting how women came to be the stars rather the concubines or prostitutes of the profession... well not all, but according to this it was a rough start. This is an important book for any balletomane and many names are mentioned. Definitely recommended if any interest in the history of the ballet.
A well-researched book with an enticing title that turns out to be a history of miserable women in ballet unfortunately. Not every woman ends up hating her profession or fighting the powers that be, but it is interesting how women came to be the stars rather the concubines or prostitutes of the profession... well not all, but according to this it was a rough start. This is an important book for any balletomane and many names are mentioned. Definitely recommended if any interest in the history of the ballet.
April 25, 2023
Kelly’s deep dive into the origin of ballet dancing and the largely unknown lives of ballerinas is riveting. I was impressed with the extensive research and how the author was able to weave it into a text that is both easily readable and compelling. Anyone who has loved this art form must read this excellent account. It is the #metoo of the ballet world, exposing sexism at the core of classical dance.
August 16, 2017
An informative read that explores the history and politics of ballet, and how the ballerina as "symbol of perfection" has affected (and continues to affect) the careers and personal lives of women. Readers eager to learn more about the world of ballet, including the work conditions of today's ballet dancers in Canada, will be thoroughly engaged by Deidre Kelly's book.
December 23, 2021
Excellent Reading for the Ballet Enthusiast
This book is an extensively researched and comprehensive history and study of the beautiful art of ballet. It details the struggle and pain of the metamorphosis of the unassuming caterpillar to the exquisite butterfly. Recommended reading for anyone with even a passing interest in this ethereal art.
This book is an extensively researched and comprehensive history and study of the beautiful art of ballet. It details the struggle and pain of the metamorphosis of the unassuming caterpillar to the exquisite butterfly. Recommended reading for anyone with even a passing interest in this ethereal art.
December 20, 2020
A shocking book on the evolution of working conditions for ballerinas.
An historical and social revision of great interest.
Fortunately, the end of the book is rather reassuring about the future of this beautiful profession.
An historical and social revision of great interest.
Fortunately, the end of the book is rather reassuring about the future of this beautiful profession.
June 4, 2017
A fascinating look at the dark behind the light that is the beauty of ballet.
January 21, 2018
Readable and interesting
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