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Ballet Stories
Capturing everything from the stage-fright of auditions, to the difficulties of training, to the final joys of performing, these 15 stories encompass all facets of the dance experience. Authors include Margot Fonteyn, Cynthia Voigt and Amy Hest.
224 pages, Paperback
First published April 7, 1997
3 people are currently reading
89 people want to read
About the author
Harriet Castor
75 books4 followersHarriet Castor was just thirteen when the first of her Fat Puss novels was published. She went on to become a children's book editor and now writes full time for both children and adults. A real ballet enthusiast, she is the author of the popular Ballerinas series.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 29, 2017
best one in her was "An Olly Went Too"
June 15, 2011
Its a fantastic book full of wonderful ballet stories.
July 11, 2011
Not the best short story collection ever, but most of the tales inside were of a decent sort. On the whole, enjoyable.
1. Samantha and Lizinka by Susan Clement Farrar (from Samantha on Stage) - okay, but I wouldn't go seeking out the full book. I have always in general liked ballet stories, but not all of them: Drina over Sadler's Wells for example. This was too reminiscent of the latter.
2. Rehearsal Revenge by Jahnna N. Malcolm (from Drat! We're Rats!) - I'd already read the book this came from, and in fact most of the rest of the Scrambled Legs series when I was younger. So there was the nostalgia factor, plus the series was a cute one. Not the best, but still very fun.
3. Pulling up the Old Socks by Lynn Seymour (from Lynn) - the writing was very dry and this was told mostly in letter form... I just couldn't get into it.
4. Lucy Jane and the Russian Ballet by Susan Hampshire - cute enough, one of the more juvenile ones.
5. Ugly Feet are Beautiful by James David Landis (from The Sisters Impossible) - another where I don't think I'd bother picking up the book. The dialogue was difficult to follow and I didn't really love either of the characters.
6. Summer Camp by Cynthia Voigt (from Come a Stranger) - seeing the pattern here?! Did not inspire me to seek out the novel yet again ;) I just didn't care for Mina: how she blamed everything on the colour of her skin rather than just accepting that maybe it was to do with her.
7. The Greatest by Michelle Magorian - one of the shortest ones, but this one I really liked!
8. Wartime Ballet by Margot Fonteyn (from her autobiography) - very interesting; I don't think I'd hunt down her autobiography to read it all but this part I found especially wonderful because of my interest in WWII. Also, bonus Robert Helpmann mentions! A fascinating story.
9. The Swan Mother by Jean Richardson - another of the better ones wherein a young girl realises that her birth mother was a famous ballerina... the twist at the end practically knocked me to the floor and I had to read it all over again!
10. A Proper Little Nooryeff by Jean Ure - the odd thing is, I usually like Jean Ure's stuff and have enjoyed her dancing stories before... but this one, meh. Could not get into it.
11. And Olly Did Too by Jamila Gavin - adorable story of Olly who watches his sister dance and longs to do it too but everyone laughs at him - until he is singled out at her audition and later on accepted into the school instead of her!
12. Grace by Harriet Castor - girl decides to secretly enrol her mother in an adult ballet class, after realising that her mother is only forcing her into classes in order to vicariously realise her own dream. Cute enough.
13. The Trouble With Salvatore by Rumer Godden (from Listen to the Nightingale) - I loved this book, but reading only this chapter... it doesn't hold up as one of the best! An odd choice to include. On its own I'd only give it two stars, but seeing as I know and love the rest of the story I can't help but bump it up.
14. Maybe Next Year... by Amy Hest - interesting story but the character herself just wasn't that engaging, and so neither was her plight.
15. Pauline Learns a Lesson by Noel Streatfeild (from Ballet Shoes) - I love and have read Ballet Shoes so many times that I practically knew this chapter by heart. I love how it ends with Petrova's musings over Posy not being conceited too when she says things that, if Pauline said them, would be dreadfully up-herself!
1. Samantha and Lizinka by Susan Clement Farrar (from Samantha on Stage) - okay, but I wouldn't go seeking out the full book. I have always in general liked ballet stories, but not all of them: Drina over Sadler's Wells for example. This was too reminiscent of the latter.
2. Rehearsal Revenge by Jahnna N. Malcolm (from Drat! We're Rats!) - I'd already read the book this came from, and in fact most of the rest of the Scrambled Legs series when I was younger. So there was the nostalgia factor, plus the series was a cute one. Not the best, but still very fun.
3. Pulling up the Old Socks by Lynn Seymour (from Lynn) - the writing was very dry and this was told mostly in letter form... I just couldn't get into it.
4. Lucy Jane and the Russian Ballet by Susan Hampshire - cute enough, one of the more juvenile ones.
5. Ugly Feet are Beautiful by James David Landis (from The Sisters Impossible) - another where I don't think I'd bother picking up the book. The dialogue was difficult to follow and I didn't really love either of the characters.
6. Summer Camp by Cynthia Voigt (from Come a Stranger) - seeing the pattern here?! Did not inspire me to seek out the novel yet again ;) I just didn't care for Mina: how she blamed everything on the colour of her skin rather than just accepting that maybe it was to do with her.
7. The Greatest by Michelle Magorian - one of the shortest ones, but this one I really liked!
8. Wartime Ballet by Margot Fonteyn (from her autobiography) - very interesting; I don't think I'd hunt down her autobiography to read it all but this part I found especially wonderful because of my interest in WWII. Also, bonus Robert Helpmann mentions! A fascinating story.
9. The Swan Mother by Jean Richardson - another of the better ones wherein a young girl realises that her birth mother was a famous ballerina... the twist at the end practically knocked me to the floor and I had to read it all over again!
10. A Proper Little Nooryeff by Jean Ure - the odd thing is, I usually like Jean Ure's stuff and have enjoyed her dancing stories before... but this one, meh. Could not get into it.
11. And Olly Did Too by Jamila Gavin - adorable story of Olly who watches his sister dance and longs to do it too but everyone laughs at him - until he is singled out at her audition and later on accepted into the school instead of her!
12. Grace by Harriet Castor - girl decides to secretly enrol her mother in an adult ballet class, after realising that her mother is only forcing her into classes in order to vicariously realise her own dream. Cute enough.
13. The Trouble With Salvatore by Rumer Godden (from Listen to the Nightingale) - I loved this book, but reading only this chapter... it doesn't hold up as one of the best! An odd choice to include. On its own I'd only give it two stars, but seeing as I know and love the rest of the story I can't help but bump it up.
14. Maybe Next Year... by Amy Hest - interesting story but the character herself just wasn't that engaging, and so neither was her plight.
15. Pauline Learns a Lesson by Noel Streatfeild (from Ballet Shoes) - I love and have read Ballet Shoes so many times that I practically knew this chapter by heart. I love how it ends with Petrova's musings over Posy not being conceited too when she says things that, if Pauline said them, would be dreadfully up-herself!
April 28, 2023
I picked this up in a charity shop near where my mum lives as I love Ballet stories and I needed something easy to read whilst getting over a sinus infection.
This was a great collection of stories including extracts from Ballet Shoes and memoirs of Margot Fonteyn. I will definitely be checking out some of the books which they printed extracts from.
An excellent collection for fans of Ballet stories.
This was a great collection of stories including extracts from Ballet Shoes and memoirs of Margot Fonteyn. I will definitely be checking out some of the books which they printed extracts from.
An excellent collection for fans of Ballet stories.
May 11, 2018
Mainly excepts from books rather than true short stories, which is just not as satisfying. The two chapters from autobiographies are the best bits.
March 15, 2015
Had this when I was quite young, chanced upon a copy when on holiday and bought it quite impulsively for a reread - this is still a pretty good anthology, with sublime selections nestled amongst the more mundane (which are in themselves a kind of delight - if you grew up being a Ballet Story Fan you will know that any number of stories mentioning sore feet, the physical demands of practice and chiffon ballet costumes are NEVER ENOUGH): particular standouts were Fonteyn and Lynn Seymour's autobiographies, as well as an excerpt from Cynthia Voigt's Come a Stranger. (Come a Stranger!!! I didn't read the entire novel until several years later and love that novel, being about many other things besides dance. I can't recommend that novel highly enough.)
Reliable picks from ballet authors like Jean Ure and Noel Streatfeild are there too - but I think the great strength of this collection (besides the standouts I've mentioned above) are its willingness to pick from relatively unheard-of young adult novels that aren't totally about dance, or from novels where the characters don't particularly like ballet, etc. Despite having been a fan of the Drina novels as a kid, they are very, very formulaic and very, very dull, and I for one am glad that Harriet Castor didn't pick those.
Reliable picks from ballet authors like Jean Ure and Noel Streatfeild are there too - but I think the great strength of this collection (besides the standouts I've mentioned above) are its willingness to pick from relatively unheard-of young adult novels that aren't totally about dance, or from novels where the characters don't particularly like ballet, etc. Despite having been a fan of the Drina novels as a kid, they are very, very formulaic and very, very dull, and I for one am glad that Harriet Castor didn't pick those.
July 23, 2015
This is a collection of ballet stories which are really excerpts from full-length books. The range of stories is wide - fiction from Noel Streatfeild, Jamila Gavin and Jean Richardson; excerpts from the autobiographies of Margot Fonteyn and Lynn Seymour. The stories read like chapters from each of the original books and are quite interesting. A good selection of ballet stories for someone who wants to sample a few before deciding which of the original books to read.
August 20, 2008
YES! I loved this book back when I took ballet and wanted to be a ballerina. I'm so sad I don't have it any more.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews