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The book tells the tale of a seven-year-old girl who starts to study ballet and dreams of reaching her goal as prima ballerina.
She studied at the San Francisco Ballet and is encouraged to dance. She started in the opera when they needed a small elf to go on stage where Salvatore Baccaloni was sleeping under a tree, with this small elf poking him in the opera Falstaff. The blue lights were enchanting, and every minute was sheer heaven. This was the beginning of a profession that demands total dedication and love. It is filled with anecdotes, laughter, and tears. In writing this book, the author describes what goes on in a company that tours and dances every night on a different stage.
The author lives in San Francisco with her husband, John R. Upton Jr., as well as in the Napa Valley where John and his brother pioneered Three Palms Vineyard, once the site of Lillie Hitchcock Coit’s Napa Valley home.
She studied at the San Francisco Ballet and is encouraged to dance. She started in the opera when they needed a small elf to go on stage where Salvatore Baccaloni was sleeping under a tree, with this small elf poking him in the opera Falstaff. The blue lights were enchanting, and every minute was sheer heaven. This was the beginning of a profession that demands total dedication and love. It is filled with anecdotes, laughter, and tears. In writing this book, the author describes what goes on in a company that tours and dances every night on a different stage.
The author lives in San Francisco with her husband, John R. Upton Jr., as well as in the Napa Valley where John and his brother pioneered Three Palms Vineyard, once the site of Lillie Hitchcock Coit’s Napa Valley home.
- GenresNonfiction
418 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 4, 2015
I am slowly absorbing this book about seven year old Janet Sassoon as she learns that ballet is both her dream and her destiny. It fills her body and her soul.
I am close to the end of this tale and wishing to have more. To learn about the teachers, the styles, the various programs, the dancers, etc.
I am close to the end of this tale and wishing to have more. To learn about the teachers, the styles, the various programs, the dancers, etc.
June 30, 2017
Too repetitive.
I liked many aspects of the book but lost interest in all the names of the people that were all her bestest friends and sweetest people. I am sure they were but after awhile I just found the repetitive name dropping a bore.
I liked many aspects of the book but lost interest in all the names of the people that were all her bestest friends and sweetest people. I am sure they were but after awhile I just found the repetitive name dropping a bore.
March 10, 2024
wonderful
Apart from the odd bit of poor editing (kindle edition) a wonderful true story of training and performance, interesting, enlightening
Apart from the odd bit of poor editing (kindle edition) a wonderful true story of training and performance, interesting, enlightening
March 21, 2016
I had never heard of Janet Sassoon before I started this book. Most of her career took place in Europe first with Ballet Marquis de Monte Carlo and then Berliner Ballet. I became interested in reading it when I learned Sassoon had trained at the San Francisco Ballet with the Christiansen brothers, Harold, Lew and William. She danced in the first Nutcracker produced in America in 1944.
After that began a list of teachers, companies, places and performances. I found this narrative rather boring. Sassoon's personality seems very sociable but I tired of her relentless cheerfulness and descriptions of her many best friends.
Sassoon had her fair share of troubles. She had a terrible allergic reaction to some food and had to go to a clinic in Switzerland to recover. She also received criticism for having thick thighs. Her solution was excessive. She had her legs encased in casts and allowed her muscles to atrophy so she could rebuild them. I found this sad because she had teachers who were knowledgeable about kinesiology and anatomy and could have used this information to achieve her ends. Another dancer sacrificed on the altar of the "perfect body".
After that began a list of teachers, companies, places and performances. I found this narrative rather boring. Sassoon's personality seems very sociable but I tired of her relentless cheerfulness and descriptions of her many best friends.
Sassoon had her fair share of troubles. She had a terrible allergic reaction to some food and had to go to a clinic in Switzerland to recover. She also received criticism for having thick thighs. Her solution was excessive. She had her legs encased in casts and allowed her muscles to atrophy so she could rebuild them. I found this sad because she had teachers who were knowledgeable about kinesiology and anatomy and could have used this information to achieve her ends. Another dancer sacrificed on the altar of the "perfect body".
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews