Dancing on Air

by Nancy Kress

Dancers are capable of anything to succeed in the cutthroat world of ballet, grueling workouts, restrictive diets, artificial enhancements...even murder. A talking Doberman, an aging ballerina, and an investigative reporter find themselves embroiled in a world where youth rules and no one is safe. This gripping novella by the Hugo and Nebula-Award winning author of Beggars in Spain is a powerful, yet humorous exploration of the moral ambiguities of genetic engineering and the all-too-tenuous bonds of family.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction

82 pages, Paperback

First published July 23, 1997

About the author

Nancy Kress is an American science fiction writer. She began writing in 1976 but has achieved her greatest notice since the publication of her Hugo and Nebula-winning 1991 novella Beggars in Spain which was later expanded into a novel with the same title. In addition to her novels, Kress has written numerous short stories and is a regular columnist for Writer's Digest. She is a regular at Clarion writing workshops and at The Writers Center in Bethesda, Maryland. During the Winter of 2008/09, Nancy Kress is the Picador Guest Professor for Literature at the University of Leipzig's Institute for American Studies in Leipzig, Germany.

Excerpted from Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Kai · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Nancy Kress's "Dancing on Air", ballet dancers are enhanced by the use of nanotechnology to improve their physiology and to make them less prone to injuries. In the US the practice is illegal, though many girls feel pressured to get the procedure. The novella opens with the murder of a dancer, and since there had been two similar cases before, it seems as if a serial killer is after bioenhanced ballerinas.

The main plot revolves around members of the New York City Ballet. A journalist is assigned to investigate the criminal case, but she is also personally involved, as her daughter (Deborah) takes classes at that school. Deborah is representative of the cruelly competitive life of dancing ballet. She is desperate to become part of the troupe, but her dogged performance is not quite up to the standards. There is also another girl, Caroline, who is assigned a genetically enhanced dog that (against her will) protects her from dangers.

I was quite intrigued by the setting. There is the stark contrast of the grace and beauty to the fierce competition and hardships. Through the use of the French technical terms for movements and the depiction of training sessions and behind-the-scenes arguments (for instance, about Caroline's subpar performance as of late) you feel as part of the scene, even if the ballet is little more than a backdrop to the science-fiction.

There is one twist that had an impression on me and that defines the novella as a whole. It turns out, in Europe scientists had been doing in vitro intrusions for the past 30 years. In fact, Caroline was designed to become a ballet dancer before she was even born. It was her mother's dearest wish, presumably because it is something she herself would never be able to do (she is in a wheelchair). There is a parallelism to Deborah's case. Her mother too has strong ideas about her daughter's future (that she would go to college), only that she doesn't force her ideas onto her daughter.

I thought the implications for how the technology would (will?) deprive adolescents of the chance to autonomously decide what they want to become were truly fascinating. Today already there are cases where expectant parents make these decisions (for instance, there is the case of the couple who made sure that their child would be born blind). Even if Caroline could still decide to pursue something for which she has less of a (semi-)natural talent, it's as if the chance of free decision is taken from her. In fact, in the story it turns out that her body is deteriorating (this is why her performance are getting worse), so it's as if her time at the ballet determined much of what her life will be about.

The plot reads like a thriller, especially towards the end. It's strongly suggested that it's Caroline who tries to push Caroline into getting surgery for bioenhancement. I didn't feel too invested in the plot itself or its characters, but I liked the twist that it was Deborah herself who wanted to be enhanced and that Caroline and her friends tried to convince her to not take that stept. It's Deborah's own decision, so this must count for something? In the aftermath, 1 1/2 years later, Deborah got enhanced after all and she is portrayed as happy with her decision.

Still, the discomfort with the technology remains.

Rating: 3/5

[Louis D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ce livre regroupe des nouvelles de l’autrice portant sur différents sujets d’anticipation : la présence de vie extra-terrestre, les améliorations génétiques, l’exploration spatiale. Certaines nouvelles regorgent d’idées fascinantes, dont on regrette parfois qu’elles ne soient pas plus détaillées dans un roman. L’écriture, sans m’avoir marqué outre mesure, porte bien les propos et ne manque pas d’excellents moments. Je recommande chaudement ce livre.

[Marc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ce recueil regroupe des récits dans lesquels l'auteure interroge les divers futurs possibles de l'humanité à travers le prisme des biotechnologies, et nous montre que même à des époques extrêmement sombres, il reste toujours de l'espoir.
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[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great story from Nancy Kress. This time about bioengineering and ballet. She is so good at near future stories about science.

[Richard Leis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bio-enhanced ballerinas and dogs. Mothers and daughters. The price of passion. This powerful short story is a must-read.

In "Dancing on Air", Nancy Kress explores the consequences of bio-enhancement but does not provide easy answers as the reader is drawn into the tumultuous lives of several characters within and orbiting the New York City Ballet. The story reminds me a little of the movie Black Swan and the lengths people will go for their art. This story, though, takes place slightly in the future, in a world of rapid, unfettered progress in genetics and biotech reshaping the very notions of what it means to be human, and to follow art. It also frequently provides the point of view of the bio-enhanced talking Doberman named Angel, commissioned to protect the company's top star after the murder of ballerinas. A reporter whose teenage daughter is obsessed with being asked to join the Company begins to uncover and untangle the various motivations and machinations of the ballerinas, their mothers, the Artistic Director, and the bio-enhancement industry itself.

Kress's prose is sharp, concise, and devastating. Obviously I'm a huge fan of her work; Kress's stories never fail to blow my mind.

Highly recommended.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is very short, a "novelette" (I'm not sure how that is different from a novella). Even so, it does a good job of developing the characters. It also raises a common Kress theme -- what does it mean to be really human, when people have messed around with genetics to create beings? Those being messed around with here include ballerina dancers whose bodies need help to excel at their grueling work, as well as a bio-enhanced dog created to protect one of the ballerinas. The dog actually narrates some of the scenes, making it clear that he's a conscious being, albeit a rather limited one.

In the context of the rest of Kress' work, I'd say this is just middling. But it's good nonetheless.

[Fabien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dans ce recueil de nouvelles, Nancy Kress dresse un futur sombre d'où émerge souvent une lueur d'espoir inattendue. Les thèmes sont variés malgré le pessimisme général de l'auteur sur notre futur. La dernière nouvelle, qui donne le titre du recueil est très intéressante de par son thème (la danse dans un futur bio-ingenieré) mais malheureusement j'ai trouvé cette nouvelle un peu plus confuse dans l'intrigue que le reste. Un grand merci aux éditions Le Belial pour ce livre en tous cas !

[Yaël · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️
Le Sauveur 1.5/5
Touchdown 3/5
Évolution 2.5/5
Fin de partie 3/5
Shiva dans l’ombre 4/5
A la mode, à la mode 1/5
Le Bien commun 4/5
On va y arriver 3/5
Un 4.5/5
Trottoir à 12h10 2.5/5
Danse aérienne 4/5

[David Davy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some nice pulp sci-fi from Wattpad.

[Elyse]

https://www.wattpad.com/25247479-danc...