Dance Class #12: The New Girl

Studio Dance - Dance Class/Academy #12

by Crip

A new student, Maya, joins Lucy, Alia, and Julie in Dance Class, but it seems her true passion is on the basketball court. Maya must nimbly overcome her competitive spirit and use her tall stature to be a MVD, most valuable dancer. Things are also heating up between Alia and her boyfriend Evan, but will he miss a step when he forgets their anniversary? And all this and more takes place as all the Dance Class students prepare to put on a production set in the African Savannah. No matter how crazy life may get, Lucy, Alia, Julie, and the rest of the Dance Class have always managed to pull off the seemingly impossible—but what if what the girls are dealing with becomes so overwhelming, that this time the show can’t go on?

Genres: Bande Dessinée, Graphic Novels, Comics

Kindle Edition

Published December 14, 2021

Reviews

[Doreen · Rating 4 out of 5]

11/22/2021 3.5 rounded up. Full review tk at TheFrumiousConsortium.net.

12/14/2021 This slight but amusing volume is perfect for dance enthusiasts anywhere and of any age!

We catch up with Lucy, Alia and Julie as a new girl joins their classical ballet class. Maya's real love is basketball, but she's been forced by her mother to try ballet before it's "too late". Maya is a team player tho, so she's ready to give it the old college try. However, her background in competitive team sports makes for a lot of culture shock, not only for her, but also for her new classmates and their teacher.

Meanwhile, mean girl Carla is up to her old tricks again. When she's cast as the lead in their Afrojazz class recital, the rest of the girls decide to take her down a peg or two, to hilarious result. And while the older girls are working on their programs, the younger class, including Lucy's irrepressible sister Capucine, are also hard at work, to the dismay of Capucine's dad, who's been roped in to his daughters' efforts one time too many. Can he finally find a way to turn his daughters' dance obsession to his own advantage?

Told in loose vignettes that highlight the humor of young dance-obsessed lives, this series continues to be an antidote to the superabundance of moody, self-destructive dancer narratives out there. And don't get me wrong, I love me some messed up ballet psychodrama but it's always nice to remember too the giddy joy of being a young dancer learning the craft, before it becomes a job or a chore or a burden.

The artwork is done in lovely fluid lines that accentuate movement, seeming light while actually doing a ton of work, like the dance form it depicts. Maella Cosson's predominantly pastel colors are remarkably good at evoking texture: just look at the high gloss on the ballet studio's floors, and contrast that with the surfaces in the other studios! This was another really great installment in this light-hearted series that's essentially a love letter to the dancer in all of us.

Dance Class Vol 12: The New Girl by BéKa and Crip was published today December 14 2021 by Papercutz and is available from all good booksellers, including Bookshop!

[Mehsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Een heerlijk deel vol met dansen. Voornamelijk de grote meiden maar ook het zusje van een van hen komt voorbij. Naast heel veel dansen is er ook nog een vleugje romantiek (al moet je echt niet iemands verjaardag vergeten... vooral niet als diegene je vriendin is). Ik vond het heerlijk om te lezen en kreeg helemaal zin om lekker mee te dansen. Vooral dat stuk met de Afrikaanse dans (en waarbij de hoofdrol hebben niet betekent dat je veel in beeld bent, hihi). Ik wilde gewoon uit mijn bed stappen en lekker los gaan. Helaas zei mijn lijf nee. XD
De stukjes met het basketball meisje vond ik enerzijds leuk maar ook vervelend. Kom op zeg, je weet toch wel iets van hoe dansen werkt als een sport? En jammer dat ze met de mean girl ging samenwerken. :|
Ik moest echt enorm lachen dat de vader van een van de meiden mee moest doen met de les. Oh nee.
Helaas waren er wel 2-3 strips die ik al kende? Heel apart, je zou toch zeggen dat je geen dubbele in een nieuw deel doet, maar ik weet echt zeker dat ik die eerder al heb gelezen.
Maar verder dus een heel tof deel, hopelijk kan ik ooit eens deel 11 lezen want die is erg moeilijk te vinden in de bibliotheken.

[Vanne]

De drie hartsvriendinnen Julia, Laila en Lucie beleven nieuwe kunstige dansavonturen in dit 12de deel vol korte gags. Er is een nieuw meisje in de dansklas. Voor Maya is ballet een teamsport, net als basketbal. Een echte feelgoodstrip over vriendinnen, over dansen en over kunst.

[Josephine · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book is ok it would had been better if it was longer like at least 110 pages long but besides that its ok

[Séverin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Je suis toujours autant fan de ces BD. Simple à lire et pleine d'humour elles me font toujours passer un bon moment.
Seul bémol : pourquoi est-ce qu'elles doivent se finir au bout de la 46eme page ? J'aimerais qu'elles ne s'arrêtent jamais.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recomendation.

Disjointed. Hard to follow probably better for dancers

[Jeremy D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious!I loved it!

I liked that it was very funny. I also loved the art. The only thing is... I t w a s too SHORT!!!!!

[Hania · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ta część jest wciągająca

[Ambeertje De · Rating 5 out of 5]

echt een aanrader

[Raven Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

First thing I noticed was that several speaking bubbles were empty. I can only assume that this is due to reading this as an e-galley directly from the publisher's newsletter and therefore, not a finished copy. Because of this, I was not overly thrilled with the plot. However, the 3 comes from the potential of what I was able to read. I think reading the previous volumes of the series would have helped me understand who is who and what is what. There are several people you are following, but without background, it can be awkward. Yet, I was able to find my way, but a reader aged 8 to 10 might not be as lucky when jumping "into the middle of things." The different girls, plus a new girl called Maya, dance, make mistakes, have parent issues and there is a giant pumpkin (part of the speech bubbles with missing text). We know the story, we know these people. Heck we might even be one of them. The feeling I get from what I was able to read is a combination of the humor of Nickelodeon/ToonNetwork and a hint of Sophie Labelle (not because of the subject matter, but the tone of the characters). However, two large "ehs" was first, at least two of the characters were less than likeable (they were a bit sarcastic and frankly, selfish) in a couple panels and second, while there is a little diversity with the dancers, overall the characters are not a diverse cast.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Graphic Novel
I received an electronic ARC from Papercutz.
The dancers are back for more adventures and fun. Readers meet Maya, a new girl in dance class who brings a very different approach. Her love is basketball and she finds ways to make dance a competitive team sport. We also see into the lives of other dancers as they move through school and home between classes. Plenty of humor and fun. The artwork captures the emotions and energy well.

[Engel Dreizehn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arc Copy...it's going to be another gag filled slice of life episode with the Dance Class crew.

[D.T. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of Maya's basketball gags got old but not a bad volume.