Dances

by Nicole Cuffy

A provocative and lyrical debut novel follows a trailblazing Black ballerina who must reconcile the ever-rising stakes of her grueling career with difficult questions of love, loss, and her journey to self-liberation, from a sensuous new voice in fiction.

At twenty-two years old, Cece Cordell reaches the pinnacle of her career as a ballet dancer when she’s promoted to principal at the New York City Ballet. She’s instantly catapulted into celebrity, heralded for her “inspirational” role as the first Black ballerina in the famed company’s history. Even as she celebrates the achievement of a lifelong dream, Cece remains haunted by the feeling that she doesn’t belong. As she waits for some feeling of rightness that doesn’t arrive, she begins to unravel the loose threads of her past—an absent father, a pragmatic mother who dismisses Cece’s ambitions, and a missing older brother who stoked her childhood love of ballet but disappeared to deal with his own demons.

Soon after her promotion, Cece is faced with a choice that has the potential to derail her career and shatter the life she's cultivated for herself, sending her on a pilgrimage to both find her brother and reclaim the parts of herself lost in the grinding machinery of the traditional ballet world.

Written with spellbinding beauty and ballet's precise structure, Dances centers women, art, power, and how we come to define freedom for ourselves.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Adult, Adult Fiction, Audiobook, Race

288 pages, Hardcover

First published May 16, 2023

Reviews

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dances by Nicole Cuffy is heavy on ballet’s technical terms but is still a captivating debut.

Cece Cordell has worked extremely hard to reach the New York City Ballet. After stepping in for an injured dancer and performing flawlessly, Cece gets promoted to principal, becoming the first Black ballerina in the company. Overnight, she turns into a celebrity with all the perks. Meanwhile, Cece begins working even harder to prove to herself that she belongs at this prestigious dance company.

She also fiercely misses her older brother, who was her first supporter but disappeared years ago.

This literary fiction novel is a quick and interesting read.

Usually, when I read a book that focuses on a particular skill, I enjoy it when the author describes it in a way that does not assume any prior knowledge. Here, Nicole Cuffy does not do that. There are oodles of technical ballet terminology and next to no explanation; however, it did not negatively impact my reading experience. I just visualized the dancers leaping and twirling. But it may be an issue for some readers.

It discusses the restrictive lifestyle many ballet dancers take up. It also touches on Cece’s experience as a Black woman in a historically white industry.

Overall, this was a compelling debut, and I will keep a lookout for future releases by the author.

Thank you to One World for providing an arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

https://booksandwheels.com

[BookOfCinz · Rating 4 out of 5]

When was the last time you read a book centered on a Black ballerina? Yea…. A long time!

In Dances we are introduced to twenty-two year old Cece Cordell who was recently promoted to the principal at the New York City Ballet. Cece grew up in with a non-existent father, a mother who saw ballet as something trivial and a brother who worked hard in helping her get to where she is today. From a very young age, all Cece wanted to do was dance and she did everything to make it possible.

After filling in for a dancer Cece was quickly promoted and pushed into stardom as the first Black Ballerina principle. She is at a weird space in her career, and with the stardom comes guilt, regret and questions of what could have been. She is no longer in contact with her brother, and misses him so much she sets out to find him. She thinks about her Black Ballerina body all the time and wonders what will happen if it fails her…

Here are my thoughts on this book:

I loved reading about a Black Ballet dancers and what it took to reach the pinnacle of her success. I think the writer did an amazing job of walking us through that. It felt believable and was very engaging to read about.

Cece is a character you want to see win in everything and I think its because of how much heart she’s got, fighting against all odds and being a Black woman in a very white space- this was explored expertly.

For once I am going to say, I wish we had an additional 50 pages to explore her family dynamics. I felt it was presented but never truly explored. Why was the mother like that? Why didn’t the brother stay? Is she really friends with those people? I felt it was very one-dimensional.
If you are fascinated by ballet culture, I think this book does a great job of exploring the ins and outs of it. I learned so much!

Overall, I can see this being a favorite for many! I really enjoyed reading it!

[Shawnaci Schroeder · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 ⭐️
- You’ll love this book if you’re a dancer or have been in dance in the past! The author really hits hard on how hard it can be to navigate the world of dance especially as a black woman. It touches on how much pressure there can be, how hard it can be to follow your dreams, and all the unexpected things that come with having big dreams.
- There was a lot of technical dance lingo so it will be the perfect read for a dancer, but since I haven’t danced in years I was lost with some of the terms. Would have loved a mini glossary to go through all the dance lingo I wasn’t familiar with when reading. Would have loved a little more dialogue within the story too.
- The story had so many unexpected things that popped up outside of the dance realm which kept the story really moving! I was so invested! Love how it really shows that life keeps going, even when we have big goals.

[Morgan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can’t believe I read this book to the end.

Main character is Celine (Cece) and I was initially led to believe this was the story of “the first Black ballerina at City Ballet” but then Misty Copeland is later mentioned which confused me. Maybe because they were of different ballet companies? Yes, I know Cece is a fictional character but why refer to her as the ‘first’ at all.

I was distracted by the detailed technical ballet terminology which I thought was overmuch.
I took ballet as a child but that was long ago so much of the terminology went over my head.

All Cece’s relationships are a big mess. Her boyfriend is a fellow dancer but he’s a jerk and that all goes to hell. She has a strained relationship with her mother who gives her no encouragement at all. Her brother used to encourage her until he disappeared due to drugs.

I was put off with how Cece is obsessed with her body image. Even for a dancer I think it sends a very bad message. When on page 40 she tells us “Perfection is my goal” I cringe. Another bad message. Add to that abortion and drug use.

I hate being the one to give a low rating to a debut novel but I was hoping for more of a story not a description of every ballet step known to man and a young girl obsessed with her body image and all the other unpleasant subjects. I don’t know what the point of the book was supposed to be.

I hope this book should never reach a YA audience.

[Taylor | ePub Princess · Rating 2 out of 5]

What this book lacks in plot, it makes up for in never ending, extremely detailed and technical ballet descriptions. I’m talking about move for move, jump for jump. The author doesn’t miss a single plié or arabesque. She describes every turn and every leap. It’s incredibly tedious. By the last chapter, I was skimming. I’m imagining the author envisioned this beautiful ballet in her head and tried her best to describe the choreography, but it just doesn’t work. Even worse, readers that aren’t familiar with ballet terms will have no idea what’s going on.
The story is about a black ballet dancer named Celine who becomes famous and successful. And that’s about it. There’s a subplot about her older brother’s drug addiction and disappearance that is never really resolved. And of course, Celine is constantly aware of her blackness in the white world of ballet. But it never seems to affect her? There’s a part where she says she’d love to wear her natural hair but she can’t because her skin is already wrong and she can’t afford to have the wrong hair. This is actually such a disgusting, self-loathing point of view and we never really acknowledge it. (And it turns out not to even be true! She gets braids later in the book and everyone loves them!)
Celine’s friends and romantic interest are all white. She has nothing good to say about blackness and is completely out of touch with black culture. But the author never acknowledges that either. It was hard to root for such an unlikeable protagonist. The fact that she was black really didn’t seem to matter. Celine is constantly referred to as a ballet prodigy and success comes easily, no conflict there. So what is this book about? Mild spoilers: an unplanned pregnancy. That’s basically it. I was really let down by this book and didn’t feel like Celine’s character develops or changes at all by the end of the book. It’s so frustrating to get to the end of a book and wonder what the point was.

[Aya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicole Cuffy captured the life of a black ballerina beautifullly, the hard work, resilience and discipline. Due to her skin color, Celine had to prove and push herself more.

Ballet was the backbone of this book so Nicole Cuffy spent a lot of time describing it. I enjoyed the technical side and it didn't put me off. I knew nothing about the dance but I felt I attended a ballet performance and I had the best time of my life.

4 stars, Nicole Cuffy built this book on ballet but she presented us a talented young woman who had had to make tough decisions since she was a kid. The writing was captivating even though this is a debut.

[Liralen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cece is a dancer—it's all she's ever wanted to be, and at 22 she's poised to shatter barriers as the first Black principal dancer at NYCB. But even as her professional life is taking off, her personal life is getting murkier, as Cece wrestles with the future of her romantic relationship and where she and her mother and brother fall with each other.

If nothing else this book set in the dance world is full of just that: dance. Details about steps and rehearsals and muscles popping and sore toes. This is not the book for you if you want ballet to be the background while romance or something else is at the forefront; it is the book for you if you want a novel that is about ballet in the sense that it is what the main character lives for, and what she is happiest thinking about and doing. I am, uncoordinated non-dancer that I am, oddly fond of dance books, so this was right up my alley—lots of time in the studio, lots of ironing out kinks, lots of steps and sweat and minute details.

There is nonetheless quite a bit of interpersonal conflict and to-do, but I like the line that Dances is toeing between, well, drama and lack of drama. There are quite a lot of ways in which this could get Dramatic, but I find it more interesting—and Cece more likable, if that matters—that she's pretty calm about things, pretty measured, even when things get difficult or she doesn't like an outcome.

Cuffy more or less opts out of recent real-world conversations about abuse in the dance world (including at NYCB), but there is a consistent through-thread of what it means for Cece to be Black in a field (not just ballet but classical ballet) that has not traditionally been accepting of performers who are not lily-white: not just that she is held to different standards, but that she's constantly held up against a single other successful Black ballerina. For a very long time the vast majority of the fiction, too, about ballet has been about white girls and women, and it's nice to see that changing—even if it might be a while before the real version of NYCB catches up.

Not everything is tied up with a bow here. I'd have liked more resolution with Cece's family, and I'm very curious about Irine's company...enough so that I'm wondering whether there might eventually be a related book focusing on her, but maybe that's just me daydreaming about more dance books?

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s always a privilege to get an inside glimpse of a rarefied world, and to see people at work, especially in a field that requires single-mindedness and self-discipline. Cuffy’s debut novel focuses on 22-year-old Celine Cordell, who becomes the first Black female principal in the New York City Ballet. Cece marvels at the distance between her Brooklyn upbringing – a single mother and drug-dealing older brother, Paul – and her new identity as a celebrity who has brand endorsements and gets stopped on the street for selfies.

Even though Kaz, the director, insists that “Dance has no race,” Cece knows it’s not true. (And Kaz in some ways exaggerates her difference, creating a role for her in a ballet based around Gullah folklore from South Carolina.) Cece has always had to work harder than the others in the company to be accepted:

Ballet has always been about the body. The white body, specifically. So they watched my Black body, waited for it to confirm their prejudices, grew ever more anxious as it failed to do so, again and again.

A further complication is her relationship with Jasper, her white dance partner. It’s an open secret in the company that they’re together, but to the press they remain coy. Cece’s friends Irine and Ryn support her through rocky times, and her former teachers, Luca and Galina, are steadfast in their encouragement. Late on, Cece’s search for Paul, who has been missing for five years, becomes a surprisingly major element. While the sibling bond helps the novel stand out, I most enjoyed the descriptions of dancing. All of the sections and chapters are titled after ballet terms, and even when I was unfamiliar with the vocabulary or the music being referenced, I could at least vaguely picture all the moves in my head. It takes real skill to render other art forms in words. I’ll look forward to following Cuffy’s career.

Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.

[Lulu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one. The story is character driven and Cece is one heck of a character! She’s made history as the first black ballerina in the New York City Ballet’s history. Her story of getting there is very raw and realistic, as she struggles to identify who she is as a person, not just a dancer. The story is beautifully written with the prose giving off a poetic vibe as it describes, in technical detail, the different ballets performed. This was quite an emotional read for me.

[luce (cry bebè's back from hiatus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

review to come

[Kenzie | kenzienoelle.reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

I never enjoy writing a negative review but it’s even worse when it’s a debut☹️ But I want to be honest about my personal thoughts always!

I loved the premise of this book. I’ve loved ballet and ballerinas since I was a little girl and a story centering on a 22 year old, Black ballerina in the ballet world sounded right up my alley! Unfortunately, there are many things that didn’t work for me personally in this book. This book felt like a YA book both in its writing style and with how the characters were portrayed. The characters felt so one dimensional and I wanted the story to really go there and tackle the themes of the book head on but it never did.

There was also a big part of the book that centered on the main character’s brother and his struggles with drugs, and that whole storyline just never got fully resolved or fleshed out for me.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dances, which follows Cece, a young Black woman who becomes the first Black female principal at the New York City Ballet, is one of several novels on the Carol Shields Prize longlist that foreground a sister’s painful relationship with her rebellious, frequently absent brother/s (the other two are Brotherless Night and Between Two Moons). In Cece’s case, her older brother Paul, a talented visual artist, is the centre of her emotional world: he provided the encouragement and, initially, the financial backing for her to study ballet when her mother believed it to be a waste of time because of the innate racism of dance companies. But when the novel opens, he’s been missing for five years after becoming a drug addict. Now all Cece has left is her art.

The ballet books I devoured as a child always featured young white girls who were innately gifted and sailed relatively effortlessly to the top; in contrast, contemporary ballet books aimed at adults, with the very honourable exception of Meg Howrey’s The Cranes Dance, tend to play into Ambitious Women Meet Bad Ends, starring white women who invariably give up ballet because it is toxic and bad for them. Dances is a refreshing counter-balance. Nicole Cuffy explores Cece’s difficult relationship with ballet, her body, and the societal oppression she faces as a Black woman, but also lets her continue to love to dance. As Cece reflects, the relationship between her and ballet is fundamentally different because she is Black: ‘I was always so adamant about classical ballet. Not contemporary. Not jazz. A rebellion. An insistence that Black women can be ethereal too. That we don’t always have to be drawn in bold lines. Paul never drew me in bold lines. Always thin, intricate strokes, a precise kind of chaos’. This is in some ways, a conventional novel, but it’s also quietly moving.

Thanks so much to Nicole Magas at Zgstories for sourcing a free copy of this book from the publisher for me.

[Lauren Hopkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is incredible, storytelling at its finest, and a true work of literary art. Hands-down the best fictional ballet story I've ever read, by someone who knows what they're talking about and can share the experience in a way where they're not simply explaining the steps and the movements, but really making you feel what it means to dance. The author also literally crafts an entire ballet for a fictional premiere headlined by our protagonist, Cece, and I need it to exist in real life because it sounds fucking brilliant. It's been a long time since I've felt this way about basically any fiction, but this book left me in awe. Stunning work.

[Shamiram · Rating 4 out of 5]

all the layers of ambiguous loss...

[Lydia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am having trouble putting into words the connection I felt to this book. I picked it up because of clsc, and because the description felt so important to me having grown up with the dance studio and big name dancers (from these same big companies) being part of my life. I pictured the rehearsals in the dance studio, and performances on the amphitheater stage. also Kaz, who had such an important role in Cece’s life, reminded me of some of the teachers at the dance studio who have watched me grow up, even though they didn’t teach me to dance. icing on the cake was reading the entire thing from my chautauqua porch :)

okay the story itself. the way that such important topics were approached - race, body image, family dynamics, romantic relationships and friendships, among others - as they related to dance were so captivating. I found myself feeling defensive over Cece in the challenging pieces of her story, and so proud of/happy for her during her successes. I’ll say it for this book too, I think my review should be taken with a grain of salt because I think the ties I didn’t expect to feel to this story definitely swayed my experience in a positive way. but also! I think that approaching these topics in a unique story setting like this can be a cool experience for anyone!

I would also like for everyone to know that I typed a review out and accidentally DELETED it so if this doesn’t make sense I’m sorry I’ll proofread it later maybe but probably not

[Lauren Fanella · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75⭐️

[Qua'Tesha Ratliff · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book about a black principal ballerina! Yes! Yes! Yes! I loved all the ballet terms! This book my trigger some ppl with the mention of drug abuse and abortions.

She had to work so hard to get noticed but she succeeded! I wanted more though! I wanted to learn more about her family dynamics. Like did her brother return? Why was her mother the way she was?

What happened next! The other dancers in the company, were they really her friends.

What will Cece do now? Hopefully we can get more in a followup book!

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a ballet book! I had moments of loving this book and moments of being so bored by it. The prose isn't necessarily spectacular, so I struggled in portions of it (and I originally DNF'd this a third way through in summer 2023). But, I actually really respect the decisions made with the ending by Cuffy & I really grew to love the world of this novel.

3.5

[Ally Ang · Rating 3 out of 5]

VERY mixed feelings on this one. The writing was beautiful, although it relied heavily on technical ballet terms that sometimes went over my head. I enjoyed the subtlety of the plot and character development—there were no easy resolutions at the end of this book, but the MC’s personal growth was effective and moving. I also had a lot of difficulty reading about the MC’s internalized fatphobia, body dysmorphia, and disordered eating. Obviously the world of classical ballet is rife with all of these things and I appreciated how the book addressed these issues through the lens of anti-Blackness and white supremacy, but it was upsetting to read the MC constantly obsessing over her body in unhealthy ways and rarely being challenged on it, either by herself or the other characters. It just goes to show how normalized fatphobia is, especially within the ballet world, but I think that aspect of the book could’ve been handled with a lot more nuance.

[goldenbookhunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the idea of reading about a character who becomes the first Black ballerina in the New York City Ballet. I didn’t find myself super into the story like I hoped I would be, but I liked Cece’s determination. The parts about her brother took up more of the story than I think was necessary. Overall, an ok story.

Thank you NetGalley and One World for the eARC!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you @lydia for reviewing this incredible book and causing me to read it. I could stare off into oblivion and think about this story for hours.

[Marie Ryon · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Color: Two of the most complicated applications of the color theory they teach you in art school are blackness and skin. Blackness absorbs the visible spectrum and does not deign to reflect it back. It is not, itself, on the visible spectrum. Most of what you think is black cannot, in fact, be so. Painting blackness is an exercise in light and shadow, value and hue. And skin is never what we call it - white, black, olive, tan. It is a cacophony of color that must be built. A rainbow is also a cacophony of color. He'd always thought it was an oversimplification to say that race is about the color of one's skin. Take that away - be a rainbow - and they'd just hate you for your nose instead. Your lips. The way you spoke. The way you danced."

[Anna Vanisko · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was definitely great to read a book about a dancer because dance is such an important part of my life (and this book was released on my birthday two years ago) but this book was heavy on the ballet terms and it moved a bit slowly and just did not go in the direction I was expecting at all

[This Kooky Wildflower Loves a Little Tea and Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a captivating debut! While I wasn't sure of all the technical ballet terms, the story centered at its heart asks for no knowledge of them. Celine works as a catalyst into the world of ballet and the world outside, tugging from both ends of the rope.

This story's a coming-of-age must-read! 4/5

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of this book really intrigued me, and parts were enjoyable but overall I found myself wanting more.

I am not a dancer, so I needed to skip over many technical ballet terms - this didn’t bother me too much, I know that dancers probably appreciate these scenes much more than I did, but it’s something to note. The part that did bother me were the random art theories (or definitions?) that were inserted in the chapter from her brothers pov. It was such a change in narration and didn’t add much to the story. I wish parts of these were included as thoughts he had or rehearsed to himself instead. To me, they felt out of place and I ended up skimming them to get back to the story.

Generally this was a slow read, and fell a bit short for me. Though I did enjoy Cece’s determination and this peak inside a dancers world, I wanted to be inside her head more when she finally embraced her role as a role model and trailblazer. This felt rushed at the end, though I did enjoy seeing the change in her.

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

[KP | The Booktrovert Lounge · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this story! I've been dancing basically my whole life so this story appealed to me from the start. I could relate to the relationship between Cece and her mother. This story brought back so many dance memories for me and emotions surrounding my dance life. I do think that if you do not have a dance background, this may be a difficult read. The dance scenes were very detailed, using lots of ballet terminology and there were A LOT of dance scenes. I personally enjoyed them but I feel that someone that doesn't understand ballet might skip over them. I also feel there was no real plot, more charcter driven which isn't a dealbreaker for me. This was an amazing story that touched me in a way a book never has before.

Thank you to Netgalley and One World for this ARC!!

[Elaine Esan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you Nicole Cuffy and Random House for this book. The writing is excellent, but I really had to push myself to finish the book. The step by step ballet moves and the attention to minute details made this a tedious read. I appreciate the plot and the hardships, that Cece encountered both professional and with her family, and how hard she worked to achieve her dream. This book has a certain audience and I know that they will enjoy it.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably helps to be at least tangentially connected to the ballet world, as otherwise some passages of ballet combinations ("tombe, pas de bourree, glissade, saut de chat" etc.) might not mean anything. But I very much appreciated that the author did NOT fall into the obvious and would-have-been predictable plot line with regards to the central character's love relationship and career path. Made it a much more interesting (and true-to-life life) novel.

[Denise LaRosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Black ballerina, Cece Cordell, has arrived at the pinnacle of her career, but her journey was anything but easy. Through familial and financial challenges, she’s managed to become a star in a predominantly white profession where your body, your appearance, is more than your identity, it’s your lifeline.

Intoxicating, lyrical, and compelling, debut author, Nicole Cuffy, masterfully crafts a story that immerses readers into the world of ballet. This is a novel for dancers, about a dancer, by a dancer. From the high-level use of ballet terminology, to the descriptive moments of a dancer’s physical pain and sacrifice, readers can absorb the emotions and ballet lifestyle with all of their five senses and imaginations. Impressively, Cuffy’s brilliance goes beyond the marley floors. She explores family drama and romance with intention and great care.

I was blown away by this book and immediately revisited my dancer days! Bravo Nicole Cuffy! Bravo!

[Didi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5


This started out as mostly good, nothing amazing, sort of the same as far as ballet books go except for the fact that not many of these books feature a BIPOC main character. The last quarter of the book was really starting to pick up and I liked Cece’s growth cause she was sort of annoying earlier but I’m angry at the ending because they left such a major thread mostly unexplored! We get a whole chapter from her estranged brother’s perspective and then all we get at the end is him going to her premiere and then leaving??? Without so much as saying hello??? It sort of makes sense for his character but it was really unsatisfying as an ending and Cece always could have spotted him leaving. So overall just a good story with some great and mediocre parts.