Pirouette: Ballet Stories: Ballet Stories

by Harriet Castor

Themes such as friendship, rivalry, disappointment, and success run through these tales about dance and dancers. There are autobiographical contributions from famous prima ballerinas such as Margot Fonteyn, as well as stories by popular writers such as Cynthia Voigt, Noel Streatfeild, and Michelle Magorian. This artfully chosen anthology will delight any dancer or fan of the ballet.

Genres: Short Stories

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Harriet 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.

Reviews

[onysha · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of stories directly and loosely related to ballet. Entertaining at best.

Two of the selections were memoirs of famous ballerinas, the rest were fiction. Best ones are "Rehearsal Revenge," "Pulling Up the Old Socks," "Ugly Feet are Beautiful," "Wartime Ballet," and "Pauline Learns a Lesson." Both the memoirs, "Pulling Up the Old Socks" and "Wartime Ballet," are the best bits. "Rehearsal Revenge" is fun but immature. "Ugly Feet are Beautiful" is a feel trip. "Pauline Learns a Lesson" is an excerpt from Noel Streatfield's famous Ballet Shoes. The excerpt doesn't have much to do with ballet, but it was better written than the other stories. The memorable ones are only about a third of the book.

The other two-thirds are dull, unmemorable, or ridiculously saccharine. Otherwise, they have very little to do with ballet and left me scratching my head wondering why they got into this book. I understand the need for variety, but the selection could've been more on topic. The chosen stories could've been better executed as well.

An okay compendium for *young* ballerinas or ballet fans. I don't do ballet and never have but I found the book somewhat enjoyable. My younger sister, who does ballet, found it mostly dumb. I think that says a lot. The memorable ones are all excerpts of books, apparently. Might as well go look for the books themselves.

[Muphyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a good mix of short ballet stories though I didn't find all suited to children as some had more of an adult focus (e.g. "Pulling Up the Old Socks" or "Wartime Ballet").

Individual ratings...
Samantha and Lizinka ★★
Rehearsal Revenge ★★
Pulling Up the Old Socks ★★★
Lucy Jane and the Russian Ballett ★★
Ugly Feet are Beautiful ★★★
Summer Camp ★★★★
The Greatest ★★★
Wartime Ballet ★★★
Swan Mother ★★
A Proper Little Nooryeff ★★★
And Olly did too ★★★
Grace ★★★★
Trouble with Salvatore ★★
Maybe next year ★★★
Pauline learns a lesson ★★★

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's really for kids, but who cares? This is a collection of short stories and excerps from novels chosen by Harriet Castor, author of the Ballerina series. Each is an inspiring story of children falling in love with dance for the first time, or realizing they want to dedicate their lives to becoming professional dancers. It's a great book for anyone who enjoyed dance classes as a child.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a dancer I really enjoyed a lot of these stories. A couple of them were not as good as others and didnt keep my interest as much, but ballet books are hard to come by! Overal, a good, quick read for dancers of any age.

[Dani 🌙]

I read this a long time ago but I hardly remember how I liked it or anything so I'm not giving a rating.

September 11, 2013: Since it was so long ago, I decided to pick up this short collection! With the return of my dance classes, I felt like reading this again.