Being a Ballerina: The Power and Perfection of a Dancing Life - Softcover

Larsen, Gavin

  • 4.27 out of 5 stars
    164 ratings by Goodreads
 
9780813066899: Being a Ballerina: The Power and Perfection of a Dancing Life
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0813066891 ISBN 13: 9780813066899
Publisher: University Press of Florida, 2021

Synopsis

Finalist, the Arts Club of Washington Marfield Prize


A look inside a dancer’s world

Inspiring, revealing, and deeply relatable, Being a Ballerina is a firsthand look at the realities of life as a professional ballet dancer. Through episodes from her own career, Gavin Larsen describes the forces that drive a person to study dance; the daily balance that dancers navigate between hardship and joy; and the dancer’s continual quest to discover who they are as a person and as an artist.


Starting with her arrival as a young beginner at a class too advanced for her, Larsen tells how the embarrassing mistake ended up helping her learn quickly and advance rapidly. In other stories of her early teachers, training, and auditions, she explains how she gradually came to understand and achieve what she and her body were capable of.


Larsen then re-creates scenes from her experiences in dance companies, from unglamorous roles to exhilarating performances. Working as a ballerina was shocking and scary at first, she says, recalling unexpected injuries, leaps of faith, and her constant struggle to operate at the level she wanted—but full of enormously rewarding moments. Larsen also reflects candidly on her difficult decision to retire at age 35.

An ideal read for aspiring dancers, Larsen’s memoir will also delight experienced dance professionals and fascinate anyone who wonders what it takes to live a life dedicated to the perfection of the art form.

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About the Author

Gavin Larsen was a professional ballet dancer for 18 years before retiring in 2010. A principal dancer with the Oregon Ballet Theatre, she also danced with the Suzanne Farrell Ballet and Alberta Ballet and as a guest artist with Ballet Victoria. She has written for Pointe, Dance Teacher, Dance Spirit, Dancing Times, Oregon ArtsWatch, Dance/USA’s From the Green Room, the Maine Review, and The Threepenny Review, among others. She writes and teaches in Asheville, North Carolina.

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Publisher
University Press of Florida
Publication date
2021
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0813066891
ISBN 13 
9780813066899
Binding
Paperback
Edition number
1
Number of pages
272
Rating
  • 4.27 out of 5 stars
    164 ratings by Goodreads