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A review by kaelaceleste
Turning Pointe: How a New Generation of Dancers Is Saving Ballet from Itself by Chloe Angyal
4.0
Absolutely loved the content of this book. There are so many issues with classical ballet as an organization that are outlined here in no uncertain detail. SO MANY things in ballet are done just because “they’ve always been that way” and it’s nice to see them called out by people who are doing so because they love the art form and want it to continue. It was cool to see ballet from a series of different lenses that I hadn’t considered before, as both a dancer and audience member. I particularly enjoyed the chapters exploring race and gender identity in ballet and the one about “ballet moms” also hit home. Ultimately I highlighted way too much in this book (read them here if you want) and there were so many pieces that resonated with me.
However as much as I loved the overall themes and ideas shared here, I can’t help but feel this book could have used one more round of edits. It was pretty repetitive at times and sort of jumped all over the place. It felt like the pieces were put together out of order so some ideas were introduced more than once, and they didn’t always seem to fit. I also sort of felt like it couldn’t decide which tone it was going for in terms of who the expected reader would be. In some places, ballet terms are explained in detail for the uninitiated, but in other places there are references made to shows, steps and other ballet tingz that the average person would be clueless about.
The entire last chapter about the effects of covid on various dancers was also really interesting to me… I’m sure it felt timely and topical when this was published and it’s kinda weird to read it now knowing that I can go look at these dancers’ Instagrams and see how things turned out (and trust that I did). In some ways it felt inspiring now, because in real time I can see that ballet bounced back and we’re doing ok in a semi-post-covid world. But I’m really glad I didn’t read this at the height of the pandemic when we thought we would never get to go to live shows again because it probably would have sent me spiraling lmao
In the end this book made me feel very grateful to have returned to ballet as an adult with a new outlook and mindset than when I was young. I understand now how to be critical of something that I love because I love it and want it to be better. And it really feels like some positive changes are happening, even if it takes a while or people are resistant, and I’m hopeful for what’s to come. Reading this also made me feel SO happy and grateful to dance at a studio that has been so non-judgmental and welcoming. My experience coming back to ballet has been even more positive than it was as a kid and I’m just so SO happy to be doing something I love again. I also feel really lucky to have a local professional ballet company that celebrates diversity in terms of dancers, choreographers and shows more than a LOT of companies out there.
And also I have to note that I came out of this book with MANY new books, films, and Instagram follows. I literally screenshotted the references page so I could go look everything up later lol
I did not anticipate writing this much lol but overall I really enjoyed this book. Not sure I would recommend it to everybody, but I think anyone with a vested interest in ballet in a modern setting would get a lot out of the read like I did.
However as much as I loved the overall themes and ideas shared here, I can’t help but feel this book could have used one more round of edits. It was pretty repetitive at times and sort of jumped all over the place. It felt like the pieces were put together out of order so some ideas were introduced more than once, and they didn’t always seem to fit. I also sort of felt like it couldn’t decide which tone it was going for in terms of who the expected reader would be. In some places, ballet terms are explained in detail for the uninitiated, but in other places there are references made to shows, steps and other ballet tingz that the average person would be clueless about.
The entire last chapter about the effects of covid on various dancers was also really interesting to me… I’m sure it felt timely and topical when this was published and it’s kinda weird to read it now knowing that I can go look at these dancers’ Instagrams and see how things turned out (and trust that I did). In some ways it felt inspiring now, because in real time I can see that ballet bounced back and we’re doing ok in a semi-post-covid world. But I’m really glad I didn’t read this at the height of the pandemic when we thought we would never get to go to live shows again because it probably would have sent me spiraling lmao
In the end this book made me feel very grateful to have returned to ballet as an adult with a new outlook and mindset than when I was young. I understand now how to be critical of something that I love because I love it and want it to be better. And it really feels like some positive changes are happening, even if it takes a while or people are resistant, and I’m hopeful for what’s to come. Reading this also made me feel SO happy and grateful to dance at a studio that has been so non-judgmental and welcoming. My experience coming back to ballet has been even more positive than it was as a kid and I’m just so SO happy to be doing something I love again. I also feel really lucky to have a local professional ballet company that celebrates diversity in terms of dancers, choreographers and shows more than a LOT of companies out there.
And also I have to note that I came out of this book with MANY new books, films, and Instagram follows. I literally screenshotted the references page so I could go look everything up later lol
I did not anticipate writing this much lol but overall I really enjoyed this book. Not sure I would recommend it to everybody, but I think anyone with a vested interest in ballet in a modern setting would get a lot out of the read like I did.