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 wantedbut full of enormously rewarding moments. Larsen also reflects candidly on her difficult decision to retire at age 35.
An ideal read for aspiring dancers, Larsens 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.
Praise for Being a Ballerina:
There is power and perfection in this captivating memoir―the power of personal experience and the perfection of writing that carefully captures the life of a dancer. Larsen, now retired, was principal dancer with the Oregon Ballet and guest artist with Ballet Victoria; she also danced with Alberta Ballet and Suzanne Farrell Ballet. Before describing her many positions, however, Larsen starts with an account of her first class at the New York School of Ballet at age eight. She covers the years of study required for every dancer, and along the way introduces readers to memorable teachers and dancers and discusses the roles she inhabited and companies she worked for as a professional dancer. Appended to the memoir are essays on pointe shoes and how to dance with a partner, along with a list of places she has performed. VERDICT: Dancing full out means going all out during practice rather than saving energy for the performance. In this memoir Larsen is writing full out, and we are the lucky audience of her performance. Balletomanes, dance students, and aspiring dancers will applaud this absorbing account. ― Library Journal, Starred Review
This is the best book Ive ever read about becoming and being a dancer. Every word rings true. ― Robert Gottlieb, editor and dance critic
Larsen relates in great detail and remarkable prose how she became a ballerina. With her we enter a school. With her we enter a theater. With her we listen in the wings and rush out onto the stage, the destination of her desire, the music her guide. We read about the difficult training that must be mastered and the fragility of the body during the process of learning technique. We learn about the joy of performance. I loved reading it. ― Allegra Kent, former principal dancer, New York City Ballet
Being a Ballerina is available for purchase in print and ebook formats.
Book Information:
Being a Ballerina
The Power and Perfection of a Dancing Life
By Gavin Larsen
Publisher: University Press of Florida
Published: April 2021
ISBN: 978-0813066899 (print)
ISBN: 978-0813065953 (ebook)
ASIN: B08YKFGJ9F
Pages: 276
Genre: Memoir, Arts, Ballet
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/USAs From the Green Room, the Maine Review, and The Threepenny Review, among others. She writes and teaches in Asheville, North Carolina.
Contact:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Gavinalarsen
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GavinLarsenAuthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gavinalarsen/
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20717664.Gavin_Larsen
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Ballet, Art, Memoir, Being a Ballerina,Gavin Larsen, University Press of Florida, BookBuzz
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