Turning Pointe

How a New Generation of Dancers Is Saving Ballet from Itself

Turning Pointe
Chloe Angyal
RRP:
NZ$ 49.99
Our Price:
NZ$ 39.99
Hardback
h235 x 152mm - 304pg
13 May 2021 US
International import eta 7-19 days
9781645036708
Out Of Stock
Currently no stock in-store, stock is sourced to your order
Every day, in dance studios all across America, millions of little girls line up at the barre and take ballet class. Their time in the studio shapes their lives, instilling lessons about gender, power, the value of their bodies and minds, and their place in the world both in and outside of dance. In Turning Pointe, journalist Chloe Angyal captures the intense love for ballet that so many dancers feel, while also grappling with its shortcomings: the power imbalance of an art form performed mostly by women, but dominated by male choreographers and ballet masters, the impossible standards of beauty and thinness, and the racism that pervades ballet. A new generation of dancers is confronting these issues head on. If ballet is going to survive the 21st century and forge a path into a more socially just future, this reckoning is essential.
"Turning Pointe: How a New Generation of Dancers is Saving Ballet from Itself is a painstaking, and often painful, assessment of the troubling racialized, gendered, and classed lessons of classical ballet. Angyal' s sharp analysis invites us to wonder how ballet might expand if it did not require broken toes, torn ligaments, starving dancers, or pink tights. This is the book for all of us who loved ballet but found it did not love us back. " --Melissa Harris-Perry, Maya Angelou Presidential Chair at Wake Forest University and cohost of System Check "A vigorously reported critique of common policies and practices in the ballet world. "--Kirkus Reviews "The best art is not an escape for the audience, but a journey. It uses beauty incisively, and that is what Chloe Angyal' s writing does. In her essential observations about her beloved ballet, she reminds us of the necessity of thinking critically, especially about that which we love the most. "--Jamil Smith, journalist and contributor to Believe Me "There' s no question: Turning Pointe is a groundbreaking book that stands to shift the nature of ballet as we know it. The depth of reporting is astounding, inspiring, and necessary: Chloe Angyal doesn' t just explore ballet, she examines it, holding up magnifying glasses and mirrors to the inequities and systemic issues that have persisted for too long, the innovation unfolding in studios and on stages, and the shattering of rigid tradition that today' s ballet can' t let stand. With Angyal' s obvious passion for the art form and thoughtful, immersive conversations with sources from across the ballet world at the heart of this book, Turning Pointe is a must-read for any current or former dancer, dance parent, or individual who is interested in a vibrant, inclusive future of a classical art form. Turning Pointe reads like a reckoning--one that can truly change ballet for the better. "--Rainesford Stauffer, author of An Ordinary Age "This is the book I desperately needed as a teenage ballerina, when I mistakenly thought there was something wrong with me rather than ballet' s culture. Having read it, I want to buy copies for every aspiring dancer, as well as the gatekeepers who most need to read it. Angyal reports with urgency and precision about what draws young dancers to ballet, and how it needs to change to keep them there. Turning Pointe is a long-overdue reckoning for an art form that excludes and injures its dancers as much as it dazzles them. "--Ellen O' Connell Whittet, author of What You Become in Flight
Chloe Angyal is a journalist from Sydney, Australia. She is a contributing editor at MarieClaire. com and her writing about politics and culture has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Atlantic, Guardian, and New York Magazine. She holds a BA from Princeton and a PhD in arts and media from the University of New South Wales. She lives in the Iowa City area.
Status: Active
ISBN-13: 9781645036708
Published: 13 May 2021
Published In: United States
Imprint: Bold Type Books
Publisher: Bold Type Books
Format: Hardback
Height: 235mm
Width: 152mm
Pages: 304

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