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beths0103's review
5.0
"Beautiful ballerina, you are the dance...
You dance madness and sadness, fairies, love, betrayal.
You plant enchantment on the planet with every step."
A beautiful poem full of stunning photos of dancers from the Dance Theater of Harlem. Even though they are photographs, it looks and feels like you are watching a full-on dance performance.
You dance madness and sadness, fairies, love, betrayal.
You plant enchantment on the planet with every step."
A beautiful poem full of stunning photos of dancers from the Dance Theater of Harlem. Even though they are photographs, it looks and feels like you are watching a full-on dance performance.
readaloud_mom's review
slow-paced
1.75
Ugh, this is what I get for not buying #OwnVoices. The photos of young Black ballerinas are indeed beautiful. But the text seemed really objectifying to me? And also boring? In between some very odd stuff like "You wear the slave's genes with nobility", the poem pretty much spends a lot of time just repeating "Beautiful ballerina, you are the dance" over and over.
There is a page in the back of the book, naming each of the four girls who were photographed and sharing a little about them; my White preschooler remembered their names and spent some time ignoring the text in favor of telling me stories about the older girls encouraging and helping the younger ones with their dancing, so that was worth something, I guess.
There is a page in the back of the book, naming each of the four girls who were photographed and sharing a little about them; my White preschooler remembered their names and spent some time ignoring the text in favor of telling me stories about the older girls encouraging and helping the younger ones with their dancing, so that was worth something, I guess.
debnanceatreaderbuzz's review
4.0
With beautiful pictures and beautiful words, Beautiful Ballerina presents the beautiful story of those who dance at the Dance Theatre of Harlem. The text is concise and the photographs used to illustrate the text eloquently depict the beautiful movement that is ballet.
In a word: beautiful.
A little:
“To the traditions of port de bras and
arabesque, of pirouettes,
jetes, and pas de deux,
you bring a tiny hint of Africanness,
juju and beautiful joy danced in your every move.
Beautiful ballerina,
you are the dance.”
In a word: beautiful.
A little:
“To the traditions of port de bras and
arabesque, of pirouettes,
jetes, and pas de deux,
you bring a tiny hint of Africanness,
juju and beautiful joy danced in your every move.
Beautiful ballerina,
you are the dance.”
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