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Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'
The Swans of Harlem: Five Black Ballerinas, Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and Their Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History by Karen Valby
1 review
morethanmylupus's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
I learned a lot about the history of Black ballerinas through this book. I'd never heard about the Dance Theatre of Harlem or its role in the Civil Rights Era. It was fascinating to learn about the Black ballerinas and I loved their dynamic and friendship - but it was so frustrating to see all the things they had to put up with. Arthur Mitchell was great but also frustrating. I appreciated Mitchell's wisdom, but the way he treated the ballerinas in pursuit of it was aggravating. How the ballerinas inspired young, Black dancers was my favorite part of the book!
Most of the videos I was able to find on YouTube were interviews with the ballerinas or videos of Mitchell dancing. I could only find pictures and no videos of the ballerinas dancing, which was disappointing. I think they added some depth and context to the story, but the story stood without them too.
I wish we'd come further as a society but we still have so many people who get riled up about the role of Black people in the arts. The way so many people lost their mind because Beyonce, a Texan, put out a Country Music album is absurd. Especially given so much of the Country Music genre is built on Black musical roots. In many ways, I think reading this book in the midst of that outrage really brought home the themes about the Swans of Harlem.
Most of the videos I was able to find on YouTube were interviews with the ballerinas or videos of Mitchell dancing. I could only find pictures and no videos of the ballerinas dancing, which was disappointing. I think they added some depth and context to the story, but the story stood without them too.
I wish we'd come further as a society but we still have so many people who get riled up about the role of Black people in the arts. The way so many people lost their mind because Beyonce, a Texan, put out a Country Music album is absurd. Especially given so much of the Country Music genre is built on Black musical roots. In many ways, I think reading this book in the midst of that outrage really brought home the themes about the Swans of Harlem.
A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs
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