As someone who danced for 13 years (11 at a competitive school) I cannot emphasize enough how important this book is. Ballet and I had such a toxic relationship and it is so validating to have a book that shows how many of us have difficult relationships with dance (and in ways that are completely unnecessary to the art form.

The ballet world has long faced criticism for its lack of diversity, both in terms of race and body type. Turning Pointe explores the contemporary ballet world. She found that despite some progress in recent years, ballet remains overwhelmingly white and Eurocentric, with dancers who conform to a narrow ideal of physical beauty. This lack of diversity has a number of negative consequences, both for the art form itself and for the dancers who strive to participate in it. Angyal interviewed hundreds of dancers, former and current, and several administrators and choreographers and while she is critical, her love for ballet comes through. Angyal also explores ballet's future with a focus on increased diversity and inclusion. Wonderfully researched and insightful, Turning Pointe is a must read for all fans of the art.

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I found this book incredibly interesting the author really kept me hooked until the end. very well written I highly recommend.

3.5

"Turning Pointe" really takes a hard look at the dark side of ballet: the perfectionism expected (mentally, physically, emotionally), having a different look (being a POC, being short/tall, gaining weight), the lack of payment vs. the amount of time/money/energy spent, peaking early then looking for a way out, injuries, gender issues etc.. A real look at some of the ugliness that lies beneath the pink chiffon.

Angyal challenges the ballet community to tackle these outdated perspectives and face some of the social issues that are found within the ballet culture.
All in all, I haven't read any other ballet books like this; it was very well researched and a necessary spotlight... very informative.

I am excited to read Angyal's fictional book releasing in 2023.

Thank you to Netgalley for the digital arc & the lovely Christine for the physical copy.

*** I have received and read an E – ARC from NetGalley in exchange for honest feedback. All thoughts and opinions are my own.***

I wanted to love this book, but I just couldn’t do it.

I couldn’t get away from the lack of research done. Everyone Angyal spoke to supported her point of view, and never offered a different POV.

To sum it up, this book feels like the author said “The way ballet operates is bad and these people all agree with me”. Maybe that’s not true, but it is the feeling I received throughout the entirety of the book.

Book 8 of 2020

Read while listening to Giselle by Adolphe Adam

Turning Pointe by Chloe Angyal is not your typical ballet book. It’s not fictional, it’s not historical nor a biography. Instead, Angyal delves into the world of ballet as it is presently and it’s not always pretty pointe shoes and tutus. She digs deep into the inherit sexism of ballet because boys are prized little princes, while girls are a dime a dozen. But also the bullying that boys experience when they pursue their passion in dance. The racism that we all come to light last summer as our country was torn apart. She also talks about the injuries most dancers will inevitably experience as they push their bodies in ways most people can’t even begin to imagine.

This book gives people a real inside look that we don’t normally see beyond the curtains. I’m not a professional dancer and never will be, but I am still very much involved with the ballet world. We’re normally spoon fed how great dancers are and how bring in a company is glamorous. But here Angyal paints the whole picture. The hard work, the sweat, the tears and heartbreak dancers experience to achieve their dreams.

It also made me think about how troublesome the media paints the ballet world, shows like the new Tiny Pretty Things and Flesh and Bone or the classic Center Stage or the dark Black Swan. These aren’t realistic depictions of the ballet world with their stereotypes and twisted storylines. This book shows the reality and how ballet deeply rooted in tradition which can make an unhealthy environment for our current society.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. Hits shelves May 4th 2021

I liked the book just fine, but realized as I was reading it that I'm not the right audience for it. Not because I'm unconvinced--I agree with Angyal about the issues in ballet as they reflect society and its ills--but because it seemed old hat to me. I've simply already read enough on this topic. I would highly recommend this book to thoughtful parents of children starting to get serious about ballet, especially but not exclusively to parents of girls. I would also suggest it to teen dancers, who could connect well with the material at a critical stage of their development. Angyal has an engaging writing style and her analysis is spot on!

sadly, before i could download this title, netgalley took it off their catalog. that means i can’t review this one. HOWEVER, i will be checking in with my library to see if i can get a copy and review it that way

A thorough and incisive look at the history of ballet, as well as the future of the industry, Angyal does a fantastic job of giving a closer view of the forces and cultural hang ups of those that love and dance ballet.

I thought this book was really well-written, yet still very accessible. It has just enough history to help the reader understand the context of each issue presented, but mainly focused on the present day and where to go from here. I loved the wide range of people and places that were included in this book. It had people from all around the world of various ages, races, and genders. It seemed to me that the author really put in the work to include as many view points as possible, which I appreciated.
While I was never in ballet myself, I had friends who were very involved, and now as a parent I see friends of my family who are involved in this world. This gave me a new perspective. I think it will be especially interesting to see the changes in the next 5 years as dancers return to studios and productions. I do hope there will be some swift changes made, especially in the areas of racial and gender equity.
I also really appreciated the surprise of finding out this author is actually local to me. I look forward to reading more from her in the future.

I am a former ballerina, and I LOVED this book. I don't think you have to be a ballerina to love this, though. If you are a feminist, you will love this. This is a hard look at the ballet world that looking back, I'm glad I left without too many scars besides on my feet. It is so important this is being brought to light.

I can safely say that I am obsessed with this book. I learned so much and it made me think about ballet from angles I'd never considered. It was so thoughtful and thorough - perfect for this former dancer. I'd recommend this to anyone who has gone into a ballet class in their life.

“Ballet is sometimes described as an ephemeral art, a creation that vanishes as soon as it appears. But the harm it can do, as well as the enormous good, will endure.”
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I haven’t been in a dance class in years now, and I miss it. Somehow, even reading about the myriad problems within ballet made me think wistfully back on it. It also made me, not for the first time, grateful that I was never trying to seriously pursue ballet beyond what I needed for theatre and what I enjoyed for its own sake (although some of that lack of seriousness was because I knew, early on, that I’d never be the right ‘type’ - that even if I took ballet seriously, it didn’t take me seriously in return). Because those problems - covering the gamut from rampant eating disorders and mental health issues, to sexual harassment and abuse, to the physical demands on and deterioration of the dancer’s body, to institutionalized racism at every level - are real, and urgent, and desperately in need of addressing. ⁣
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Angyal’s work in Turning Pointe is clear, thoroughly researched and well-organized, and convincing. This is an eye-opening account, especially if you’re not very embedded in the ballet world yourself, as well as a timely one (I’m glad the timing worked out so that she was able to explore some of the ways in which the pandemic has affected, for better or worse, many of the issues under discussion). And it’s clear throughout that Angyal loves ballet - as do the many dancers, doctors, choreographers, and dance parents interviewed in the book. It’s precisely because of that love that they demand change. “Ballet has survived for centuries because hundreds of thousands of people decided that it should.” And if it is to survive for centuries more, it needs to evolve. ⁣
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Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Type Books for the advance review copy!⁣
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"Dance is the hidden language of the soul." - Martha Graham

Ballet dancing is an art form. Who took ballet as a child? Not me, I wanted to. I begged to have ballet lessons, but my mother put me in hula dancing instead. But thousands of little girls have taken ballet. It takes discipline, time, dedication, perseverance, money, commitment, and strength. More women than me dance ballet but it is a male dominated by men. Who has not heard of Mikhail Baryshnikov?

But in such a beautiful art form there are issues that come up - race, class, power imbalance, high standards of beauty, and gender/gender rules. Ballet consists of rigid rules. How have these rules hold up over time? If Ballet is going to continue to be relevant, it needs to change, adapt and evolve. A new generation of dancer is out there. A generation that wants ballet to coincide with the modern world.

"...you can't dance forever, so you'd better dance while you can." - Fadeley Veyette

This book is about the love of dance. Various dancers share their stories of dancing through pain, of being told to butch up, to allow their bodies to be touched, that their body does not look right, they tell of lack of diversity in ballet, they share how males do not have to follow the strict rules that women do, men share their thoughts and concerns about wearing tights. But they also talk about their passion for dance. How they feel free when they move. How important dance is to them. How dance has shaped their lives.

"If you are going to have the guts to dream, you have to have the guts to pay the price." - Suzanne Farrell

There is also a risk of dancing - injury. Dancing through pain is common. Training is gruesome. There are physical demands. It is costly to admit to being injured - many do not have health insurance, some fear losing a job, plus as they say, "The show must go on.".

This is an informative book, and I enjoyed the firsthand accounts from various dancers. They love what they do but they also point out a need for change. This new wave of dancers are the future of ballet and hopefully they can save this artform and change the way dancers are trained and treated.

Expertly researched, well written and informative. Fans of dance will love this.


Thank you to Bold Type Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

DNF. I really liked the premise but the writing did not work for me at all. It wouldn't be fair to the book if I finished reading and gave it a low rating.

As Angyal said in a recent interview with Dance Magazine, Turning Pointe is about “everything wrong with ballet and how we can fix it.”

Angyal frames ballet as both a product and reflection of our society. She breaks down how issues of gender, race, class, and wellness (both mental and physical) manifest and intersect at all levels of ballet—from the experiences of students and professional dancers through parents, artistic directors, and choreographers. Angyal explores with a sociologist’s lens, combining interviews, statistics, historical references, and some anecdotes from her personal experiences as a student and patron of ballet.

Angyal’s passion and respect for ballet are apparent throughout. While critical of ballet’s entrenched problems, Angyal seems hopeful that ballet can evolve. Moreover, she introduces the reader to some of the people at the helm of ballet's evolution. I learned a lot while reading and regularly used Angyal’s footnotes to look up YouTube videos of the dances she references. Turning Pointe left me curious and excited about what comes next for ballet.

Readers will find parallels to the questions faced within ballet in other areas and disciplines. For example, is it possible to create a meaningful adaptation of a classic story with racist or sexist elements, and is it worth trying? Who tells the stories? At what cost? Who is remembered as legendary? Who is left out of the narrative?

Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Type Books for providing me with an advance copy of the ebook to read and review.

Having a daughter that is a dancer I found this book very interesting and learned quite a bit I was unaware of. I truly enjoyed the layout and the writing style and would recommend this book to my daughter as well. This book addresses many issues that dancers face on a daily basis from racism to body image issues to sexism.. My heart breaks for the hard working dancers and some of the injustices they face... This is a book that should be read by parents, students as well as dance teachers.

Sending a sincere thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book for an exchange of my honest review.

As someone who quit ballet for just the reasons many dancers mention in this book, these stories and interviews really resonated with me. The ballet industry is, like all entertainment industries, extremely focused on looks and presentation, and it's wonderful to see such a frank discussion of the impact that has on the dancers and those associated with them.

Thanks to Bold Type Books and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Turning Pointe by Chloe Angyal is an incisive look at ballet -- the history of how it came to be so popular, how it's developed into the spectacle that it is, the costs of dancing, and how it might grow in the future. Angyal performed a number of interviews with dancers, both past and present, to discuss their experiences, positive and negative. I found this to be an interesting look at a sport that I don't know much about. I like to watch the occasional dance movie or documentary, but I've never dug in deep. However, the problems in the dance community are reflective of the same problems our society has - racism, misogyny, homophobia, and so on.

I appreciate this deep look into the ballet world, and I found it interesting and rewarding.

The author brings us into the world of ballet past and present.Interviews information eye opening look at the issues facing ballerinas.A fascinating study of different aspects and realities of dance.very well done very interesting,#netgalley#persusbooks