Dance Crazy:

Star Turns From Ballet To Belly Dancing

Cover

Title Dance Crazy: Star Turns From Ballet To Belly Dancing

Author Natalie Jane Prior

ISBN 1-86373-929-7

Publisher Allen & Unwin

Category Nonfiction: About Dance In General

Shira's Rating

<== Buy from Amazon.com in the U.S. (Prices quoted in U.S. dollars, shipped from U.S. warehouse.) Not available from Amazon.co.uk in the U.K.

What It's About

The title led me to believe this book would be about a ballet star who later became a belly dancer. It wasn't.

However, it was still a good book, and I enjoyed reading it. The basic purpose of the book is to teach children ages 9 through 12 something about dance. The book is divided into these sections:

A Working Ballet Company. A behind-the-scenes glimpse of what goes into mounting a major ballet production.
Star Spots: Some Famous Dancers. Biographical profiles of selected famous dancers. Most of these are ballet dancers, but it does mention Isadora Duncan, a leading figure in the birth of modern dance.
Dancing Life. Practical information about ballet shoes and injuries.
A Dancing World. A quick look at selected dance forms from around the world, including belly dance.

Its Good Points

Even though I'm an adult, I enjoyed this book that was intended for children. It was fun to read. The author sprinkled her accounts with entertaining anecdotes. I often found myself smiling as I read the book.

Although I like ballet, I don't know much about it, and I haven't gone to very many ballets. I found the opening section on the behind-the-scenes work of mounting a production to be very interesting, especially as I compared it to what goes into mounting a belly dancing show. Those belly dancers who whine that we aren't given the same level of respect as ballet should probably read this chapter--once they realize ballet companies rehearse 6 hours per day, maybe they'll understand that merely calling yourself a "dancer" isn't enough to deserve respect.... I similarly found the Star Spots section to be very educational, and I learned a great deal about ballet from reading it.

The section on belly dancing in A Dancing World was excellent. This author clearly did her homework. Her statements about the history and cultural context of belly dancing were quite accurate, and far superior to some of the rubbish I've seen put forth by so-called "professional" belly dancers. Although the belly dancing section is only 5 pages of this book, I'd urge belly dancers who want accurate information about the roots of their art form to get this book and read it.

Words that were likely to be unfamiliar to the reader (remember, it's geared to 9- through 12-year-old children) were highlighted in bold, and then defined in a glossary in the back.

On The Negative Side....

The Dancing Life section was a little weak. Although it was interesting, it wasn't nearly as informative as other parts of the book.

It would have been nice if the book would have been just a little longer. I realize the need to keep a children's book from getting too long, but when I finished reading it, I found myself wanting more!

I would have preferred a less misleading title for the book. "Star Turns From Ballet To Belly Dancing" simply does not describe what the book is about.