A candid, instructive reflection on artistry, dedication, and race.
A pioneering Black dancer recounts her hard-won success.
In 2015, Copeland (b. 1982) became the first Black ballerina at the American Ballet Theatre promoted to principal dancer, 14 years after joining the company. Following up on her previous memoir, Life in Motion, Copeland, assisted by Fales-Hill, describes the challenges, frustrations, and successes of her career, paying special homage to her friend and mentor, Raven Wilkinson (1935-2018), who danced with the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo in the 1950s, the first Black woman to get a contract with a major ballet company. With unfailing encouragement and pragmatic advice, Wilkinson helped the younger dancer navigate a profession often unwelcoming to Blacks. “She showed me,” Copeland writes, “that we dance for all those who came before us and the many who will hopefully come after us.” When she seemed overwhelmed by self-doubt, Wilkinson reminded her, “Every time you step on that stage, I’ll be the wind at your back.” She buoyed Copeland’s spirits as she recovered from a severe injury and when she felt isolated and alone: For her first 10 years at ABT, she was the only Black woman dancer; later, she was one of only three dancers of color among a company of 80. A soloist for many years, she despaired about being given principal roles: “Would any Black ballerina ever shatter ABT’s glass ceiling?” she asked herself. Wilkinson urged her to speak openly with the company’s artistic director, and finally, at age 32, she debuted in principal roles, including Odile/Odette in Swan Lake. Although Copeland never faced the racial violence that Wilkinson encountered when she toured the South in the 1950s, she admits that racism hindered her opportunities and stoked her anxiety about “the reaction of critics and the jabs from online commentators that maybe I wasn’t ‘right’ for these leading roles”—fears amply assuaged by her audiences’ acclaim.
A candid, instructive reflection on artistry, dedication, and race.Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5387-5385-9
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2022
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.
A former New York City dancer reflects on her zesty heyday in the 1970s.
Discovered on a Manhattan street in 2020 and introduced on Stanton’s Humans of New York Instagram page, Johnson, then 76, shares her dynamic history as a “fiercely independent” Black burlesque dancer who used the stage name Tanqueray and became a celebrated fixture in midtown adult theaters. “I was the only black girl making white girl money,” she boasts, telling a vibrant story about sex and struggle in a bygone era. Frank and unapologetic, Johnson vividly captures aspects of her former life as a stage seductress shimmying to blues tracks during 18-minute sets or sewing lingerie for plus-sized dancers. Though her work was far from the Broadway shows she dreamed about, it eventually became all about the nightly hustle to simply survive. Her anecdotes are humorous, heartfelt, and supremely captivating, recounted with the passion of a true survivor and the acerbic wit of a weathered, street-wise New Yorker. She shares stories of growing up in an abusive household in Albany in the 1940s, a teenage pregnancy, and prison time for robbery as nonchalantly as she recalls selling rhinestone G-strings to prostitutes to make them sparkle in the headlights of passing cars. Complemented by an array of revealing personal photographs, the narrative alternates between heartfelt nostalgia about the seedier side of Manhattan’s go-go scene and funny quips about her unconventional stage performances. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. With a narrative assist from Stanton, the result is a consistently titillating and often moving story of human struggle as well as an insider glimpse into the days when Times Square was considered the Big Apple’s gloriously unpolished underbelly. The book also includes Yee’s lush watercolor illustrations.
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-27827-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.
Documenting perilous times.
In his most recent behind-the-scenes account of political power and how it is wielded, Woodward synthesizes several narrative strands, from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel to the 2024 presidential campaign. Woodward’s clear, gripping storytelling benefits from his legendary access to prominent figures and a structure of propulsive chapters. The run-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is tense (if occasionally repetitive), as a cast of geopolitical insiders try to divine Vladimir Putin’s intent: “Doubt among allies, the public and among Ukrainians meant valuable time and space for Putin to maneuver.” Against this backdrop, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham implores Donald Trump to run again, notwithstanding the former president’s denial of his 2020 defeat. This provides unwelcome distraction for President Biden, portrayed as a thoughtful, compassionate lifetime politico who could not outrace time, as demonstrated in the June 2024 debate. Throughout, Trump’s prevarications and his supporters’ cynicism provide an unsettling counterpoint to warnings provided by everyone from former Joint Chief of Staff Mark Milley to Vice President Kamala Harris, who calls a second Trump term a likely “death knell for American democracy.” The author’s ambitious scope shows him at the top of his capabilities. He concludes with these unsettling words: “Based on my reporting, Trump’s language and conduct has at times presented risks to national security—both during his presidency and afterward.”
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781668052273
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
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