Helen Olaussen
- 1
- review
- 0
- helpful votes
- 1
- rating
-
Don't Think, Dear
- On Loving and Leaving Ballet
- By: Alice Robb
- Narrated by: Alice Robb
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 17
-
Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 14
Growing up, Alice Robb dreamed of becoming a ballet dancer. But by age fifteen, she had to face the reality that she would never meet the impossibly high standards of the hyper-competitive ballet world. After she quit, she tried to avoid ballet—only to realize, years later, that she was still haunted by the lessons she had absorbed in the mirror-lined studios of Lincoln Center, and that they had served her well in the wider world. The traits ballet takes to an extreme—stoicism, silence, submission—are valued in girls and women everywhere.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
That vocal fry
- By melissa f goodwin on 03-03-23
- Don't Think, Dear
- On Loving and Leaving Ballet
- By: Alice Robb
- Narrated by: Alice Robb
A glimpse into ballet culture
Reviewed: 04-19-23
I learnt about this book from the podcast 'Articles of Interest" when they covered ballet shoes, which piqued my interest to do a deeper dive on the topic. This book really hit the spot for me, weaving together history, anecdotes and research in a beautiful choreography. I love learning the history of arts and their craft, and I am fascinated by cult-like environments and how people descend into & heal from them - and how it intersects with identity and gender.
I personally really enjoyed listening to Robb's voice. She was interviewed on the aforementioned podcast, and i was excited to find that she recorded her own book. I sometimes struggled when perspectives changed between the cast of people introduced in this book and i had to rewind to catch the names, but otherwise i got everything i wanted from this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!