To Dance: A Ballerina's Graphic Novel

In this graphic memoir, Siena Cherson Siegal tells her own story in dance, being drawn to it and seeing it everywhere. Growing up in Peurto Rico, her doctor didn't think Siena could dance because of her flat feet, but her mother let her try. Starting classes at 6, Siena recounts her inspiration watching and reading about dance and early dance experiences. The handwork and effort are punctuated with places, ballets, and people any dance lover is sure to recognize. The abrupt ending with sparse illustrations make the reader feel the absence of dance in Siena's life after her ankle injury.

The airy illustrations by Mark Siegel are full of movement. Ribbons twist and twine throughout the story connecting ideas and carrying the story forward. show more The small, routine practice illustrations are contrasted by the vibrant dance performance sequences.

**Sibert Honor Book show less

To Dance tells the familiar story of a young girl, in this case Siena when she was a child, who wants to grow up to be a ballerina. She starts ballet lessons, shows a real talent, and makes it to New York City where she trains in a feeder school for a big ballet company, in this case New York City Ballet’s School of American Ballet, where she is discovered. Mark Siegel’s illustrations allow the reader to share in Siena’s wonder and sometimes confusion with this whole new world in which she finds herself. He is also a kind of translator for the “uninitiated” in ballet lore and jargon, providing illustrations and examples of being en pointe and or dancing a pas de deux to name a few. For this reason, the format of the graphic show more novel works very well here. It elevates the reading level beyond that of a picture book without wordy explanations that detract from the story. Those who are more familiar with ballet will find the illustrations amusing and beautiful with gorgeous renditions of the varying levels of ballet classes and some “cameo appearances” of the big names of the New York City Ballet in the 1970’s to early 1980’s.

This basic story has been told many times. Two examples that jump out from my reading history are Ballerina Dreams, an easy reader by New York City Ballet’s Diana White and Gelsey Kirkland’s only-for-grown-ups memoir, Dancing on My Grave. The big difference between these books and To Dance, aside from format, is that even those well-versed in the recent and current ballet world will not recognize the name Siena Cherson Siegel; she is not a ballerina. As chronicled in this graphic novel, Siegel dances in a few performances with the New York City Ballet in pre-professional roles, but then goes on to attend college at Brown and dance for her own enjoyment rather than dance professionally. The ending to this story is very rarely told, though much more common. To Dance emphasizes how dance can mold one’s life while at the same time, showing how Siena takes the time to be a “normal” kid as well as positively showing her choice not to dance professionally. By sharing her story in To Dance, Siegel is affirming anyone who wants to use anything that they are talented at or simply enjoy as a hobby, an enjoyment, rather than a career choice. For this reason, along with the beauty of the illustrations and Siegel’s writing, I highly recommend this book.

Book source: Birthday present, years ago, from Nanna. :) show less

I absolutely loved this graphic novel. As I bear a fondness for ballet, and aspire to be a dancer myself, I found Siegal’s autobiographical account to be wonderful. The story begins when she is six years old, dancing along the beaches of her native town. Up until her age of eighteen, she describes the trials and tribulations of family life and dance, and the events, people and performances that shaped her life. Being deeply moved by anything related to ballet in general, I found it hard to keep tears from welling up in my eyes as I read, relating Siegal's account to my own aspirations (I am quite sensitive to any depictions of dedications to the formal arts). The artwork is good, but the storyline is phenomenal, in both continuity and show more relevance; it drew me, I losing myself in its pages. Highly recommended for any aspiring dancer or lover of ballet in general. show less

To Dance: A Ballerina's Graphic Novel by Siena Cherson Siegel is another memoir told in the format of a graphic novel. As more and more nonfiction is finding voice in paneled artwork and lettering, there should be a term for them that doesn't imply fiction.

Siena Cherson Siegel when she as a young child had flat feet. Her mother was desperate to do anything to get them fixed. She turned to ballet as a way to perhaps exercise her daughter's feet into the right shape. Long story short, the dancing worked. It also became a life long passion for her.

Along with the ballet, To Dance, is about Siena's move from Cuba to New York. There she went to ballet school and eventually danced with the New York Ballet. All of that is laid out, while show more avoiding the oft-times unhealthy body image aspects of professional ballet.

I read this memoir originally when my daughter was taking ballet. At the tender age of six, she already started becoming aware of the extreme dieting that some dancers do to stay slim. She also didn't want to give up all of her other hobbies to focus solely on dancing to qualify for team competitions. So now as I write this review, she has given up ballet for two other sports: swimming and bowling. show less

The only reason this wouldn't get 5 stars is that I really wanted to know more at the end! Even just an addition to the notes at the end would have been good; the scrapbook of mementos was a nice inclusion. The author's abrupt end to her dance career just felt jarring, especially without any sort of detail about what injury she'd had or what she chose to study afterward.

To Dance is the author’s memoir of her ballet training in New York City. It tells the story of her years of training and experiences until the age of 18 when she was forced by injury to stop training. As a girl who wanted to be a ballerina—though nowhere nearly as much as the author—I really related to this book. I even loved and was inspired by the same book she was, A Very Young Dancer by Jill Krementz. This book is in graphic novel form, which ends up being a very effective structure because it allows for many frames on a page, which are related and can show different thoughts and aspects of the same experience. The artwork, done by the author’s brother, is excellent. It captures emotion and adds to the reader’s show more understanding of the story through facial expressions and colors.

I think lots of girls (and boys) would really love this book. Even if you don’t have the drive to work as hard at ballet as the author, lots of kids love dancing and dream of performing the way she did. She has an insider’s understanding of the School of American Ballet so you feel like you’re getting to experience a little bit of something most people never have the opportunity to do in real life. This book made me want to go to the ballet!

I would lift this book with preservice teachers in a discussion about memoirs. Unlike some memoirs, Seigel chronicles several years. I would ask preservice teachers to consider the way she presents that much time and what enables her to do so effectively? What does she do to keep the story interesting and the reader engaged? What does the graphic novel form offer memoirs that other text structures may not?

That last question can also be its own discussion, separate from memoirs specifically. I want future teachers to think about graphic novels as a text structure because that will help them also understand other text structures more deeply. When we write, we need to think about, and help our students think about, how the structure (narrative, graphic novel, poetry) we choose will help us tell what we want to tell. Therefore, I think it is important to for preservice teachers to have those kinds of converations; this book would be a great example for them from which to talk. show less

This is the perfect graphic novel for any girl (of any age!) who has ever wanted to be a ballerina!

Siena Cherson Siegel had the childhood every kid who was ever serious about ballet can only dream of. She auditions for and is accepted into the very prestigious School of American Ballet (SAB). This is the top school in the United States for young dancers and even more impressive is that Siegel was there during the last years of SAB's famous founder George Balanchine's life. This was also during the time that Baryshnikov was with the New York City Ballet. That's right, Siena Cherson Siegel danced for Balanchine in a ballet with Baryshnikov!

So if acronyms such as SAB, NYCB, ABT, etc and names like Balanchine, Baryshnikov, Suzanne Farrell, show more and Gelsey Kirkland make your heart beat a little faster and your spirit dance, this is the book for you! show less