We Danced in Bloomsbury Square

Fraternal twin sisters Doria and Deborah Darke - the former a shy, insecure brunette; the latter an extroverted, confident blonde - both love ballet in this engaging novel from prolific British children's author Mabel Esther Allan. When the two go up to London to audition for scholarship spots at the celebrated Lingereaux Ballet School in Bloomsbury Square, both girls are offered a place, but only Debbie is given a scholarship. Dorrie is devastated, and her unhappiness is compounded when the girls' parents decide that Debbie will not be permitted to attend either. Willing enough to have both girls move two-hundred miles from home in order to pursue their training, Mr. and Mrs. Darke draw the line at the idea of Debbie going off on her show more own. Angry and rebellious, Debbie says terribly hurtful things, putting great strain on the sisters' relationship. Then Dorrie is offered a scholarship after all, when another pupil must withdraw from the school, and the 'ballet twins' head to London. All is not well however, and Dorrie struggles with her insecurity, and her feeling that she will always come second to her more popular, talented sister. She also mourns the loss of her once close friendship with Debbie. Can things be put right between them, and will Dorrie ever step out of Debbie's shadow...?

Originally published in 1967 under the name 'Jean Estoril,' a pseudonym that Allan used for much of her ballet fiction, including her series about Drina the Ballerina, We Danced in Bloomsbury Square is the third ballet-focused novel I have read from this author, following upon her The Ballet Family and The Ballet Family Again. I enjoyed it a great deal, although perhaps not as much as those other two. Dorrie is the narrator here, and we therefore see everything from her perspective. As a result, it's difficult not to think of Debbie as a bit of a selfish monster, although Allan resists the temptation to turn her into a villain. There certainly is a certain shallowness and insensitivity to her, but the episode in which Dorrie goes missing demonstrates that she is also capable of deep and sincere love for her sister. On another note altogether, I thought the very brief mentions of race in the story were quite interesting, given the date of publication. One of Aunt Eileen's boarders is a young black man from Jamaica, and she comments at one point that it would be un-Christian to object to "coloured students" in her house. It is my understanding that many boarding houses in London did discriminate based on race during this period, so Aunt Eileen's remark felt like a direct authorial response to the issue. Dorrie herself mentions the sole black student at the Lingereaux school in a positive way, although she also reflects that it would be difficult for the girl to fit in with any ballet company, revealing the almost exclusively white nature of the dance form at that time.

These were very brief moments in the book, and although they are certainly of interest to me as a scholar who tries to situate the historical children's literature that I read in its contemporaneous cultural milieu, the chief focus of the book was Dorrie's journey toward a better understanding of herself and of her sister. Like so many of Allan's books, it offers a sensitive depiction of a young person's complicated relations with family, friends, and school. Recommended to anyone who enjoys ballet fiction and/or stories of twins for middle-grade readers. show less

I would have much preferred this book if the pushy twin had got her come-uppance or taken down a peg somewhere in the later part of the story. Yes, the confidence of the quieter twin is raised and she becomes much happier but the other is allowed to go on being a prima donna! Perhaps she was leaving space for a sequel. I also was surprised that this book in no way connects to The Ballet Family or the Ballet Family Again as I expected.

My favorite books by Jean Estoril are her 'Drina" books but her other books are quite good too. I like her sweet and somewhat dated style, they are basically the perfect English school girl stories. I never did ballet but I have always been obsessed with it and I enjoy the window into that life that reading a Jean Estoril book gives me.