Yasmine Naghdi on her 'joyous' new book series, Ballet Besties (with Chitra Soundar)

[Roberta]

For the children in your life. Or simply for yourself! Interview. 

 

https://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/blog/debut-author-yasmine-naghdi-on-her-joyous-new-series-ballet-besties-6653

 

It's a long way from the stern ballet teacher glass in shoes type of drama ballet books thankfully! (Though didn't we revel in them?)

 

 

[Peanut68]

I cringe at the dance school name here the Shimmer & Shine School’…. Of course it is….!! As bad a name as the trend for children’s nurseries to be named something all cutesy & sickly! (Sorry to be so bah humbug….)

I’m sure this & future books will be a big hit but do feel it follows a real ‘painting by numbers’ formula far too prevalent in new young peoples fiction today….all IMHO

[Roberta]

6 minutes ago, Peanut68 said:

‘painting by numbers’ formula far too prevalent in new young peoples fiction today

 

There's a link to an extract via this page.  Look under the book cover picture it's a PDF. 

 

https://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/book/9781800785830/isbn/Ballet-Besties-Yaras-Chance-to-Dance-by-Yasmine-Naghdi-Chitra-Soundar.html

 

 Let's be kind. 

[Fonty]

Not too sure about the message that if you dream big and work hard then you will achieve success.  I know it is only a work of fiction aimed at younger readers, but I am certain that ballet is littered with multitudes of children who worked extremely hard and still had their dreams shattered.   Either because they grew to be the wrong shape or they were simply not quite good enough.  I am all for dreams and hard work, but a little realism has to be included in the mix somewhere.  Talking of which, did the Lorna Hill books deal with the issues regarding physique?  I have a vague memory of one girl whose legs were deemed to be the wrong shape for ballet as she reached maturity.  

[Aruna S]

I read the extract. I thought it started off a bit painting-by-numbers-y, and yes, the name of the school is cringeworthy, but I liked the way the class was described, with all the details of arms and feet positions, and the warming up and cooling down. I think the target audience will enjoy it. 

[Sim]

20 minutes ago, Aruna S said:

I read the extract. I thought it started off a bit painting-by-numbers-y, and yes, the name of the school is cringeworthy, but I liked the way the class was described, with all the details of arms and feet positions, and the warming up and cooling down. I think the target audience will enjoy it. 

I agree, although I don't necessarily agree that the name Shimmer and Shine is cringeworthy:  after all, that is what they are hoping to get their students to do.  It did make me smile that the name of the teacher is that of a jewel that shimmers and shines!  And I am reading the book from the point of view of a very young person (10 years old), in a day and age where kindness, inclusivity, diversity and everyone being a winner in their own way are the norm.  When I was a child, many moons ago, I was always told that hard work would pay off.  Sometimes it's true, sometimes it isn't.  But I am glad I was told that, even if it turned out not to be the case.  If no child is told to work hard to achieve their dreams, then none of them would.  We don't all achieve our dreams; probably more don't than do, but it's a life lesson and you just have to deal with it and do other things, no matter how deep your disappointment is.  But to shatter those illusions in a book for children would be quite cruel, I think.

 

As Aruna said, the descriptions of a ballet class, and why things are done the way they are (even a reminder to drink water to keep hydrated) will be very helpful and interesting for little readers who are interested in learning ballet.  I wish Yasmine and Chitra the very best of luck with this book and those to follow.

[Roberta]

17 minutes ago, Sim said:

Shimmer and Shine

 

Perhaps what we as adults are missing here is a cultural ref!  Are we so out of touch?  (I hope the writers will not be called plagiarists! Oh dear!) 🩰

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dawnstar]

12 hours ago, Fonty said:

Talking of which, did the Lorna Hill books deal with the issues regarding physique?  I have a vague memory of one girl whose legs were deemed to be the wrong shape for ballet as she reached maturity.  

 

Masquerade at the Wells is probably the book you're thinking of.

[Fonty]

20 hours ago, Sim said:

I agree, although I don't necessarily agree that the name Shimmer and Shine is cringeworthy:  after all, that is what they are hoping to get their students to do.  It did make me smile that the name of the teacher is that of a jewel that shimmers and shines!  And I am reading the book from the point of view of a very young person (10 years old), in a day and age where kindness, inclusivity, diversity and everyone being a winner in their own way are the norm.  When I was a child, many moons ago, I was always told that hard work would pay off.  Sometimes it's true, sometimes it isn't.  But I am glad I was told that, even if it turned out not to be the case.  If no child is told to work hard to achieve their dreams, then none of them would.  We don't all achieve our dreams; probably more don't than do, but it's a life lesson and you just have to deal with it and do other things, no matter how deep your disappointment is.  But to shatter those illusions in a book for children would be quite cruel, I think.

 

As Aruna said, the descriptions of a ballet class, and why things are done the way they are (even a reminder to drink water to keep hydrated) will be very helpful and interesting for little readers who are interested in learning ballet.  I wish Yasmine and Chitra the very best of luck with this book and those to follow.

 

Oh don't get me wrong, of course children should be encouraged to dream, and to work hard to achieve that dream.  I am all for that.  But I am deeply concerned that there is a trend now to make all children believe that they will always achieve that dream if they put in enough effort.  And when, for whatever reason they don't achieve it, there will be the belief in their own minds that they "didn't work hard enough".   Which is a shattering blow, and can and does lead to depression.  I was reading an article somewhere about young boys, very talented footballers, who made it to prestigious football academies, and then got weeded out at the age of 14 or 15 for not being good enough.   The number suffering from acute depression as a result was very distressing to read about.  

The problem with ballet (and presumably football as well) is that you have to start very young, and deal with blows at the worst time i.e. adolescence and young adulthood.  To feel a failure at such a young age must be appalling.  The paragraph I highlighted in the post above is really one of the most important issues.  How to deal with disappointment, and channelling your energies into something else are areas that hopefully could be covered in a sensitive manner.  You would hope that parents would feel equipped to deal with this, but not everyone comes from that kind of background. 

 

And yes, I realise I am being much too serious about a nice series of books aimed at young children.  But if by any remote chance the authors happen to be reading this forum, they might want to give it some thought.  

[Sophoife]

16 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

Masquerade at the Wells is probably the book you're thinking of.

 

Mariella's thighs? Most likely. There was someone in Veronica who had big thighs too, I'm pretty sure. @DelphiumBlue can you remember who it was?

[Lindsay]

8 minutes ago, Sophoife said:

 

Mariella's thighs? Most likely. There was someone in Veronica who had big thighs too, I'm pretty sure. @DelphiumBlue can you remember who it was?

Wasn't it one of the girls in the scenes in the dressing room while Veronica was still a student at Barons Court who was told that their thighs were not right for the "Theatre Ballet" so they went off to become a show girl instead? I seem to remember some rather pointed class assumptions around that scene too - maybe a character called Gloria who was definitely coded as not quite "respectable"? I must re-read.  For all their dated assumptions, I LOVED the Wells books!

Edited April 18 by Lindsay
Corrected typo in character name

[Roberta]

57 minutes ago, Lindsay said:

Gloria

 

Ah yes, a showgirl name most certainly! 'Not our sort dear!' And Mrs Crapper, the landlady?

 

I must reread them all!  A wander down memory lane:- 

 

https://callmemadam.livejournal.com/708353.html

 

 

Lorna Hill published fourteen books about the ‘Wells’ between 1950 and 1964. They were later reprinted in paperback and are still popular today. In tandem with those, she wrote another dancing series, Dancing Peel, but it was never as successful. Ballet had a much higher popular profile in the 1950s than it does today. Had you been ten-year-old me and reading Girl comic, you could have followed the weekly adventures of Belle of the Ballet and your Christmas annual would include a colour plate of Margot Fonteyn, a household name.

 

 

 

Edited April 18 by Roberta

[Fonty]

3 hours ago, Sophoife said:

 

Mariella's thighs? Most likely. There was someone in Veronica who had big thighs too, I'm pretty sure. @DelphiumBlue can you remember who it was?

 

I can't remember the name of the character, all I can remember is that a girl was dancing something in an outfit suitable for something like Giselle with a long skirt.    Someone watching remarked how talented she was, and the teacher replied that yes she was, but her thighs were too big and she didn't look right in a tutu.  Consequently she would never make it as a classical ballet dancer. 

 

Considering I haven't read the books since I was about 10, I am amazed I remember that much.    

[l1lacfairy]

There was an Australian tv show called Dance Academy for teens that actually dealt heavily with the theme of "what happens when you work hard and your dreams dont come true." It's set at the Australian Ballet School (spoilers to come) - Tara, the protagonist, has prodigious talent and is expected to become a star, but she suffers a career-ending injury at graduation and never dances professionally. Abigail struggles throughout the show with having a body that does not conform to the ballet aesthetic; Ben does not get into his dream company and settles for a less prestigious one etc etc. Its a really great show and not as depressing as maybe it comes across here!

[Sophoife]

Dance Academy is set at a fictional "National Academy of Dance" in Sydney. The girl who plays Tara is a very talented dancer IRL who trained at Tanya Pearson's school, but even in the first episode was clearly "too big for ballet". The character suffers a leg injury in season 1, a back injury (inflicted by an unqualified teacher) in season 2, and a "career-ending" injury in season 3. Not a good prospect. She does eventually dance with the company on a short term corps contract but hates the restrictions and runs out on a performance because Ben is in hospital. 

 

Abigail's drive for perfection and her viewing of her body as betraying her because of puberty is a common modern story trope; the food issue comes later and is part of her attempts at control over her body and life.

 

Kat's precocious talent and almost complete lack of regard for the rules is laughable and she's accepted to dance at the Moulin Rouge at 16?

 

The second season's focus on the "Prix de Fonteyn" predated by some years the RAD's changing the Genée to Fonteyn.

 

Ben is immature (well, he's a year younger than the rest), and is unable to get in to his dream company, but by the time of the movie he's a principal in Austin, Texas. He works too hard which causes his leukaemia to recur.

 

The series was clearly made with the cooperation of AusBallet, as contracted company dancers and works created for the company appear in the show. Dancers-turned-actors Kip Gamblin and Josef Brown appear as teachers. Amusingly, the doyen of the company, Sir Jeffrey, is played by Barry Otto, whose daughter Miranda appears in the movie as the company's AD.

 

None of the characters' original dreams were realised in the end. The dreams changed to fit the available circumstances instead.

 

@Lindsay, Gloria 

was in it for the training in order to make money, as was Marcia Rutherford. Lorna Hill, a vicar's wife in the 1950s, used her own daughter's training at the Wells School as background for the books. Of course they're written from a certain POV, and a lot of the content is dated, but we're reading from now 70 years later. Caroline is my favourite character. Mariella giving up her vet course to marry Robin is STUPID.

Edited April 18 by Sophoife

[Lindsay]

11 hours ago, Sophoife said:

 

@Lindsay, Gloria 

was in it for the training in order to make money, as was Marcia Rutherford. Lorna Hill, a vicar's wife in the 1950s, used her own daughter's training at the Wells School as background for the books. Of course they're written from a certain POV, and a lot of the content is dated, but we're reading from now 70 years later. Caroline is my favourite character. Mariella giving up her vet course to marry Robin is STUPID.

Oh yes! Marcia Rutherford became a big star in « Dance for Poppa”.  And I remember really wanting to be Mariella living in a mansion flat with a famous ballerina mother and critic father and meals appearing ready-made from the kitchen downstairs.  In fact I would still quite like that!  Thanks for the reminder Sophoife!

 

 

[DelphiumBlue]

On 18/04/2024 at 15:50, Sophoife said:

was?

Alas no…. 

[Sophoife]

5 minutes ago, DelphiumBlue said:

Alas no…. 

 

Such hardship. I'll have to do a re-read.