Dancing in the Dark

Apr 05, 2010 Steph Bowe rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ditty wants to start ballet lessons - but her strictly religious Jewish parents forbid it. So she begins dancing in secret, creating elaborate lies so her parents don't find out what she's doing - if she's caught, she'll be in huge trouble. Ditty soon finds herself questioning the beliefs her parents have raised her with. For Ditty, following her dreams of being a ballet dancer may cost her her family.

What really surprised me about this book was the fact that it was set in the present - until mo...more Ditty wants to start ballet lessons - but her strictly religious Jewish parents forbid it. So she begins dancing in secret, creating elaborate lies so her parents don't find out what she's doing - if she's caught, she'll be in huge trouble. Ditty soon finds herself questioning the beliefs her parents have raised her with. For Ditty, following her dreams of being a ballet dancer may cost her her family.

What really surprised me about this book was the fact that it was set in the present - until mobile phones were mentioned, I thought it was occuring twenty years ago! The strictness of Ditty and her family's religion was really startling since it was set in such a familiar location (in and around Melbourne) and set in the present day - a lifestyle like that Ditty had to live (involving not mixing with people of other religions, not being allowed to watch television or access the internet, having to wear clothes that totally cover your body at all times, not being allowed to have hobbies, being married off at seventeen and so on...) is one that I can hardly imagine a teenage girl living anywhere near where I live. And yet people do.

Ditty was a wonderful character, and I think everyone in the novel (Ditty's family, friends, people at the ballet school) were depicted very realistically. I think I expected for there to be a lot of competitiveness at Ditty's ballet school, but that wasn't really an element of this novel.

I think the sheer scope of the novel made it feel a bit rushed at times - it covered five years of Ditty's life, from twelve to seventeen, and there were a couple of intances where a year passed in a blink.

This is a really wonderful story - while it serves as a fantastic insight into the life of someone who's very religious, the religious aspect won't alienate readers - I think all teenage girls will really empathise with Ditty, and her need to be independent and follow her dreams is something almost everyone will be able to relate to. I strongly recommend it to girls 12 and older who are looking for a contemporary YA from a unique perspective.(less)

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May 01, 2013 Kathe rated it 4 of 5 stars

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Apr 23, 2013 Pinkie Pie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: netgalley-edelweiss, contemporary-challenge

I requested this on NetGalley when I was in the mood for a darker contemporary novel. By the time it was approved though, that mood have moved on. So I was sure I wouldn't enjoy it, and set about reading it well ahead of time so I could be sure to be finished by the day it needed to be reviewed. What actually happened: I flew through this book in a day and thoroughly enjoyed it! Dancing in the Dark opened my eyes to two worlds I have no experience with. Obviously, I know no Haredi Jewish people,...more I requested this on NetGalley when I was in the mood for a darker contemporary novel. By the time it was approved though, that mood have moved on. So I was sure I wouldn't enjoy it, and set about reading it well ahead of time so I could be sure to be finished by the day it needed to be reviewed. What actually happened: I flew through this book in a day and thoroughly enjoyed it! Dancing in the Dark opened my eyes to two worlds I have no experience with. Obviously, I know no Haredi Jewish people, and if you know me at all, you know I am no dancer.

The opening of Dancing in the Dark is a small prologue wherein our heroine, Ditty, is forced to chose between dance and her father. She's told that if she leaves for her performance, she is not to go back. It's painful to watch the struggle, but before we know what she decides, the prologue is over and the book begins. We are taken through Ditty's five-year-long journey of discovering the ballet and eventually enrolling in secret classes behind her parents' backs.

There are two ways to look at this novel, I think, and in my opinion, that will decide whether or not you like it. The story is about a girl who is raised in a very orthodox Jewish family. Throughout the novel she finds her passion and against her parents' wishes, decides to pursue those dreams. If you are a religious person who very much values the same things Ditty's family values, then you might not like Ditty as a character. That was just the opposite for me.

For me, Ditty, short for Yehudit, was a wonderful heroine. I thought she showed great tenacity and strength. It was a pleasure to read about her discovering herself through ballet. In her culture, she is not allowed even the most mundane things we take for granted: no jeans and t-shirts, no TV, no bacon (no bacon!), no classes with boys, no singing in front of boys. Her family is very, very religious, and holds firmly to the Jewish laws of the Torah. So through my eyes - my atheist eyes - seeing Ditty strike out against those oppressive rules was strong. For some, though, they may not like how she deceived her parents and went against her holy texts.

I'm not really sure if Ditty loses her faith throughout this book. By the end, it's clear she still considers herself Jewish, but not in the ultra-orthodox way she was before. I've never really read any books where the young protagonist struggles with her faith, so this was a new experience for me, and one I particularly enjoyed. Also learning about all the parts of Ditty's Haredi culture were fascinating, too. I'm terribly uneducated when it comes to Judaism - this is something I'll have to remedy soon.

There were a few drawbacks that really kept me from rating this higher, though. For one, Dancing in the Dark felt long at times. There were instances that felt very repetitive to me, and that took away some enjoyment. Also, there wasn't any character I could really connect to on any deep level. But I know that's because of me, and what I'm bringing to the book, not the other way around.

In the beginning, the author, Robyn Bavati, talks about how there will be words and phrases that the readers won't know, and boy was she right. The text was full of italicized words I had either never heard before or didn't know how to pronounce, or both. There was a glossary at the end of the text, but constantly flipping back and forth was a hassle, so I just read on. It wasn't hard to figure out what the words meant though - Bavati expertly wove them in with context so I never felt lost.

I highly recommend Dancing in the Dark. It's not only a fantastic ballet book, filled with wonderful descriptions of Ditty's schooling, but it's also an eye-opener in many other ways. I learned a lot about ultra-orthodox Jewish culture. Ditty was a wonderful heroine, with a believable voice. The story will also speak to those who struggle with their faith, or who struggle with reconciling their own wants with their parent's wishes.(less)

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Apr 15, 2013 Cristal rated it 4 of 5 stars

Review found on The Life & Times Book Blog.

First I have to say that I absolutely love the cover of this book. That and the title was enough to pique my interest about it.

Ditty first falls in love with ballet, when she and her friend Sara watch it on television in secret (watching TV isn‘t allowed for them). From that very first moment she becomes mesmerized by ballet. Because of this she decides to ask her parents if she can take ballet classes a couple of times during the week and also on...more

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Mar 16, 2013 Mrs. S rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-debut-authors, debut-author-challenge-2013, read-in-2013, 2013-books

I found this book to be really fascinating and engrossing. Ditty is growing up in an extremely strict orthodox Jewish family. They follow religious rules governing everything from food to clothing to technology: television and the internet are absolutely off-limits. But when Ditty and her friend Sara discover a TV hidden in Sara's mother's room, Ditty gets her first glimpse of ballet. She is immediately drawn to it and eventually winds up starting ballet lessons against her parents wishes (and w...more

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Feb 20, 2013 Majanka rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary, young-adult, reviews-february-2013

When I first started reading this book, I thought it was a paranormal mystery for some reason. I had read the blurb, but because I’ve read several books concerning ballet that were paranormal as of late, and the cover looked suitable for a paranormal book, I was convinced there was going to be one or other paranormal element. I have no idea why though because when I reread the blurb, there’s nothing whatsoever to indicate anything out of the ordinary is going on. Anyway, paranormal or not, I enj...more

When I first started reading this book, I thought it was a paranormal mystery for some reason. I had read the blurb, but because I’ve read several books concerning ballet that were paranormal as of late, and the cover looked suitable for a paranormal book, I was convinced there was going to be one or other paranormal element. I have no idea why though because when I reread the blurb, there’s nothing whatsoever to indicate anything out of the ordinary is going on. Anyway, paranormal or not, I enjoyed this book so much that after twenty pages I forgot I was in the mood to read paranormal at all, and instead focused on Ditty and her friends.

The book didn’t stay that good, unfortunately. It started off great, but then made some time jumps a few times through, leaving out entire years of the character’s life, which made me feel more detached from Ditty. I wanted to get inside her head, but that didn’t work because she changed too quickly, grew older before I very well realized it. I would’ve preferred if the book focused on one year or maybe two of Ditty’s life instead of her entire journey into adulthood, because I had the feeling I was losing my grasp on her as a character. Even though she stays remotely the same from start to halfway through, I needed more detail to picture her growing up.

Anyway, the story starts with Ditty Cohen, one of the several children in an orthodox Jewish family. They live by the old beliefs of the Torah, like resting on Sabbath, celebrating the Jewish holidays, and so on. There’s nothing wrong with that as far as Ditty is concerned. But her cousin Linda is modern orthodox, and a stark contrast to Ditty and her family. Linda wears tight-fitting jeans and short skirts, pierces her nose and ears and all other things you shouldn’t do, whereas Ditty walks around wearing heavy, shapeless dresses. But Ditty doesn’t mind her cousin being different as Linda is her favorite cousin. Linda doesn’t mind her orthodox family either, although she refuses to be like them. But the moment Ditty and her best friend Sara find a TV in Sara’s mom’s bedroom, things begin to change. Sara and Ditty watch the TV in secret, and when one day they find a ballet show, Ditty is hooked. She loves ballet. She goes to the library to find books about it and practises ballet in the bathroom every night. When she finds information about ballet classes, she decides to try them out, for a week. It would be a secret of course, but if it’s only a week, that might work. Right?

Wrong. Because Ditty gets hooked on ballet. It becomes her life, her dream. She spends years and years practising ballet in secret, and then finally decides it’s time to come clean because she has no choice. But the quesiton remains if her orthodox parents will ever allow her to continue to dance…

I liked Ditty although she was a pretty passive character. She doesn’t take matters into her own hands often, but I liked that her passion for ballet drove her to do so. She’s a convincing main character, and her feelings reflect the conflict going on outside: the conflict of her upbringing and community vs. ballet and the new friends she’s made there. I wish I got to know those friends more. They remained empty, personality-less, sketches of characters as opposed to real characters. The only characters truly developed besides Ditty were her friend Sara and Linda.

I’m glad this book was set in a community I knew little to nothing about. I was confused about the time setting at first because everything seemed so old-fashioned I thought it was set in the 1970s or something, until I read about one character’s mobile phone. So the book is contemporary, but it doesn’t feel that way.

I enjoyed reading Ditty’s journey, her love for ballet and her courage to stand up for herself. I felt angry at her parents most of the time. They wanted the best thing for their child but were convinced they were the only ones capable of making good choices related to the child’s life. I see this all too often, and every time it angers me. It’s not their life, but the child’s life, so the child ought to make those choices.

The clash between orthodox and modern orthodox was apparent as well, and I liked this turmoil. The story is good, but it’s not magnificent either. It sketches a situation, a few years of Ditty’s life, but lacks detail to make the reader entirely involved. Nevertheless, I read it in one sitting and enjoyed it. If you’re a fan of YA contemporary stories, feel free to try this one out. It was an interesting read that taught me a thing or two.
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Dec 30, 2012 Inkyfox rated it 5 of 5 stars

Also posted here: http://ireviewyalit.blogspot.ca/2012/...

*Made Possible by NetGalley.com! Thank you very much!

Introduction:
Yehudit (Ditty) Cohen and her friend Sara see a ballet on TV. It is the first time Ditty has ever seen the beautiful and graceful art form, and she is beyond smitten. She is twelve-years-old and she asks her parents to have lessons. Her request is hit with a firm rejection, and she cannot ask again, ever. This is all because she is part of a haredi community of ultra-ortho...more

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Dec 29, 2012 Leslie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am certain that in some other life or some other time I was Jewish. And this year, in honor of my former Jewishness, my younger daughter gave me a menorah for Christmas. Christmas, not Hanukkah. :) Thank you, Lauren! Many of the books I read are related to the Holocaust, its victims and its miraculous survivors. But Dancing in the Dark by Robyn Bavati was different choice of book for me.

Ditty Cohen is torn between the life her Orthodox Jewish parents have created for her and the life she drea...more

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Nov 27, 2012 Wandering Librarians rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, family, realistic-fiction, serious-issues, ya, religion

Ditty is a Haredi Jew, the most conservative branch of Orthodox Judaism (sometimes referred to as ultra-Orthodox). When she and her friend Sarah sneak watching some TV, Ditty discovers the world of dance and is transfixed. She wants to take ballet lesson more than anything, but dancing is something her family will not allow. Against her father's and her community's wishes, Ditty secretly begins taking dance lessons. Can Ditty dance and keep her family? Or will she need to give one of them up?

Thi...more Ditty is a Haredi Jew, the most conservative branch of Orthodox Judaism (sometimes referred to as ultra-Orthodox). When she and her friend Sarah sneak watching some TV, Ditty discovers the world of dance and is transfixed. She wants to take ballet lesson more than anything, but dancing is something her family will not allow. Against her father's and her community's wishes, Ditty secretly begins taking dance lessons. Can Ditty dance and keep her family? Or will she need to give one of them up?

This book made me feel uncomfortable. Allow me to explain why. Before the story begins, Robyn Bavati notes that she grew up in a Modern Orthodox family, not Haredi, as the community in the book is. In fact, Ditty's cousin who is Modern Orthodox is portrayed as being liberal and wild. Bavati also notes that "...the community portrayed in this story is not representative of the broader Jewish community..." OK, so, I wonder about her choice to set her story in the Haredi community. Because she felt it would a better, more dramatic story? Why did she pick a community she didn't actually grow up in? Why not tell her own story?

The view that Bavati shows of the Haredi community is a very harsh one. People are portrayed as brainwashed zealots, who blindly follow their religious convictions. Only Ditty fights against religion, finally breaking free. I am not saying that there aren't conflicts like this in religious communities. It is no doubt a common story. My issue was the incredibly one-sided picture we got of that community.

I think of the incredible book Hush, by Eishes Chayil, which was about sexual abuse in the Chasidic community. Despite the serious nature of the book, and the realness of the problem, Eishes Chayil was still able to show, in many different ways, the positive aspects of such a community. The people were not represented as flat, one-dimensional characters. They were full, complex people.

That was not the case with Dancing in the Dark. Religion is brainwashing, and Ditty must break free of it in order to become a dancer. She doesn't try to modify her religious beliefs to make her Judaism and dancing fit together. Once her secret comes out and she leaves her community, she leaves her religion as well, because her mind has been opened and she sees how religion doesn't actually make any sense.

So it makes me uncomfortable, knowing what an incredibly narrow view of the Jewish community this is, and how it will seem to someone who knows very little of the Jewish community.

As a story, it was fine. Girl following her dream against the wishes of her family. Nothing new there.

Dancing in the Dark comes out February 8, 2012.(less)

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Nov 06, 2012 Melodie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Dancing in the Dark follows a young girl's progress from living as an obedient Haredi (orthodox Jew) daughter in a strict religious household, to becoming a dancer who lives for her art.

From the moment Yehudit "Ditty" Cohen watches a forbidden ballet DVD, she's hooked. She practices in the bathroom for hours before wandering into Australia's National Ballet school and falling into lessons. Soon she's living a double life, half a Haredi, half as a dancer, and knowing it can't last forever. The co...more

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Feb 21, 2013 Kelly Hager rated it 4 of 5 stars

If you know me at all, you know that I have no dancing ability whatsoever. In fact, the only time I dance at all is when I've been drinking heavily and I mention that because if you ever see me dancing, knock the drink out of my hand, give me a diet soda and some aspirin.

So even though I am not a dancer at all (or even graceful), I am so in love with stories about dance in general and ballet in particular. And this book was no exception.

I think most of us have one thing (or more, maybe) that we...more If you know me at all, you know that I have no dancing ability whatsoever. In fact, the only time I dance at all is when I've been drinking heavily and I mention that because if you ever see me dancing, knock the drink out of my hand, give me a diet soda and some aspirin.

So even though I am not a dancer at all (or even graceful), I am so in love with stories about dance in general and ballet in particular. And this book was no exception.

I think most of us have one thing (or more, maybe) that we are so passionate about that not doing them isn't an option. For Ditty, it's ballet. Her family is very religious (ultra-Orthodox, to the point where they don't even have a TV) and so the thought of her wearing revealing clothes and dancing with boys is so out of the question that it's never even a consideration. And yet, Ditty has no choice. She HAS to dance. And she's good at it. Over the course of the story (which is several years), she goes from a novice (a 12-year-old girl in a class with eight and nine-year-olds!) to performing on stage. And when her parents find out, she isn't even that sorry. I mean, yes, she's not happy that her parents are upset (mostly disappointed but also very angry and hurt), but she knows that dancing is her thing and she has to do it.

The most interesting thing about this book for me was the idea of the slippery slope of sin. To clarify, I'm not Jewish at all, and my brand of Christianity is pretty liberal (yes to moderate drinking, yes to dancing) so my experience is about as different from Ditty's as you can get...and I don't consider the things she does sinning. But she did, at least at first

So remember how I said her family didn't have a TV? Her friend Sara found that her mom had a small one hidden in her room. It's completely verboten in the community so the two girls work up their nerve and watch it together. And Ditty feels so guilty! She's sure that God's mad at her and that her mom will be able to tell right away. And yet, they keep watching. That's how she learns about ballet; there's a performance on TV one afternoon.

She asks her parents for permission but they say no. But she goes anyway. She just wants to see if she can do it. So it goes from a few kind of relatively minor incidents of disobeying (two lessons a week) to eventually being four days a week. But to REALLY make it as a dancer and to show that she's serious about it, she knows that she'll have to attend rehearsals and classes on Saturdays...which is Shabbos (the Jewish Sabbath). And that's basically the most unforgivable thing you can do if you're Orthodox. Probably the only thing worse would be converting to Christianity. It's a huge deal.

And yet she does.

I enjoyed this book but it also made me really sad because Ditty was getting so far away from her family. In the beginning of the book, they were so close but dancing drove a wedge between her and everyone she loved.

Bavati has a new book coming out in November called Pirouette. I really, really hope it's a sequel to this.

Recommended.
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Feb 13, 2013 Christal rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-rlftci-book-count, 2013-nbrc, ballet, contemporary-fiction, female-lead, 2013-rlftci-covers, ya

See this review and others like it at BadassBookReviews.com!

Dancing in the Dark was previously published in Australia in 2010, and has finally hit the American market. Robyn Bavati has written a touching contemporary tale of a girl learning what she must do to be happy. The prose was beautiful and the interactions between the characters were both joyful and heartbreaking. I really enjoyed reading this book and loved the main character. Even though I know next to nothing about ballet and the Hare...more See this review and others like it at BadassBookReviews.com!

Dancing in the Dark was previously published in Australia in 2010, and has finally hit the American market. Robyn Bavati has written a touching contemporary tale of a girl learning what she must do to be happy. The prose was beautiful and the interactions between the characters were both joyful and heartbreaking. I really enjoyed reading this book and loved the main character. Even though I know next to nothing about ballet and the Haredi culture, I was spent up in this story and could not put it down!

Yehudit “Ditty” Cohen is a member of the ultra-conservative Haredi Jewish community. They have very specific rules that the follow both in worship and in their everyday lives. They eschew the secular world and separate themselves from goyim or non-Jewish people. Having grown up in this community, Ditty doesn’t really know any other way of life until the day her best friend Sarah finds a forbidden TV set hidden in her mother’s closet. Through the TV shows, Ditty is exposed to the world of ballet and soon realizes that becoming a dancer is her true passion in life.

Ditty’s parents are against her learning ballet because they believe performing on-stage is inappropriate and the clothing is also indecent. They don’t know they Ditty has already taken a few free lessons and has fallen completely in love with the art. She decides to continue dancing, but keeps it a secret from her family for over five years. Throughout this time, Ditty learns more and more about ballet, but she also learns about herself and what it will take for her to be happy.

I absolutely loved Ditty; even when I thought she was being a bit selfish or grumpy, I still understood where she was coming from. She knew what she was doing wrong, and even though she regretted hurting the people around her, she never regretted continuing to dance. She didn’t let herself believe that her actions were okay, but she owned up to the guilt that she constantly felt. She didn’t want to hurt her family, but she felt she had to become more independent and seize the chance to follow her dreams. When Ditty danced, her happiness and joy shined through the pages. You could feel how important to her it was and how it made her feel alive like nothing else. So many times I wished her family could be there to see her dance, for surely they would realize how much it meant to her if they could just see her in action.

The supporting characters around Ditty also had a big influence on her life. I loved her best friend Sara; she stood by Ditty through thick and thin and supported her even when she didn’t believe in Ditty’s actions. She didn’t let Ditty or her mother influence her beliefs, but she did love them both no matter what. Ditty’s cousin Linda was also very interesting. As much as Ditty changes throughout the novel, so does Linda and she ends up serving as a mirror for Ditty. Ms. Mitchell, Ditty’s ballet teacher, was so wonderfully supportive and true gem in this novel. I wish every child had a teacher like her in real life.

As members of the Haredi community, Ditty’s family was portrayed as very conservative and pious. Though Ms. Bavati does state upfront that she is Jewish, but not Haredi, I cannot say how much of their portrayal is correct. I do know that the family she created in this novel loves in their own way and are very humble, but they can also be harsh and stubborn. After they forbid her to dance, Ditty is constantly lying to everyone around her in order to keep her ballet world safe. She ends up alienating herself from those closest to her because she cannot tell them about her actual life. As she is exposed to more of the secular world, she begins to feel more and more disconnected from her family and her community’s beliefs and practices. Her mother sees her slipping away, but doesn’t know what is going on in Ditty’s world. When the truth finally comes out, the consequences are heartbreaking but I was very proud of Ditty for sticking to her guns. Though the situation looks very bleak, the end of the novel gives readers a little bit of hope for Ditty and her family and quite nearly made me cry.

I really enjoyed learning about the Haredi culture, their beliefs, and the way that they live their lives. Ms. Bavati used traditional Jewish words and phrases throughout the novel and, even though there was a glossary at the end, I never felt lost or confused. Everything was easily deciphered using context. I liked that Ms. Bavati didn’t have Ditty just suddenly turn from her Haredi roots. She had lived twelve years in that community before she was exposed to dance and it wouldn’t make sense for her to completely ignore everything she had been taught. She started questioning small things about her faith and, by the end, had figured out what being Jewish meant to her.

I think one of the most fascinating things about this book is that it can really be taken in different ways depending on the reader. For example, as someone raised in the modern, secular world, I tended to sympathize with Ditty and saw her decisions as brave though heartbreaking. On the other hand, I think that someone who lives in a more conservative, religious environment might see Ditty’s actions as selfish and sympathize more with her family. Dancing in the Dark could certainly be looked at from many different angles with everyone coming to different conclusions. I find that a mark of a great book. Ms. Bavati has written just a wonderfully compelling tale and I can’t wait to see what she has in store for the future. I recommend this book for readers of all kinds, but especially those who enjoy contemporary YA fiction.

Thank you to Netgalley and Flux for providing an ARC copy of this book!(less)

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Jan 13, 2012 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Very absorbing and beautifully written. I could really relate to Ditty on a lot of levels because I too was brought up in a strict religious family - not as strict as Ditty's, but still pretty out-there by today's standards - and there were quite a few moments where she was sneaking around behind her parents' back, crippled with guilt, getting tangled in a web of lies and more lies to cover up those lies etc etc, that could have been lifted straight from my teenage years. I loved the moment when...more

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Apr 11, 2013 kari rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013, 5-star, ya

Delightful. Different. Delightfully different!
The very best YA fiction doesn't include any of the usual tired plot devices or characters. By this I mean no MHB (Mysterious Hot Boy), no LT(Love Triangle), no PG(Plain Girl who is universally beloved for no apparent reason), no IL(Insta-Love), and no we can't be together because I am too dangerous, you are too dangerous, you and me together is too dangerous, etc.
So, you may be asking, well then what's left? If you remove all that stuff and the spar...more

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Feb 17, 2013 Gemma rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

This review is also posted in my blog

Title: Dancing in the Dark
Author: Robyn Bavati
Rating: 4.5/5

Dancing in the Dark by Robyn Bavati follows a young girl, Ditty Cohen who lives in a large orthodox Jewish family. This means that they live by the old beliefs of the Torah, like resting on Sabbath, celebrating Jewish Holidays, getting married young and having as many babies as you can. This is all Ditty has ever known and she is fine with this. Her cousin Linda however is modern orthodox which is a l...more This review is also posted in my blog

Title: Dancing in the Dark
Author: Robyn Bavati
Rating: 4.5/5

Dancing in the Dark by Robyn Bavati follows a young girl, Ditty Cohen who lives in a large orthodox Jewish family. This means that they live by the old beliefs of the Torah, like resting on Sabbath, celebrating Jewish Holidays, getting married young and having as many babies as you can. This is all Ditty has ever known and she is fine with this. Her cousin Linda however is modern orthodox which is a lot different from Ditty's immediate, while the women in Ditty's household walk around in long, heavy, shapeless dresses, Linda is wearing tight fitting jeans and short skirts and also has piercings. None of this however, stops them from having a great friendship.

Things begin to change for Ditty the day her best friend Sara shows her a TV she found in her mother's bedroom. Ditty and Sara begin to watch TV in secret and when one day they watch a ballet show, Ditty is hooked, it is all she can think of. She begins teaching herself ballet in bathroom at night, learning from books she has borrowed from the library until she finds some information about ballet lessons. She decides to attend the lessons on a trial basis for a week in secret. Ditty loves ballet and is pretty good at it that she decides to ask her parents if she can do lessons. Being orthodox Jewish, they said no. However she loves ballet so much, for the first time in her life she goes behind her parents back and does it anyway.

This is a very good book however I was slightly unsure about the time that it was set in. To begin with, it felt like it was set before the 1970's but then they mentioned having mobile phones which ment that its a more contemporary book. I guess this may be because of how Ditty's family lives and how they follow the old ways. I enjoyed reading about how Ditty followed her dreams even though she knew it would upset her family. I felt as though there were a few too many jumps in the book and we often missed a year or so of her life but other than this I loved it!
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Jan 05, 2013 Christina (Ensconced in YA) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: net-galley

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Dancing in the Dark by Robyn Bavarti is about a young Jewish girl Ditty, whose family practices the most strict form of Judaism. She sees her first ballet, The Nutcracker, when watching TV against the rules at her best friend's house. From there, her love of ballet grows. She finds a way to take lessons secretly, but Ditty knows she can't keep it a secret forever. Will Ditty be able to choose her talent and love of ballet over...more

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Feb 13, 2013 Cassi aka Snow White Haggard rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: garden, read-in-2013

2.5/5 stars
Dancing in the Dark wasn't terrible. But considering it has two of my favorite things, dancing stories and religious doubt, and I still couldn't like it, that's not a good sign for the book.

The biggest problem with this book is that it feels to juvenile. Yes I understand Ditty lives with an overprotective orthodox Jewish family so she's expected to be naive. But naiveté alone does not make a story juvenile. This story has the great opportunity to show those who are kept away from th...more

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Nov 14, 2012 Tilly rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

i really liked this book, it gave me an insight to jewish religion when before i had no idea what it was like.this book's moral is follow your dreams and (view spoiler)...more

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Mar 12, 2013 Heather Panella rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book combined two of my favorite things to read about- ballet and Jewish communities. Weird affinities, I know, but nevertheless, Ditty's story was an interesting look at what it is really like to grow up inside the confines of one the strictest of Jewish sects, espeically when you are a girl. Her struggles with faith and the lifestyle she was born into are well depicted and her decisions are understandable, albeit perhaps rash, ones. The descriptions of ballet are beautiful and filled with...more

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Oct 29, 2010 Cass - Words on Paper rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: review-copy, read-2010, aussie, minority-groups

Really questions the validity of religion, whether ones religion is more sacred or above another. Also, it teaches a good lesson of FOLLOW YOUR HEART.

I stayed up until 2 am last night finishing it off. The moment I read the last page, I turned the lights off and pulled up the sheets, and just laid there. My mind was processing what I had just read, and I could not sleep until AT LEAST half an hour later.

I don't know what I'm going to say in my review. I'll say this now, though: Anyone who has ev...more

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Mar 18, 2013 Ruth rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-reads, young-adult

Robyn Bavati's book about a girl torn between her passion and religion is a breath of fresh air in a sea of melodramatic teen novels. I can only describe the narrative as "soft"--Ditty is passionate about her life, but her internal dialogue is not overwrought or filled with hyperbole. Instead, she's a thoughtful young woman who is torn about the sins she's committing in order to pursue her dreams. In some ways this low-key style makes the book read a bit more like a middle grade novel than young...more Robyn Bavati's book about a girl torn between her passion and religion is a breath of fresh air in a sea of melodramatic teen novels. I can only describe the narrative as "soft"--Ditty is passionate about her life, but her internal dialogue is not overwrought or filled with hyperbole. Instead, she's a thoughtful young woman who is torn about the sins she's committing in order to pursue her dreams. In some ways this low-key style makes the book read a bit more like a middle grade novel than young adult--perhaps that is even the intention. However, regardless of the tone it's an engaging story that serves as a learning tool for many topics.

The basic premise of the book--a girl first dancing alone in the bathroom at night and then secretly taking lessons--suggests that there will be a dual focus on ballet and the reasons for her covert actions. However, ballet serves as a plot device for a family drama circling around a blossoming young woman beginning to question elements of her orthodox faith. A few readers might be put off by how "easily" Ditty advances through her ballet lessons given the extreme difficulty of the art. I tend to agree, but I like to think that Ditty's innate talent as well as off-page practice created a perfect storm, although it takes a bit of looking past shortcomings. However, the main plot of the story, that of Ditty coming to terms with her actions as they are perceived by her family's interpretation of their religious edicts and her relationship with her family is better fleshed out. I spent much of the book waiting for a series of gradually building outbursts with the family that never happened. There was one key moment, but for the most part it was all about Ditty's secret, how she kept it quiet, and her friends (Jewish and ballerinas) commenting and reacting upon her actions.

Bavati does and excellent job creating believable characters. Ditty's thought processes as she considers breaking familial and religious rules will be familiar to readers who weren't exactly wild children. Ditty's friends and cousins give excellent counterpoints to her actions, and while they stay in the background they help to illuminate further Ditty as a protagonist. Although reading the blurb on the back of the book might suggest that Ditty's parents, in particular her father, are tyrannical or backward with the devotion, Bavati is careful to display them as strongly devout but still wanting to love their daughter. The familial dynamic is handled so gently that it's heartbreaking when things do finally spiral out of control.

One problem I did have with the book was the author's decision to include a glossary of terms. I appreciated her use of Jewish terminology, but it would have been better to define things in the context of the paragraph rather than forcing the reader to flip to the back of the book (sometimes it was clear the meaning, but not always). Additionally, while she wanted to immerse the reader in the Haredi Judaic environment, there wasn't a particularly good reason not to call a wig a wig. If something doesn't quite translate right, sure, use the origin term with a definition. But when there is a more than adequate term to use, it feels weird to have a loan word used instead. This is a bit of pet peeve of my own, so other readers might not find it problematic.

All that said, I really enjoyed having a bit of a lesson in some of the different orthodoxy levels of Judaism. I appreciate that Bavati makes it clear that the family shouldn't be seen as a typical Jewish family and that it was fictional, but at the same time there is a lot of truth in the beliefs and practices at the very least. I found myself looking online for brief articles on Haredi Judaism as well as other Jewish sects because I'm fascinated by religion and how it affects people. Dancing in the Dark serves as an entry point into an area of religion that would likely even be somewhat unfamiliar to Jewish readers. For young readers that drink up knowledge, this would likely have them thirstily absorbing the details and cross-checking them with further research.

All in all, Dancing in the Dark is a well-composed piece of young adult literature. Bavati tackles a difficult subject area with point, grace, and respect which results in a book that is not only enjoyable but also educational. Although it reads a bit young, it's a good choice for tweens as well as teens interested in family dramas with a religious bent. It might not work quite as well for adults as some teens books, but those who do not have a problem with the lighter prose used will likely find themselves engaged as well.(less)

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Jan 16, 2013 Ashley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, ebook, for-review, ya

Let me preface by saying that I too, was a dancer in my youth. I thankfully, had parents that (even if begrudgingly) toted me back and forth to every practice, recital, and bought every costume and pair of shoes that I needed. so THANKS parents for allowing me to have passions and hobbies.

So naturally, I fell in love with Ditty's struggle to be true to her religion and to herself. This is a terrific 'coming of self' story. It teaches you to go after what you want. It may not be easy, and it may...more

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Aug 08, 2011 Tammy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Dancing In the Dark is an incredibly bittersweet novel of living your dreams. Ditty wants to become a ballet dancer, she loves the art of ballet, the costumes, the elegancy, the moves, everything. But when she asks her parents, they refuse. But Ditty doesn’t let that hold her back; she goes ahead and starts taking lessons anyway. At first keeping the truth from her family comes easy, but as she becomes more advanced and more committed to ballet, it becomes a struggle. And one day, she is caught,...more

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Apr 02, 2013 Erica R Hopper rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, advanced-reader-copy

Still, the overall vibe of the story is that this particular sect of the religion is brain-washing, belittling of women, and very controlling. Like I said, Religion Is Bad. I feel the author wanted you to feel for Ditty and cheer her on in gaining independence and doing what she wants. Forget that she's abandoning her entire family and homeless, forget that she's somehow managing to take all of these dance classes without her family knowing, forget all of the stuff that makes sense. In a way, I...more

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Jan 08, 2011 Steph rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Raised in an Orthodox Jewish household, Ditty’s life revolves around her family and her faith. However when she discovers a passion for dance, her sense of self and all she believes in will come into question as she chooses to keep her dancing a secret and risk her place in the community. I was fascinated to about a lifestyle and religion so different from my own upbringing, and yet I felt that idea of questioning everything you’ve been taught to believe in and the journey of finding your own pl...more

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Apr 05, 2013 Rachael Woohoo rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, netgalley, 2013, book, ebooks-i-own, review-copy, reviewed, april-2013

[3/5]

For more of my reviews, check out my blog @ Moosubi Reviews!

I usually don’t read too much multicultural fiction, recently I’ve been more interested in stories about dance. This book also sounded kind of like A World Away by Nancy Grossman, which I also enjoyed. So, when I saw this book on NetGalley, as well as a handful of good reviews from GR friends, I picked it up and enjoyed the book (:

Ditty was a likable and somewhat complex character, though I wish she was a bit more developed. I def...more [3/5]

For more of my reviews, check out my blog @ Moosubi Reviews!

I usually don’t read too much multicultural fiction, recently I’ve been more interested in stories about dance. This book also sounded kind of like A World Away by Nancy Grossman, which I also enjoyed. So, when I saw this book on NetGalley, as well as a handful of good reviews from GR friends, I picked it up and enjoyed the book (:

Ditty was a likable and somewhat complex character, though I wish she was a bit more developed. I definitely admired her commitment to sacrificing her security, friends, and family for something she truly loved – I mean, how often do you see most people these days stepping out from a crowd, away from their past lives, friends, and family, to chase their true dreams? That was what made me really enjoy her character.

Other than that, I also was intrigued as to how Ditty made each of her decisions and what internal conflict she went through. However, at times I felt like her thinking seemed skimmed over or oversimplified. For example, though I thought Ditty’s conflict about lying to parents was interesting, it seemed like Ditty would mention it once or twice per chapter, then move on without a second thought. Nevertheless, by the end of the novel, I really felt like I cared for and liked Ditty’s character.

As for the other characters, I also liked them, though they also seemed undeveloped. Specifically, each character had a different personality and part in the story that I thoroughly enjoyed, but at times I felt like I might have preferred more focus on a smaller group of characters, rather than less focus on each individual character, on a larger cast of characters. In particular, I might have liked more devolopment on Ditty’s relationships with her mother, father, and siblings. On that note though, I thought Ditty’s friendships with Sara and Linda were sweet, well-developed, and, in a way, unique because of their religious background.

It was the plot though, that I felt like I had the biggest trouble with. I’m not saying that I disliked or hated it, but I still felt like I had the biggest issues with it, compared to the other aspects in the book. First of all, it seemed like religion was portrayed as a result of some kind of brainwashing. Though I’m not a religious person, I don’t feel like religious people, even those that are really devout to their religion are necessarily brainwashed. In my opinion, it’s definitely a more complex issue than I thought the book portrayed religion as, so I suppose it left me with some questions :/ I also felt like some parts of the storyline were undeveloped or kind of unexplained, like Ditty’s long years between age twelve and seventeen.

However, I want to emphasize that I still found the overall story enjoyable. Though the idea of “breaking free” might be a bit cliché, Ditty’s journey from a more outspoken person, to someone who stands up for herself and takes action was heartwarming. The book also tugged on my heartstrings with its own heartbreaking and hopeful moments. So, if you’re the type of person who might enjoy this type of story, reads in the multicultural genre, or are just looking for a short but different type of feel-good story, definitely check out this book ^__^

* A review copy of this book was provided through NetGalley. This did not affect my opinion of the book.(less)

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Dec 31, 2012 Audrey rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley-arc, for-review

Reviewed on Her Fiction Fix :

3.5/5 stars

Ditty Cohen comes from a strict Jewish household; she is a Haredi Jew, one of the most conservative branches of Judaism. One day, during a bout of rebellion, she discovers ballet and is instantly hooked. She dreams of taking ballet lessons and of a future as a performer. However, she knows her family would never allow her to do so. This story takes readers on Ditty's personal journey through the years, witnessing her struggle with family, faith, and her pa...more Reviewed on Her Fiction Fix :

3.5/5 stars

Ditty Cohen comes from a strict Jewish household; she is a Haredi Jew, one of the most conservative branches of Judaism. One day, during a bout of rebellion, she discovers ballet and is instantly hooked. She dreams of taking ballet lessons and of a future as a performer. However, she knows her family would never allow her to do so. This story takes readers on Ditty's personal journey through the years, witnessing her struggle with family, faith, and her passion.

I need to start off and mention that it was so interesting to me that this was set in Australia, because everything was unfamiliar. Locations, seasons, how school years work and everything. I actually learned quite a bit of cultural information that I've never known about before.

I felt like I related to Ditty quite a bit, in terms of expectations while growing up. Not necessarily in a religious sense, though I have grown up in a religious household and still practice Roman Catholicism (quite progressively, mind you); going to mass, receiving the sacraments, etc. I've never personally felt the same pressures and lifestyle that Ditty had, but on a broader note, I feel like quite a lot of people can relate to her, in the sense that she had a dream that seemed far from her reach and she was willing to overcome everything that it took to get there. I admired her zeal. As for the other characters, I loved that there were no catty ones competing with Ditty in her ballet school. As if she needed any more people to come into conflict with. Everyone was supportive, very nice, and realistic.

The only issue I had with this book, which unfortunately stuck through the whole thing, was how negative the family came off. It wasn't even just the family, but the whole ultra-orthodox community. Almost everyone came off as brainwashed and it felt like the only way for Ditty to pursue her dreams was to have to leave her community. I'm not going to pretend like I know a lot about the different Jewish communities and how much Bavati's portrayal rings true, so I can't really expand on this. But reading that Bavati grew up Modern orthodox made me think that this was why it came off the way it did. Linda (Ditty's cousin who, like Bavati, was Modern orthodox) was very detailed in her arguments with Ditty and the latter could never really defend herself or her community. It felt pretty one-sided, which made me feel a little uncomfortable. As a reader, I really did sympathize with Ditty, which I'm sure was the intention. You want Ditty to succeed, to break free from whatever's holding her back, but at the same time I wish she tried a little harder to find some common ground with her Judaism.

Ultimately, this is a universal story about a girl with big dreams, and her journey in doing whatever it took to achieve it. I loved Ditty's transition as a dancer and that the story brought us through her entire experience from her discovery to finally being an actual performer. It sped through five years of her life, which could have made the story feel really rushed, especially considering the length of the novel, but it was done surprisingly well. It didn't drag on, and I felt like all the important pieces in Ditty's life were touched upon enough for the story to end the way it did.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Flux Books for providing me with the ARC.(less)

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Jan 01, 2013 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2013, r2r-complete

(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to Flux Books and Netgalley.)
17-year-old Yehudit (Ditty) is glad that she is Jewish, and glad that her life has a purpose, but she also knows that her life would be nothing without dance.

One of 7 children, and part of a strict Jewish family, Ditty’s life is strictly structured, and she must abide by the Jewish laws and stipulations. She must always be dressed conservatively, she must always eat kosher foo...more (Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to Flux Books and Netgalley.)
17-year-old Yehudit (Ditty) is glad that she is Jewish, and glad that her life has a purpose, but she also knows that her life would be nothing without dance.

One of 7 children, and part of a strict Jewish family, Ditty’s life is strictly structured, and she must abide by the Jewish laws and stipulations. She must always be dressed conservatively, she must always eat kosher food, she must not do anything on Saturdays which are Jewish rest days, and she must not spend time with boys who are not her relatives. The list of rules that Ditty must live with and abide by is endless.

At the age of 12, Ditty asked her parents if she could learn ballet, and they forbade it. Ditty did it anyway but hid it, and as she learned more her love of dance grew. At 17, Ditty is a very talented dancer and wants to go to ballet school and to pursue a career as a dancer, but her parents have plans to have her married and having babies as soon as possible, as every good Jewish girl should. But Ditty isn’t sure that she wants to be Jewish any more.
Can Ditty ever really be the dancer she wants to be? Can she defy her family to follow her dreams? And what else must she sacrifice to get what she wants?

This was a lovely story, which although it was about religion wasn’t preachy. There was time given to talking about the rules, traditions, and laws by which Ditty’s family lived, but whilst Ditty believed everything that her parents had taught her, her love of dance and her not-quite-so-strictly-Jewish cousin Linda allowed her to question the things that she had been taught, and stretch her wings a little.

I loved Ditty, she was such a good person, and I hated that her parents told her that she couldn’t do what she loved because of her religion. I understand that people have religious beliefs that rule certain things out, but it was just so unfair that religion could stop Ditty from dancing. Like her cousin said, how bad is dancing really? In the grander scheme of things dancing is not bad – wars are fought over religion, but not dance.

I loved how Ditty grew during this book and developed her own ideas about things. She was so believing and accepting of everything her parents told her to start with, so much so that going against their teachings made her feel physically sick at times, but as she slowly did more and more things that they would disapprove of, she realised that nothing bad happened when she disobeyed the rules, and actually began to learn through finding her own way.

Overall I found this book so inspiring, and I could almost feel the dance with Ditty. She went through so much, but she learned and gained so much too. A great YA story about religion and following your dreams.
8 out of 10.
(less)

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Feb 17, 2013 Gina (My Precious) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ballet, net-galley

SUMMARY

Have you ever wanted to do something forbidden so badly, that it made you question your entire belief system or maybe even the foundation for your beliefs - well that's what's going on in this engaging, thought provoking read. Poor Ditty....

Ditty is being raised a Haredi Jew (Ultra-Orthodox Jew). Her strict religion forbids so many pleasures in life: no TV, no dancing and no food that isn't Kosher. She will have an arranged marriage and her number one duty in life is to have babies and ra...more

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Mar 12, 2013 Rose rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc-or-galley, young-adult, religion, realistic-fiction, coming-of-age, family, favorites

Initial reaction: "Dancing in the Dark" was, indubitibly, a beautifully told story of a young woman's coming of age and quest to pursue a dream of dancing. However, in the spectrum of faith and abiding by her family's strict rules, she has to pursue her dreams in secret, and begins to question the foundations she's been taught for much of her life. I really enjoyed the novel in so many ways, from the smooth, easy prose, to the intimacy of Ditty's experiences, but I was left with a few conflictin...more Initial reaction: "Dancing in the Dark" was, indubitibly, a beautifully told story of a young woman's coming of age and quest to pursue a dream of dancing. However, in the spectrum of faith and abiding by her family's strict rules, she has to pursue her dreams in secret, and begins to question the foundations she's been taught for much of her life. I really enjoyed the novel in so many ways, from the smooth, easy prose, to the intimacy of Ditty's experiences, but I was left with a few conflicting feelings about the novel in the aftermath. I hope to expound upon those in the full review, but I still consider this story, collectively speaking, as a favorite.

Full review:

"Dancing in the Dark," in many ways, was an eye-opening read for me as an overarching coming of age story. While it was a look into the life of a young woman ambitiously striving for a love she discovered in dance and the relationships she built in that spectrum, it was also an interesting examination of the nature of faith and internal/external conflictions that may come with that, particularly in a restrictive sense of faith.

Speaking from personal experiences, I grew up in an environment with an open acceptance of and willingness to understand many different religions. Though I personally have my own beliefs and moralities in my respective faith and hold fast to those, I try to see the world in different perspectives and gain a sense of understanding of other interpretations, other values, other cultures, among other aspects. But I think a few questions that this particular book brings to light in certain measures - what if your faith conflicts with the dreams and aspirations you seek in life? What if those restrictions limit your ability to grow, change, and contribute in your society and you have to lie to yourself and others in order to do the things you set out to do? How do you explain your faith to others who don't understand what it is? How do you find the balance between your beliefs, your adherence to your faith, and defining those in your sense of self?

I really learned much about the young woman at the forefront of "Dancing in the Dark" (Ditty), identifying not only as Jewish, but a particular division of that with its own sets of rules and limitations. When we first meet Ditty, she's a twelve year old girl who's spending time at her friend's house and who happens to get into something that her faith won't allow (they're restrictive of TVs, DVDs, restrictions in literature, etc.) Ditty happens to turn on the TV and watches a showing of "The Nutcracker" with her friend that completely turns her world upside down - making her want to pursue the art of dance. However, her parents aren't supportive of her aspirations and forbid her from pursuing it. Thus, Ditty makes the difficult decision to transcend her parents' restrictions in order to pursue her interest, which lends into years of living a lie that not only surrounds multiple dimensions of her external life, but takes a toll on her from within. This is a narrative that follows Ditty over the course of five years, and granted, considering her respective faith - she starts out as a young woman with a certain naivete that some might think is - in due measure - representative of her sheltered lifestyle from the outside world. As the book progresses, it's more of a coming to terms that she realizes the particular restrictions that she resides within and that she hates being untruthful about what she wants to do and her dedication to her faith. It's easy to palpate her fears, anger, confusion, questionings, among other emotional mounds that arise in the course of the novel. I actually thought the way the story was told was brilliant, and I really felt for Ditty alongside her journey amid some heartbreaking turns.

At the same time, I think its important to say that this story isn't entirely for everyone. I think if you're from a background with a very rooted sense of faith and follow Ditty's journey, you may not like the way she come to terms with her conflictions and the resulting measure from which she departs and comes to terms with her life in the overarching story. Ditty's experience is by no means one size fits all, nor is it a measure to say that every person who lives in the kind of environment that Ditty does for some time experiences a break in the way that she does. Still, when following this story on an overarching note as a coming of age/coming to terms story - the questions and issues it brings across are very valuable, I think, for any reader who may peruse it. You may not agree with Ditty's perspective, the actions/reactions she takes in turns, and how she rationalizes events, but I think the author did a fantastic job of bringing many issues to the forefront at least to think about and question. I definitely appreciated reading Ditty's individual story and about the different people in her life in the narrative. I certainly liked Ditty's dance teacher - she was a wonderful character and you could tell she really cared for the girl and wanted to look out for her best interests, as well as encourage her.

In the end, I was rooting for Ditty to find the path she wanted to take and I really appreciated the questions, the emotional resonance, and the overarching story this had to offer. It's beautifully told and certainly one I would recommend at the least to try.

Overall score: 3.5/5

Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, from the publisher Flux.(less)

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