Dancing On My Grave
by Gelsey Kirklandpublished
November 1st 1987
(first published 1986)
by Jove
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binding
Paperback
setting
United States
isbn
051509465X
(isbn13: 9780515094657)
description
Gelsey Kirkland was a princess in the world of American ballet. The seeming fairy tale of her life in the rarefied atmosphere of classical dance was c...more
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recommends it for:
girls or boys age 16 and up who love the ballet
For any ballerinas out there this book is a must read. I read this at age 12 when dance was my life. (but I would never let my 12 year old read this-there is adult material in it) The book is a memoir of Gelsey Kirkland from the NYC ballet, a dancer who I had watched every year on PBS with her partner Baryshnikov (Misha).
From Publishers Weekly:
Rarely has a performing artist probed so searchingly and satisfyingly into the wellsprings of creativity as ballerina Kirkland does in this incan...more
From Publishers Weekly:
Rarely has a performing artist probed so searchingly and satisfyingly into the wellsprings of creativity as ballerina Kirkland does in this incan...more
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Ooooh!!! The true life story of a professional ballet dancer, filled with sex, drugs and eating disorders. Awesome!
I just mentioned in another book I added (about the dark side of gymnastics) that I really wanted to be a ballerina as a kid. I even checked out all the books at the library about ballet, and memorized the different feet positions, and names of famous ballet dancers around the world INCLUDING the name Mikhail Baryshnikov, who apparently this author has a "difficult relation...more
I just mentioned in another book I added (about the dark side of gymnastics) that I really wanted to be a ballerina as a kid. I even checked out all the books at the library about ballet, and memorized the different feet positions, and names of famous ballet dancers around the world INCLUDING the name Mikhail Baryshnikov, who apparently this author has a "difficult relation...more
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6 comments
Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
Dancers / Dance Enthusiasts
The true life story full of sex, drugs, and ballet.
...
I reread this for the first time in years at my mother's suggestion. Kirkland's description of the life/structure of life within NYCB (and the dance world in general), the physical and artistic struggles as a ballerina, and the emotional anguish caused by work, love, addiction, etc. were disturbing if only for their accuracy. She goes into great detail about the different challenges of dance (including technical aspects), so that no...more
...
I reread this for the first time in years at my mother's suggestion. Kirkland's description of the life/structure of life within NYCB (and the dance world in general), the physical and artistic struggles as a ballerina, and the emotional anguish caused by work, love, addiction, etc. were disturbing if only for their accuracy. She goes into great detail about the different challenges of dance (including technical aspects), so that no...more
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Gelsey Kirkland was the biggest prima ballerina in the U.S. in her heyday, a favorite of Balanchine and a partner to Baryshnikov. In this memoir, she writes about her career in a confessional, tell-all style. Her story is sad and bitter-there is very little that shows that she got any joy out of her art at all. She also includes her struggle with anorexia and cocaine addiction and the gory details of her less-than-dreamy offstage relationship with Baryshnikov. If you're looking for a glamoro...more
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Okay so maybe if you were never a ballerina this book won't appeal to you, but I was and I still have a soft spot for it. I first read it was I was about twelve or thirteen and I thought it was the best book ever written but this year I tried to go back and read it, and it's pretty corny. So I don't know. But anyways it's a memoir of this really young girl (Gelsey Kirkland) who was in the New York City Ballet by the time she was like 17 or soemthing, and it's all about exposing the dirty unde...more
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Read in April, 1998
recommends it for:
Dancers / Ballerinas
For all the Ballerinas out there.... this book is a MUST to read!!!!! If you consider becoming a professional dancer... then this book is just perfect. It teaches you not to give up so easily. That you must fight and struggle your way up if you search for success. Although there were parts in this book that i found her (refer to Gelsey) is stupid for making herself suffer from hunger and pain, but then again... this book is about a total struggle. Somehow this book has made me realize that life ...more
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Read in November, 1998
recommends it for:
little girls that dream about being ballerinas
One of the greatest bad ass ballerinas of all time, Gelsey Kirkland's book is a wild testament to self-mutilation in pursuit of "ballet feet" - a sort of binding for art's sake -to "ballet body" aka anorexia and cocaine snuffling and other forms of rollercoaster recreation.
Her romance with Mikhail Baryshnikov gets a bit overwrought in places, but for the most part whether you like ballet or not I guarantee you'll bury your nose in this one for months to come.
Her romance with Mikhail Baryshnikov gets a bit overwrought in places, but for the most part whether you like ballet or not I guarantee you'll bury your nose in this one for months to come.
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Read in January, 1991
Another intense ballerina book. Gelsey Kirkland is phenomenally tallented but manic about ballet. After studying and dancing with the New York City Ballet School and company, Kirkland dances for American Ballet Theater. She does lots of cocaine in the bathroom stalls between rehearsals.
The book also chronicles her relationship with her body--which equates to several eating disorders and describes her intersting choices of men, one of whom committs suicide. All in all not a particularly chee...more
The book also chronicles her relationship with her body--which equates to several eating disorders and describes her intersting choices of men, one of whom committs suicide. All in all not a particularly chee...more
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Read in January, 2004
recommends it for:
dancers/dance enthusiasts
I've re-read this book several times. It was very interesting for me to see the mental processes and the day-to-day life of a professional dancer. If your interest doesn't lie there, don't read this book. The author, Gelsey Kirkland, was a famous ballerina and partnered Mikhail Baryshnikov for years. Sadly, her life takes a downward spiral as she makes many bad choices. I felt it was very open, honest and enlightening.
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I liked that this book gave an honest view into some of the more negative aspects of the dance world (drugs, eating disorders, etc.). It was interesting and fun to read, although a little bit corny at times. Some of her bitterness definitely comes through in the book, and I had to remind it is an autobiography and not an objective look at her story.
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Read in March, 2008
Great book! I am reading it for the second time. Any one who has struggled to understand their impact on the world, who lives with low self esteem and self destructive behavior should read this book. You will realize even the people at the top, fight the same struggles to understand themselves.
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Read in October, 1996
I read this book in 1996, just after attending a summer dance intensive with Ms. Kirkland. The book descriptively reveals her rise to fame as a Balanchine muse and then her destructive fall into drug abuse and self-loathing. An interesting woman in person and on the text.
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I loved, loved, loved this book and have read it three times. There are moments when it gets a bit dull, but not many. Overall it's an amazing insight into the life of ballet dancers and drug users. Fascinating, macabre and bizarre. A good read.
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Read in January, 1997
i've read this book twice...and the first time turned me off to wanting to be a professional dancer. it was a good book, but gelsey kirkland's life was full of torment and distress as one of balanchine's prima ballerinas.
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I was expecting a lot more from this book by a famous ballerina. A huge part of the book is devoted to deconstructing the various ballets she performed. Boring! But I am glad she survived her cocaine-riddled lifestyle.
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I read this book many, many years ago (college perhaps?) and chose it because I love dance. Her story was captivating and I enjoyed the revealing parts about Barishnikov (spelling?).
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A heartbreaker. A New York story, a celebrity story, a snapshot of late 20th century American ballet when it was at it's height of star power. Recommended.
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Read in December, 2007
read this for my senior project. intense, chilling, but beautiful emotions about ballet that i've never read in words.
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Very interesting, as a dancer, to read from an insiders' view what goes on at the top of the ballet world. Sad!
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This book is pretty good so far but I lost it and I need the library to order me another copy.
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