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Ballet Orphans: A Prequel (Ballet Theatre Chronicles, #3)

Terez Mertes Rose (Goodreads Author)

3.95 · Rating details · 21 ratings · 10 reviews

It's 1990, and New York soloist April Manning is trying to rebalance her world in the aftermath of her parents’ deaths. An offer to join the struggling West Coast Ballet Theatre as a principal dancer seems like the perfect opportunity for a fresh start—a new life in San Francisco, an exciting step up in her career, and the hope of a redefined sense of family. But the other ...more

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Published January 2nd 2021 by Classical Girl Press

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Jan 03, 2021 Ivana BM rated it really liked it

Shelves: owned-kindle

3.5 stars rounded to 4.

I LOVE dance movies. Always have, always will. Even with the bad acting and lame storyline, the dance part always gets to me. The best one ever - The Center Stage without a doubt....cant even count the numbers I have watched it. ⠀
⠀
But this was the first time I have read a book about dance, more correctly, ballet. It was an interesting experience, I have to say. The book was solid, even though I did wanted more of...something. More action, more drama, more plot. But what s ...more

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Jan 03, 2021 C. Purtill rated it it was amazing

(Reviewed for Dance Advantage)

Faithful readers who have followed Terez Mertes Rose’s “Ballet Theatre Chronicles,” which began with “Off Balance” and its sequel “Outside the Limelight,” will once again be happy to immerse themselves in the ballet-based drama and romance. Fear not, new readers! You need not have read the other books in the series in order to understand the characters and their stories. As a prequel, this novel is both a great introduction to Rose’s world and a standalone which can (Reviewed for Dance Advantage)

Faithful readers who have followed Terez Mertes Rose’s “Ballet Theatre Chronicles,” which began with “Off Balance” and its sequel “Outside the Limelight,” will once again be happy to immerse themselves in the ballet-based drama and romance. Fear not, new readers! You need not have read the other books in the series in order to understand the characters and their stories. As a prequel, this novel is both a great introduction to Rose’s world and a standalone which can be enjoyed without any prior knowledge.

If you are a fan, however, there are lots of great revelations from previous storylines (or would that be successive storylines since this is a prequel?) woven throughout. And if you also read “A Dancer’s Guide to Africa,” set in the 1980s (a prequel to this prequel!) and taking place in Africa, you will love reading about the next steps of Fiona Garvey, the narrator of that novel, once she returned home.

“Ballet Orphans” begins in 1990 when April Manning, a promising soloist with American Ballet Theatre in New York, suffers the loss of both parents and the failure of a romantic relationship with Vincent, a fellow company member, in the span of a year. An offer from a former colleague, Anders Gunst whom readers met in a previous novel, to join the scrappy West Coast Ballet Theatre he is now directing, is just the thing to reinvigorate her beleaguered body and broken soul. With nothing to lose, no friends or family to hold her in New York or her hometown of Omaha, April sets off for San Francisco.

Like April herself, WCBT has been going through its own turmoil. Sid Hauser, the company’s previous artistic director who was beloved by all, resigned amidst an incident the dancers refuse to discuss. When April arrives for her first company class, she learns very quickly that the more senior members of the company, led by the talented yet egotistical Dmitri Petrenko, have little faith in their brand new AD and have yet to sign their annual contracts. A walkout on the first day of the new season sets the stage for a divisive power struggle that April unwittingly finds herself in the middle of: loyal to Anders, she nevertheless needs to maintain good relationships with fellow company members, especially her dance partners.

Complicating matters for April are her own insecurities, ones that come from being a principal dancer who leapfrogged into the role rather than rose through company ranks. When she isn’t in the first cast of “Sleeping Beauty” as Aurora, she wonders if she’s good enough. When exceptional young dancers are brought in to replace some of the walkouts, she worries about job security. And like all dancers, especially ballerinas, she’s anxious about her future: how long will her body allow her to dance? Will she find love? Can she find love? Will she always be beholden to the art and craft of ballet?

As in her previous novels, “Off Balance” and “Outside the Limelight,” author Terez Mertes Rose eschews the cliched storylines that can plague “dance novels” and particularly “ballet books.” She acknowledges competition exists in the dance world, as well inappropriate romances, petty jealousies, and even sabotage, but turns the tropes upside down in “Ballet Orphans.” In fact, all of these ballet bromides appear to be at the heart of the mystery of Sid’s resignation as AD and its connection to Jana, a former star of WCBT who walked out in support of Dmitri and lost her job. Bit by bit, the layers of this secret are teased out, revealing a far more nuanced and woeful answer, yet still quite thrilling.

Even the romances are treated with real-world dynamics, the couples are complex and multi-faceted, the relationships rich in three-dimensionality. Does April find new love? Of course! Does her ex, Vincent, return? You bet! The ensuing complications and resolutions, however, are not what a reader would typically expect – and that is refreshingly realistic. ...more

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Jan 22, 2021 Kathleen Hermes rated it it was amazing

The joy of reading this book transported me back into the live performances that we have missed over the past year. I am not a dancer, but am an enthusiastic patron who has fallen in love with the transcendent beauty of live performance. Ballet Orphans offers a “behind the scenes” glimpse of the West Coast Ballet Theatre and the lives of its dancers who are family to each other, each dancer with their unique history, background, and ambition. As a reader I can feel the ecstasy of performing, alo ...more

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Jan 02, 2021 blythe rated it really liked it

Thanks to Classical Girl Press and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of Ballet Orphans.
I love reading about ballet studio/company rehearsals and the drama that accompanies. I devoured this fun book in a day, and highly recommend to others who enjoy reading about the dance world. The descriptions of the movements in the featured ballets such as Romeo and Juliet and Sleeping Beauty were detailed enough to remind me of exact stagings I've seen. Some of the casting dramas, etc. may seem overblo ...more

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Dec 29, 2020 Mary rated it it was amazing

Held my interest from the first page to the last

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Dec 26, 2020 TL marked it as dnf

Shelves: goodreads-giveaways

Won via goodreads giveaways. All my opinions are my own:)
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Not my cup of tea unfortunately. Not a bad book, just not for me. :(

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Jan 16, 2021 Tanya E rated it liked it

First off, I’d just like to say how BEAUTIFUL this cover is! As a little girl, I don’t ever remember wanting to be a ballerina, but I’ve always thought of that world and the dancers as glittery and beautiful! This cover evokes all those feelings and is a home run for me!

This is book 3 in the Ballet Theatre Chronicles series but as it is a pre-quel to the other books, it can be read as a stand-alone.

I really enjoyed seeing ‘behind the curtain’ as they say. Ballet Orphans had just enough ballet te ...more

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Jan 12, 2021 Debbie Smith rated it really liked it

This was quite different than what I’m used to reading. But don’t misunderstand that statement. Different in no way means bad. It means I don’t ever remember reading a book with the focus on ballet. But I can now say that I’ve learn so much about a subject that I knew so little about.

Though part of a series, I felt no need to have read early books. What was happening to April Manning was completely clear. We followed her from New York, where she lost a prestigious dance spot and a boyfriend, to ...more

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Jan 14, 2021 Heather rated it liked it

http://fireandicereads.com/2021/01/ba... ...more

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Jan 23, 2021 Tfalcone rated it liked it

Thank you Net Galley for the free ARC. Jealousy, subterfuge and the rigor of being in a ballet company in San Francisco. Good behind the curtains read.

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About Terez Mertes Rose

Terez Mertes Rose

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Terez Mertes Rose is a writer and former ballet dancer whose work has appeared in the Crab Orchard Review, Literary Mama, Women Who Eat (Seal Press), A Woman’s Europe (Travelers’ Tales), the Philadelphia Inquirer and the San Jose Mercury News. She reviews dance performances for Bachtrack.com and blogs about ballet and classical music at The Classical Girl. The author of the Ballet Theatre Chronicl ...more