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Quick, Before the Music Stops: How Ballroom Dancing Saved My Life
"I've been dancing steadily since that Valentine's Day. I have taken countless lessons and classes, passed a professional certification exam, done several shows and a competition--yes, dressed in those outrageous gowns and false eyelashes--and then gone back home to the kids, the soccer, the housework, and to work the next day. It hasn't been easy to make room in the schedule for my passion, but I have done it, because I'm certain now that it is necessary for life. This new period is rich-as rich in some ways as having my two children because it has been a kind of birth-but it has also been extraordinarily painful thanks to the self-examination that dancing has provoked in me. And so, because of dance, I can say, unequivocally and gratefully, that I am alive at last." - From "Quick, Before the Music Stops"
"There is no time for regret in dance. You have only now, this moment, for your performance, your glorious movement. Whatever you're going to do, do it now, quick, before the music stops." - Janet Carlson
In her twenties, Janet Carlson was a successful competitive ballroom dancer, but she abandoned dancing to raise a family and pursue a more conventional profession as an editor for a luxury lifestyle magazine. Twenty years later, she seemed to have it all: Two beautiful daughters, a glamorous job, and a handsome, talented husband. Despite all of her successes, she felt a terrible void - her marriage was deeply troubled, and she was somehow withdrawn in the very midst of her own life and the lives of her children. Then, one Valentine's Day, her husband gave her ballroom dancing lessons as a gift, and everything changed. She discovered the joy, passion, and confidence she hadn't realized had gone missing for so long.
Over time, Janet discovers that ballroom dancing also contains the secrets to life and love: the give-and-take of dance, two bodies in rhythm and harmony, mirrors the reciprocity of human relationships. Total trust between partners is as vital on the dance floor as it is within a marriage. And yet, both partners - in dance and in life - must stand on their own two feet. The unadulterated joy Janet feels as she intuitively moves to the music speaks to the kind of absolute, whole-body happiness we were born to have. On the dance floor, she finds resolve in the waltz, self-confidence in the tango, and passion in nearly everything. Embracing dance once more allows her to let go of a marriage that was completely out of sync; put more heart and emotion into her work; find more time to truly be with her children; and ultimately rejoice in her intrinsic balance and poise.
Told with precision, grace, and painstaking honesty, "Quick, Before the Music Stops" is the tale of one woman's midlife renewal through dance, and how her new-found empowerment transcends the dance floor and becomes immediate and relevant in every aspect of her life. It shows us how to recognize and celebrate both our strengths and our flaws, reignite passion for the everyday, and how to step from the periphery into the light and surrender to the music.
"There is no time for regret in dance. You have only now, this moment, for your performance, your glorious movement. Whatever you're going to do, do it now, quick, before the music stops." - Janet Carlson
In her twenties, Janet Carlson was a successful competitive ballroom dancer, but she abandoned dancing to raise a family and pursue a more conventional profession as an editor for a luxury lifestyle magazine. Twenty years later, she seemed to have it all: Two beautiful daughters, a glamorous job, and a handsome, talented husband. Despite all of her successes, she felt a terrible void - her marriage was deeply troubled, and she was somehow withdrawn in the very midst of her own life and the lives of her children. Then, one Valentine's Day, her husband gave her ballroom dancing lessons as a gift, and everything changed. She discovered the joy, passion, and confidence she hadn't realized had gone missing for so long.
Over time, Janet discovers that ballroom dancing also contains the secrets to life and love: the give-and-take of dance, two bodies in rhythm and harmony, mirrors the reciprocity of human relationships. Total trust between partners is as vital on the dance floor as it is within a marriage. And yet, both partners - in dance and in life - must stand on their own two feet. The unadulterated joy Janet feels as she intuitively moves to the music speaks to the kind of absolute, whole-body happiness we were born to have. On the dance floor, she finds resolve in the waltz, self-confidence in the tango, and passion in nearly everything. Embracing dance once more allows her to let go of a marriage that was completely out of sync; put more heart and emotion into her work; find more time to truly be with her children; and ultimately rejoice in her intrinsic balance and poise.
Told with precision, grace, and painstaking honesty, "Quick, Before the Music Stops" is the tale of one woman's midlife renewal through dance, and how her new-found empowerment transcends the dance floor and becomes immediate and relevant in every aspect of her life. It shows us how to recognize and celebrate both our strengths and our flaws, reignite passion for the everyday, and how to step from the periphery into the light and surrender to the music.
- GenresMemoirNonfiction
224 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2008
About the author
Janet Carlson
8 booksI have thirty years’ experience on staff at national consumer magazines including Town & Country, Self and European Travel & Life. As an editor and writer, I’ve helped plan issues, create content, re-envision pages and departments, and mentor junior staffers. For sixteen of those years, I specialized in beauty and health. I’ve also written and edited travel, fashion and culture articles, as well as profiles.
My Background in Brief:
* Beauty & Health Director at Town & Country Magazine, 1997-2010
* Beauty Director at SELF Magazine, 1993-1997
* Executive Editor at European Travel & Life Magazine, 1985-1992
Blogger for HuffingtonPost since 2008.
Yale University, Bachelor of Arts, American History, magna cum laude.
In my most recent position as beauty & health director at Town & Country I:
* wrote about the fun and artistry of cosmetics, the seriousness of skin-care and the life-and-death aspects of depression, Alzheimer’s, eating disorders and other topics of critical interest to magazine readers;
* collaborated with Castle/Connolly Medical to produce Best Doctors listings;
* traveled to Machu Picchu for a five-day trek with fourteen women from Atlanta—and lived to write about the experience;
* attended Maria Shriver’s Women’s Conference in California to report on the state of the dialog in gender politics;
* represented my magazine in the marketplace and co-hosted and addressed audiences at Town & Country’s industry events;
* did TV and radio interviews—one of my favorite segments was Rebecca Roberts’ interview on NPR concerning a piece I wrote called, “Diary of a Beauty Editor.”
Since leaving Town & Country in July 2010, I’ve been writing, editing and consulting for magazines, companies and individuals. I write stories, blog-posts, ad-copy, marketing pieces, product names, sound-bytes, book proposals and public addresses.
My Background in Brief:
* Beauty & Health Director at Town & Country Magazine, 1997-2010
* Beauty Director at SELF Magazine, 1993-1997
* Executive Editor at European Travel & Life Magazine, 1985-1992
Blogger for HuffingtonPost since 2008.
Yale University, Bachelor of Arts, American History, magna cum laude.
In my most recent position as beauty & health director at Town & Country I:
* wrote about the fun and artistry of cosmetics, the seriousness of skin-care and the life-and-death aspects of depression, Alzheimer’s, eating disorders and other topics of critical interest to magazine readers;
* collaborated with Castle/Connolly Medical to produce Best Doctors listings;
* traveled to Machu Picchu for a five-day trek with fourteen women from Atlanta—and lived to write about the experience;
* attended Maria Shriver’s Women’s Conference in California to report on the state of the dialog in gender politics;
* represented my magazine in the marketplace and co-hosted and addressed audiences at Town & Country’s industry events;
* did TV and radio interviews—one of my favorite segments was Rebecca Roberts’ interview on NPR concerning a piece I wrote called, “Diary of a Beauty Editor.”
Since leaving Town & Country in July 2010, I’ve been writing, editing and consulting for magazines, companies and individuals. I write stories, blog-posts, ad-copy, marketing pieces, product names, sound-bytes, book proposals and public addresses.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 27, 2012
How life imitates art, or how art imitates life. A super account of how dance is a metaphor for life and visa versa. I totally identified with Janet and her adventures in dance as well as some of her life events including the complicated mind and the fences. Many of her stories within the story made me really think about my life of dance as well. This was fun, entertaining and even a bit of therapy!
April 30, 2023
This book, like dance, is truly a life opening discovery about yourself. If you dance, you’ll appreciate this book moreso than if you don’t; however, the life lessons are needed with or “without” dance. Great read that’s well written.
November 24, 2008
As a dancer I was particularly interested in her insights about teachers and how her perception of herself changed over time while dancing, because I could relate to it.
Unfortunately, most of the book is taken up with less about dancing and more about her own personal shortcomings and the "failure" of her marriage.
Time moves incredibly quickly and I never did grasp how long she spent doing anything in particular. It went from starting to dance to years dancing with barely any explanation other than, "the next October" and the "it was spring again already." She also does not describe the dance moves particularly well. As someone who does dance I was often confused, I can not imagine that a non-dancer could have an accurate picture in their mind of these dance moves.
The ending is extremely anti-climactic and just leaves the reader hanging, asking "really, that's it?" I should have given up after the marriage ended, but feel a little better in thinking at least she got some kind of a clue by the end.
Unfortunately, most of the book is taken up with less about dancing and more about her own personal shortcomings and the "failure" of her marriage.
Time moves incredibly quickly and I never did grasp how long she spent doing anything in particular. It went from starting to dance to years dancing with barely any explanation other than, "the next October" and the "it was spring again already." She also does not describe the dance moves particularly well. As someone who does dance I was often confused, I can not imagine that a non-dancer could have an accurate picture in their mind of these dance moves.
The ending is extremely anti-climactic and just leaves the reader hanging, asking "really, that's it?" I should have given up after the marriage ended, but feel a little better in thinking at least she got some kind of a clue by the end.
December 10, 2009
I enjoyed some of the dancing information--an "insider" look at ballroom dancing, but the book was not quite what I had hoped it would be. Carlson, an amateur dance champion at 24, returns to dancing in her 40s as her marriage is crumbling. I, however, thought it was going to be about a woman who discovers dancing late in life . . .although this book (in the right director's hands) could be developed into an amazing Lifetime movie!
April 10, 2008
Some really interesting stuff about ballroom dancing, surrounded by intolerable whining and navel-gazing.
September 17, 2008
I expected more about ballroom dancing and less about the author's personal problems.
July 23, 2012
I enjoyed this book because I could really identify with it.
September 8, 2012
A fun read. Sort of. If you liked Eat, Pray, Love, you'll love this. She must be an extremely beautiful and sexy woman. Why? She told us so. Oh this is so unkind.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews