Ballet Stories

The magic of ballet is evoked in these enchanting stories presented with many musical excerpts from the works themselves. Jenny Agutter, who before turning to acting was a dancer, presents the stories of two French ballets - Giselle and Coppelia - and the three great ballets by Tchaikovsky, in engaging style. A perfect introduction to the ballet.

For more than 400 years, the art of ballet has stood at the center of Western civilization. Its traditions serve as a record of our past. A ballerina dancing The Sleeping Beauty today is a link in a long chain of dancers stretching back to 16th-century Italy and France: Her graceful movements recall a lost world of courts, kings, and aristocracy, but her steps and gestures are also marked by the dramatic changes in dance and culture that followed.

This lovely collection will make little ballerinas dance for joy! Inside, they’ll find eight of the most beautiful ballet stories, including Swan Lake, Coppélia, The Firebird, and of course, that perennial holiday favorite, The Nutcracker. It’s the perfect way to prepare a child for seeing a performance - or to keep the magic going afterward.

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the 10th annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to out charm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute. The odds are against him. He’s been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low.

The Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew series stars three best friends determined to solve mysteries in their small hometown. This time Nancy and her best friends George and Bess are ready to perform a ballet version of Cinderella. They've been practicing their dance moves for months. But when Cinderella's glass slippers disappear, preparations for the show come to a halt. Now Nancy and friends must find the missing footwear before the curtain can go up.

Pauline, Petrova, and Posy love their quiet life together. They are orphans who have been raised as sisters, and when their new family needs money, the girls want to help. They decide to join the Children's Academy of Dancing and Stage Training to earn their keep. Each girl works hard following her dream. Pauline is destined for the movies. Posy is a born dancer. And Petrova? She finds she'd rather be a pilot than perform a pirouette.

The celebrated ballerina and role model Misty Copeland shares the secrets of how to reshape your body and achieve a lean, strong physique and glowing health.

A snowy road trip. A cozy cabin. An impossible romance. All Elle wanted was to dance the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy and get a paycheck big enough to cover her Manhattan rent. If only the gig had been so simple. When a snowstorm traps her in a remote cabin, Elle is stuck with a man she vowed to hate. Spending some time curled up by the fire with a charming, handsome man could have been perfect. Too bad he’s her womanizing dance partner Zach. As the snow swirls around them, sparks begin to fly. But even a winter wonderland can’t erase a painful past. With time before their performance ...

Marissa has always loved dancing. But lately, she feels clumsy and awkward when she dances, and she feels bigger and taller than the other girls. She doesn't even bother trying out for the Rose Fairy ballet. But someone else thinks Marissa has what it takes to play the Rose Fairy!

Watch the curtain rise on these dramatic and beautiful ballets. The stories in this collection feature magic and comedy, drama and adventure, and are accompanied by a brief history of classical ballet, as well as historical details of the composition, choreography and early performances of each ballet.

The pieces in this collection, written between 1956 and 1961 and including short fiction, a radio play, and a stunning early novel, offer startling insights into Cohen's imagination and creative process. Cohen explores themes that would permeate his later work, from shame and unworthiness to sexual desire in all its sacred and profane dimensions to longing, whether for love, family, freedom, or transcendence.

A quiet dancer. A charming single dad. A summer that could change everything. Serena Reyes has always preferred the background—whether at the ballet barre or in life. As a soft-spoken librarian and adult beginner ballet dancer, she’s content cheering on her friends from the wings. But when she’s asked to step in and teach a beginner ballet class at Arabesque Academy, she finds herself in a role she never imagined: being seen. Enter Eli Turner, a recently divorced single dad with a daughter enrolled in summer ballet camp—and a smile that somehow manages to unravel Serena’s ...

Welcome to Angel Falls, a deep-south small town in the heart of L.A. (That’s Lower Alabama, y’all.) Injury shatters Casey Alexander’s dream of becoming a prima ballerina, so she opens a dance studio in her home town of Angel Falls. Among her students are the daughters of her high-school sweetheart Ben and his wife Melody, Casey’s ex-best friend. Witnessing Ben and Melody’s happy-ever-after on a weekly basis fuels her determination to find someone of her own to love. But eligible men are scarce as hen’s teeth in the quaint little town on the backside of nowhere. Until a sexy ...

The most enterprising and emotional true story ever written about the ballet industry. A young girl whose dream to be a ballet dancer is threatened merely by the colour of her skin in 1960’s racist Britain. Yet by dedication and perseverance, she overcomes all manner of obstacles to eventually realise her ambitions, performing for the President and First Lady of the USA, Michael Jackson and with Luciano Pavarotti. Brickbats and Tutus is both inspirational and motivating; a true life story of adventure and adversity in which one individual accepts and overcomes the most daunting of ...

A Love lost...a new dance partner...a love story

This little ballerina loves to dance in her tutu, especially when her daddy joins her! Have you ever tried to dance ballet?

MacKenzie Palumbo grew up in Ohio with dreams of becoming a ballerina. Dean Bennett itched to get out of the shadow of his charismatic twin brother and shine as in the world of TV comedy writing. Though they would not meet until their forties, their fortunes and futures were inescapably bound to cross paths. Pas De Deux follows the parallel lives of MacKenzie, a professional ballet dancer, and Dean, a successful sitcom writer, through their early years, professional careers, marriages, divorces, and eventual "meet cute" in their forties. As MacKenzie advances from young ballet student to ...

A ghost with a dream. A ballet student with a secret. Can they help each other before the curtain falls? For two centuries, Grace has drifted through the echoing halls of Amberwood, a lonely ghost longing for the warmth of applause and the joy of dance. Now, it's a ballet boarding school, and she's discovered her true passion: ballet! But she's trapped within Amberwood's ghostly realm. Her only companion is Rodney, a fellow ghost with a free-roaming spirit and a knack for getting into trouble. Twelve-year-old Lauren Mason arrives at Amberwood with dreams of her own, but she's also carrying ...

Celina is the director of a prestigious ballet school in Dallas. Her father passed away recently and her elderly mother is living all by herself on a ranch in Montana. The hired man just quit and she must find someone to run the ranch until they can sell it, and convince her mother to move back with her to the city. Catrina’s Uncle Cody, from Book 1, leaves his cattle ranch in Idaho and goes to Montana to help take care of the ranch. When he learns of Celina’s predicament—that her mother refuses to leave—he begins hatching a plan to help her. In despair, Celina decides she will have...

"The naked ballerina held her breath, closed her eyes, and sat down in the bathtub filled with ice water." After suffering an injury onstage, Iris sees that her career as a ballet dancer is over. Her roommate won't believe it, her boyfriend doesn’t understand ballet, and the other man in her life may be the worst thing to ever happen to her. Unable to see a future without dance, Iris makes every mistake and bad choice that she can. From behind-the-scenes at a world-class ballet company to behind the bar at a music venue in Lower Manhattan, IRIS is a haunting and heartbreaking novella.