My first ballet project: an activity book to help inspire, motivate and encourage young ballet students. I made this with alot of help from my dancing daughter, Lydia, corps de ballet member of New York City Ballet.
My Ballet Journal is aimed for girls ages 6 and up. There are pages about ballet class, steps and positions (with space for corrections and goals of course!) and lots more: my performances, my hair, my make-up, tutus, and ... "Oops! Everyone make mistakes sometimes."
I have always loved going to NYCB. And I started bringing Lydia to performances when she was very young. She didn't want to just watch, she wanted to dance herself, and so she started ballet classes when she was seven at the School of American Ballet. Now she is 24 years old and is in her seventh year with the company.
Tonight the annual run of the Nutcracker opens here in New York at Lincoln Center. After many years in NYCB's production as a student and now as a company member, Lydia is getting close to dancing in 400 performances of Balanchine's Nutcracker. Hard work and the need for encouragement never stops!
We hope young ballet students have fun keeping this journal - that they will fill it with their experiences and special memories of dancing, and keep it for years to come. We hope they pirouette to their dreams!
Here is the link directly to Dover Publications online store - where you can find My Ballet Journal and other projects I have done for them.
5 comments:
How great! I can't wait to see the book. Happy Nutcrackering to you and Lydia. Getting my daughter Anne to and ready for those performances are some of the most exciting and thrilling times of my life. I miss them.
What a wonderful project, Monica! I am enchanted by the idea to do a Ballet Journal, and especially with your professional ballet dancer daughter, too. Good luck with all your lovely books and projects!
Those years when we were with our young daughters for all those Nutcrackers were so much fun - weren't they! Yesterday I went to rehearsals AND performance: the Friday- after- Thanksgiving tradition ever since SAB !
So happy to read about "My Ballet Journal" and that it is now available. I remember you sharing about your sketches for this project in class.
Love this book!! It's really perfect for wee ballerinas.
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