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Review
'The Everyday Dancer' is a shared story: an attempt to tell the truth about dancers' lives. And it is wonderful. --Observer, October 2, 2011
One of the most attractive characteristics of this book is the way the author never loses sight of her beginnings ... I found it enthralling. --Dancing Times, October 1, 2011
I am struck by [Deborah Bull's] remarkable honesty...this is the book that sets it all straight and provides the truest insight into this mysterious world of any book I have ever read.
--ballet.co.uk, October 2011
The magic of musical creation is what threads its way through ...These are the thoughts of a profoundly engaged artist...he offers fascinating side-lights on how he builds a role, and thinks about the voice. --Independent, September 30, 2011
Bostridge writes particularly well about Handel...because he, perhaps uniquely, is in a position to combine an 18th-century historian's depth of contextual understanding with an insider's knowledge of how this music works vocally...reading this sparkling collection leaves one keen for more --Sunday Times, October 2, 2011
Deborah Bull is an articulate, descriptive and enthusiastic writer...When the curtain falls, remember her words: 'Forget Degas and his pastel picture-book perfection.' This is the real dance world: tough, sometimes heartbreaking...but always triumphant and alive. --The Lady, November 4, 2011
One of the most attractive characteristics of this book is the way the author never loses sight of her beginnings ... I found it enthralling. --Dancing Times, October 1, 2011
I am struck by [Deborah Bull's] remarkable honesty...this is the book that sets it all straight and provides the truest insight into this mysterious world of any book I have ever read.
--ballet.co.uk, October 2011
The magic of musical creation is what threads its way through ...These are the thoughts of a profoundly engaged artist...he offers fascinating side-lights on how he builds a role, and thinks about the voice. --Independent, September 30, 2011
Bostridge writes particularly well about Handel...because he, perhaps uniquely, is in a position to combine an 18th-century historian's depth of contextual understanding with an insider's knowledge of how this music works vocally...reading this sparkling collection leaves one keen for more --Sunday Times, October 2, 2011
Deborah Bull is an articulate, descriptive and enthusiastic writer...When the curtain falls, remember her words: 'Forget Degas and his pastel picture-book perfection.' This is the real dance world: tough, sometimes heartbreaking...but always triumphant and alive. --The Lady, November 4, 2011
Book Description
A vibrant and compelling first-hand portrait of the life of a dancer, from writer and dancer Deborah Bull.
Inside This Book
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Well, I cant believe I'm the first to review this because I assume it would have quite a wide audience. People seem to be fascinated by the everday life of a dancer and I am certainly one of them. Its a simple, easy read and yet offers so much between its covers.
The book tries in some way to help the curious reader to visualise how an extraordinary dancer produces something so extraordinary on a daily basis, and which in their lives is a perfectly ordinary daily event. It gives a beautifully clear insight into what goes into the daily physical discipline, the psychology, and the daily detail of the creation of these extraordinary performances, described from class till curtain fall. All this from the eyes of a generic dancer who makes it to the top, with personal insight from Deborah, who of course did so (the book doesnt deal with those who fail, or dont make it at all). So many interviewers ask these questions of our most famous dancers, and here it is all set out for you. Some details which are gleaned from her own personal experiences (although its not an autobiography by any means) are just beautifully revealing. In particular she describes the feeling of looking for her name on the cast list, and of it feeling like a lottery and learning to accept that. She illustrates this by saying how she felt she had won a golden ticket whenever she was cast opposite Jonathan Cope....although this may be no surprise to some readers, its still very enlightening to read the book and really understand why.
If you are a regular ballet fan, read it and imagine your favourite dancers going about their day, and feel as if you can imagine exactly what they are doing as you are sipping your pre performance drink or rushing into your seat at curtain up. How many times I have wanted to be a fly on the wall backstage! If you are an aspiring dancer, read it (or not!) before embarking on a career in dance! If you are already a dancer or balletomane/cognoscenti, nothing here will be news to you and I dare say it wasn't written with you in mind.
For example, the description of company class. I was fortunate to attend a ballet class at the Royal Ballet right after reading the first chapter which describes a typical company class. It is described perfectly in the book and having read it, I felt I knew what each dancer might be feeling at that moment.
She also tackles the feelings of a dancer at the end of the last performance at the end of her career, (obviously, as before, drawing on her own experiences by way of example) and on a positive note discusses all the lifelong and enviable skills a ballet dancer must have learned throughout so many years of this extraordinary daily experience (quite apart from being able to do bouncing splits).
I gave it four stars instead of five because it may be that some of the readers like me, are frequent audience members and occasionally find an opportunity to talk to the dancers at the stage door. Not much attention is given to this relationship between dancer and audience, and I would have liked to understood that a little better. However, perhaps this is because this exchange tends to happen really at the end of the dancer's day, and if you've learned nothing else reading the book you will have learned that at that stage a dancer must be even more knackered and hungry than you may ever have imagined.
I loved it, and am most thankful to Deborah for shedding such a clear light into the less glamorous but no less interesting aspects of this really extraordinary world.
The book tries in some way to help the curious reader to visualise how an extraordinary dancer produces something so extraordinary on a daily basis, and which in their lives is a perfectly ordinary daily event. It gives a beautifully clear insight into what goes into the daily physical discipline, the psychology, and the daily detail of the creation of these extraordinary performances, described from class till curtain fall. All this from the eyes of a generic dancer who makes it to the top, with personal insight from Deborah, who of course did so (the book doesnt deal with those who fail, or dont make it at all). So many interviewers ask these questions of our most famous dancers, and here it is all set out for you. Some details which are gleaned from her own personal experiences (although its not an autobiography by any means) are just beautifully revealing. In particular she describes the feeling of looking for her name on the cast list, and of it feeling like a lottery and learning to accept that. She illustrates this by saying how she felt she had won a golden ticket whenever she was cast opposite Jonathan Cope....although this may be no surprise to some readers, its still very enlightening to read the book and really understand why.
If you are a regular ballet fan, read it and imagine your favourite dancers going about their day, and feel as if you can imagine exactly what they are doing as you are sipping your pre performance drink or rushing into your seat at curtain up. How many times I have wanted to be a fly on the wall backstage! If you are an aspiring dancer, read it (or not!) before embarking on a career in dance! If you are already a dancer or balletomane/cognoscenti, nothing here will be news to you and I dare say it wasn't written with you in mind.
For example, the description of company class. I was fortunate to attend a ballet class at the Royal Ballet right after reading the first chapter which describes a typical company class. It is described perfectly in the book and having read it, I felt I knew what each dancer might be feeling at that moment.
She also tackles the feelings of a dancer at the end of the last performance at the end of her career, (obviously, as before, drawing on her own experiences by way of example) and on a positive note discusses all the lifelong and enviable skills a ballet dancer must have learned throughout so many years of this extraordinary daily experience (quite apart from being able to do bouncing splits).
I gave it four stars instead of five because it may be that some of the readers like me, are frequent audience members and occasionally find an opportunity to talk to the dancers at the stage door. Not much attention is given to this relationship between dancer and audience, and I would have liked to understood that a little better. However, perhaps this is because this exchange tends to happen really at the end of the dancer's day, and if you've learned nothing else reading the book you will have learned that at that stage a dancer must be even more knackered and hungry than you may ever have imagined.
I loved it, and am most thankful to Deborah for shedding such a clear light into the less glamorous but no less interesting aspects of this really extraordinary world.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As a dancing fan, but by no means "a dancer", i was excited to read what life is really like for someone who's 9 to 5 (or 10 to 10 as we learn) is to dance.
I loved this book. It's style was easy to read, there are really fascinating peeks into all sorts of things that you would never think of, and the use of references to common everyday events enables you to identify with many areas of the dancer's life.
If you have a keen interest in dance, then I believe that you will find this book engaging.
I loved this book. It's style was easy to read, there are really fascinating peeks into all sorts of things that you would never think of, and the use of references to common everyday events enables you to identify with many areas of the dancer's life.
If you have a keen interest in dance, then I believe that you will find this book engaging.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Ideal for dancers or those who have been in the profession earlier in life. Rather like a therapy session for the author in places, however, completely accurate and true. Small book, large writing, easy to read and hold. Very pleased to own it.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Interesting to dancers
I bought myself this book after reading a review in The Guardian, thought, thats sounds good, and it is. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Miss Wells
Everyday Dancer
Rather disappointing. Written in an odd style so as not to give any names away but this just made it frustrating. Read more
Published 3 months ago by oxo
The Everyday Dancer
This book The Everyday Dancer was put in my daughters Stocking at Christmas. She was truly delighted with it. Read more
Published 4 months ago by dd.
Anthropological Gold
The Everyday Dancer is many things at once: a memoir, a fascinating anthropological study of a ballerina's secret world, and homage to the craft itself. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Ana
For whom is this written?
I can only think that Ms Bull wrote this book because she could! Tedious and nothing new for a dancer and I would imagine extremely boring for a non dancer. Read more
Published 7 months ago by J. Drummond
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