Marianna S. (Angeloudi) reviewed The Cranes Dance (Vintage Contemporaries Original) on + 160 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 7
The world of prima ballerinas is a mysterious one that few of us can ever hope to understand. This fascinating look into their rarefied world of discipline, ritual, superstition, practice,and rivalry is an eye-opener, as we follow the careers of Kate and Gwen Crane, two exceptional ballerinas as they perform for a major New York ballet company. Gwen, the younger, technically gifted sister, suffers some sort of nervous breakdown, and goes home to Michigan to recuperate. Kate is left to pick up the pieces, and go on in a career which had been eclipsed somewhat by her amazing, but unstable, younger sister. The bonds of sisterhood, rivalry, and mental illness are threads throughout this fascinating story. There are some dark moments about mental illness, but the ending is satisfying and hard to put down.
