Top Ten Tuesday:: The Top Ten Books for Dancers

The Broke and Bookish run this weekly meme where bloggers post their top ten in any category!

Fun Fact: I love ballet

This week was a "freebie." Since this blog is just getting started (on blogspot at least), I figured this would be a good time to get to know me. And one thing about me is that I LOVE dance, especially ballet! So I decided to do a list about that. I'm not a huge fan of dance books that are only about girls dealing with EDs or only about girls who are seduced by older man, so this list has none of those! Here are my favorites:

1- Bunheads by Sophie Flack- This book such a real and raw look at the world of ballet. It's written by a former NYCB corp member, so it captures the joys and struggles of life in the corp. This book inspired me to start writing about my experience in dance. I'm forever glad I found this book!
2- En Pointe by Lora Glover- Written in prose, this book is a lovely story about trying your hardest to achieve dreams and learning how to live when they don't come true.
3, 4, and 5- Ballet Shoes, Dancing Shoes, and Theater Shoes by Noel Stratfield- These are the only three "shoe books" I've read, but I really loved them as kid. They are about family and performing and are beautiful.
6- The Royal Ballet School Diaries by Alexandra Moss- These are definitely for a younger audience. I read them when I was in 6th grade and even then, they were a little young for me. However, they are the reason I fell in love with ballet and they definitely make ballet feel magical.
7- Margot Fonteyn: An Autobiography- She's a ballet legend, the prima of all primas. Reading her story is forever interesting. Her account of being a ballet dancer during WWII inspired me to write a story for my fiction writing class (I got an A- which was huge for my professor).
8- Dancing in Red Shoes Will Kill You by Dorian Cirrone- What happens to a dancer when she doesn't have the body type and never will? This is a story of humor and courage- and one of the most difficult parts of ballet.
9- The Year My Sister Got Lucky by Aimee Friedman- Two dancing sister and the move that changes their world. Not as dance related as the others, but it's still there.
10- Girl in Motion by Miriam Wenger-Landis- This isn't my favorite ballet book, but if you liked Bunhead or Dance Academy (my favorite Austrialian teen drama tv show), you might enjoy this too. It's a young girl at NYC's best dance school trying to find her way in the ever competitive world of dance.

I still feel like I'm missing some important ones, but I can't think of what they are! Oh no! Leave me comments about your favorite ballet books and maybe I'll think of the ones I missed!