Introducing OUTSIDE THE LIMELIGHT

Breaking news! Outside the Limelight has been named a Kirkus Indie Books of the Month Selection for January 2017! Classical Girl Press is proud to announce the release of Outside the Limelight, Book 2 of the Ballet Theatre Chronicles! You can find it in print and electronic formats HERE or distributed  through Ingram Book Company and Bookshop … Read more

OUTSIDE THE LIMELIGHT’s new first line

Well, I am very excited right now about a very small (to you), writerly thing. I came up with a new first line for the opening chapter of my forthcoming ballet novel, Outside the Limelight.   The old first line was sending the story in sorta the wrong direction, and it was using the wrong authorial … Read more

World Ballet Day 2015 is on!

Want the link to the Oct 5, 2017 coverage? Click HERE! Welcome to The Classical Girl’s World Ballet Day 2015 page! Glad you could make it. I will update this page prior to, and throughout World Ballet Day, so you can have the most relevant links and information as the day unrolls. And want to hold onto … Read more

Maggie Shipstead’s astonishing ballet novel, Astonish Me

The choreography is old-fashioned, but as Rusakov circles the stage doing high, perfect coupés jetés en tournant, his technique is not fusty but pure. His movements are quick but unhurried, impossible in their clarity and difficulty and extraordinary in how they seem to burst from nowhere, without any apparent effort or preparation. But the beauty … Read more

10 ways to eat like a ballet dancer

Revised for 2019 Over at Q&A, someone asked about what ballet dancers eat. It’s a common enough question; people are thinking if they could get a hold of that diet, that mentality, well, they’d be set for life. Or they have this image of anorexia and lifelong self-denial. I told the reader to dispel the notion of … Read more