Dancing Through It

Dancing Through It: My Journey in the Ballet
By Jenifer Ringer (257 pages)
Published by Viking
Bookish rating: 4

I love dance autobiographies. I always have. And lo and behold, newly retired Jenifer Ringer, former principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, produced a book I hoped would give insight into the more current, post-Balanchine NYCB inner-workings and dynamics.

Ringer doesn't disappoint. Now, this book has been crucified by reader reviews, because she pretty much blindsides the reader with a declaration of her uber Christian faith, followed by lots of Christian-ese sprinkled throughout. I get the outcry. You think you're picking up a book about the dark underside of the dance world and instead you get a soliloquy about a personal lord and savior.

However.

As someone who has studied autobiography pretty intensely, I tend to let a LOT slide when reading autobiography. The reason is that the author is deliberately making choices as to what to include, what to omit, and the way in which she presents it. To boot, a reader audience is constantly lurking, and this soooooo shapes the writing. Therefore, I find most writing decisions, both lovely and cringe-worthy, at least interesting.

So, then. Ringer's faith is central to her story: her raising, her struggles, her healing--her overall narrative. Why not include it? Yes, I cringed at the choice of language. As someone raised in a conservative, evangelical tradition, I deeply dislike its lingo. So, yes. I got uncomfortable reading so many "Daughter of the Lord" or "Child of God" phrases, complete the excessive capitalization such lingo generates. I just don't care for it. But my, it tells us much about Ringer, yes? And therefore, I'd argue it's an appropriate inclusion in her autobiography.

In many cases, the writing was a tad bland, even through the "darkness" of her disordered eating. And the story of her courtship with fellow NYCB dancer was like something out my childhood church's youth group's "Sex and Dating" series (which can pretty much be summed up as no sex, if you must date). But hey, it's how she rolls, and she's happily married and she and her husband appear to be intelligently and thoughtfully raising two children.

There's a purity in Ringer's writing: her love of ballet, a bit of innocence. In a strange way, it was sort of refreshing.

Where Ringer shined most was in her descriptions of various ballets, particularly Jerome Robbins's Dances at a Gathering, which serves as something of a symbol for her story in dance. Ringer describes choreography beautifully, making it very fun reading. You can see dances performed as you read. Also, Ringer's genuine love of ballet and performance shine through her writing. Her book is not a brag-fest, as dance autobiographies often are. I very much got the sense that Ringer was sharing a story.

Finally, she ends the book with a short chapter titled "The Mirror," which details a lovely, touching scene with her joyfully naked 4-year-old daughter, herself, and a mirror. I'll let readers discover it for themselves, but the scene ended the book perfectly, summing up her new role as mom and responsibility she feels to raise her daughter with a strong sense of self.

So, ignore the reviews that bitch about the Christianity part. This is a good dance autobiography. Recommended.