Story for the Week
Corinne doesn’t have her sights set on being the next Baryshnikov. First of all, she’s not a boy. 🤷♀️ Second of all, as much as she enjoys her ballet classes at school, she’s much more interested in tap and contemporary styles of dancing. Third of all, at 5′4″ and more on the voluptuous versus the thin side, she’s not the right proportions to be a classic ballerina. And finally, she hasn’t been studying dance since she was knee-high to a grasshopper, which I think is probably pretty important to even get close to Baryshnikov.
As a musical theater major, Corinne has focused on studying all the styles of dance available to her. During her freshman year, she signed up for tap, and she really wanted to take modern dance. On the first day of class, her instructor Amy Lynn asked why everyone took that particular class. Corinne’s response was that she couldn’t fit modern into her schedule, and she doesn’t have the body for ballet. Amy Lynn’s response was “Challenge accepted.”
During her second semester freshman year, Corinne went to Liverpool, so dance classes fell off of her schedule. First semester sophomore year, however, she took—you guessed it—ballet. It wasn’t traditional ballet. She didn’t need pointe shoes. They didn’t wear leotards in class. And her ballet teacher Claire is incredibly encouraging. Surprise, surprise, she actually enjoyed her ballet class.
By second semester sophomore year, my “doesn’t have a body for ballet” kid found herself in advanced tap, advanced ballet, and dance ensemble. And while she still has a hard time landing a pirouette, she enjoyed ballet and plans to continue to take the classes. Her major requires a certain number of dance credits, but Amy Lynn actually recommends that musical theater majors take at least one dance class every semester so their skills stay sharp.
In addition to musical theater, she’s doubling in digital media. As much as she loves performing, theater is a very tough business to break into and also make a living. Ironically, digital media has provided some fascinating film opportunities for her. She had the chance to be an extra in a small film that was using the campus for some of its scenes. She also got to be a production assistant on a film downtown for a few days.
All of these opportunities make her a more well-rounded performer, so I keep telling her that she can take care of me in my old age when she’s rich and famous. 😉
The author of the book below works professionally as a pediatric physical therapist and was recently honored as a woman of distinction by the New York State Senate. She writes some of my favorite novels. She is also a dancer, so she knows a little bit about the world of ballet. So I feel like some of the quotes from the book hit a little closer.
I did not get the part.
“Yeah, but you’re the understudy. That’s at least something,” Imani offers cheerfully. “It’s a paying job. And you know you’ll get stage time. It’s really great. You should be pumped.”
I know my roommate is only trying to help. She’s always trying to help. She doesn’t understand the whirling vortex of thoughts inside my brain.
Hell, I don’t even understand them most of the time.
“The pay is shit.”
“You’re a performing artist. The pay is always shit.”
“It’s not the same. You…you can be a musician at any age. With any color. With any body type. I have—had—such a small window to shove that square peg into a round hole. So few people get to the level I got to. Even fewer succeed. Do you know what the statistics are? It’s something like three hundred thousand people try for a professional ballet job each year. Only two percent get hired. That’s not a lot of people in the grand scheme of things. I thought if I just hammered away hard enough, eventually, it’d fit. But no matter what, I’m still me. I still have wide feet and big boobs and not enough skill. I’m still a square peg.”
“Male ballet dancers always have a level of prestige due to their scarceness. It’s a running joke that females can train from the womb, morning, noon, and night, and still never achieve success…. But a guy shows interest, anywhere after the age of twelve, and suddenly he’s the next Baryshnikov.”
I have noticed, in recent years, that professional theater appears to be much more accepting of different body types than in the past. We have seen all different shapes and sizes in shows that we’ve seen the last few years. And while the acceptance of different shapes and sizes has evolved, dancers still have to have the dancing chops to get hired.
Regardless, Corinne still won’t be the next Baryshnikov. She enjoys ballet, and she appreciates the skill required. But tap and modern are definitely more her jam. 🩰
Book Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐
4 Stars for Whatever It Takes by Kathryn R. Biel
290 pages
Publisher: Resilient Books
Publication Date: October 4, 2021
Purchased directly from the author.
Publisher’s Description
Ballerina Leslie Ann Moose was raised under the weight of her family’s mantra—“Do your best. Be the best. Whatever it takes.” Leslie has always chased excellence. But as the dream of a ballet career fades, she embraces a second chance with unwavering resolve. Pursuing theater, she embarks on a journey from bustling New York City to a tranquil Upstate town, unaware it will reunite her with a lost love from drama camp.
The thought of working with Leslie again sends chills down musical director Josh deChambeau’s spine. Her sudden departure all those years ago shattered his heart, and now, as fate throws them back together, he must confront the pain of their past. The success of The Edison Theater hinges on their collaboration, demanding Josh set aside his bitterness for a dream long deferred.
Amidst the theater’s chaos, Leslie and Josh must find common ground. As they grapple with shared history and simmering chemistry, they learn that love deserves a second act in the spotlight, whatever it takes.
************
Main Characters:
- Leslie Ann Moose – 26 years old, recently let go from the Five Boroughs Ballet Company in New York, grew up in Columbus, working at a diner to make ends meet when she decides to audition for The Edison Theater, originally met Josh at a drama camp when they were 16 and ghosted him after it ended, her father and grandfather were successful rugby players in Fiji so there’s a lot of pressure for her to be a successful primary dancer
- Josh deChambeau – 26 years old, musical director of The Edison Theater, also belongs to a band playing gigs on weekends, working on developing his own show that never seems to be completed, his parents died right after the drama camp ended when he and Leslie were 16
- Gloria Benedetti – 32 years old; moved to Hicklam for concentrated therapy for PTSD, anxiety, and depression; helped renovate the theater and fell in love with Henderson Quade; stayed on to work at the theater
- Malachi Andrews – a therapist who specializes in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Gloria moved to Hicklam to work with him
Trigger warning: eating disorders, negative body image
Whatever It Takes is the final book in Kathryn R. Biel’s Center Stage Love Story trilogy. There’s a bit of crossover with Vision of Love (Oh, How the Dating World Has Changed Over Time), so I recommend reading the series in order. However, each book in the series is definitely a stand-alone and can be read without the context of the other books. Biel does a fantastic job of giving readers enough information from the previous book, but seriously…why wouldn’t you just read them all? 😉
When we first meet Leslie in Vision of Love, she faces a very cranky Henderson Quade, The Edison’s managing director, as she auditions for a role in an upcoming show. In Whatever It Takes, she earns the role of an understudy in An American in Paris but ends up being offered the role of Anne Wheeler in The Greatest Showman when the original aerialist injures herself.
Leslie has a lot to learn. The Edison hires her for her grace as a dancer with the hope that she will be able to do some of the aerial moves. But the pressure she has put on herself for her entire life rears its ugly head. Add to that her former relationship with Josh, which she feels herself falling right back into and he wants nothing to do with, and Leslie really sets herself up for a difficult run at The Edison.
True to form, Biel provides a great love story with some realistic personal issues that go deeper than just a lack of communication on the part of the female and male main characters. Leslie deals with her past eating disorder and the pressure she feels to be perfect. Josh starts to re-experience the 10-year-old grief of losing his parents along with his best friend and first love all over again. And not only does he have to manage the music direction for all of The Edison’s shows this season, he has the added pressure of needing to finish writing his own show to pitch it to an investor.
This is a great second-chance romance. I love the way Biel put Leslie and Josh together at drama camp, a scene Leslie remembers when they reconnect and Josh tries to keep his distance.
“So are you an actor or a musician?”
It was my turn to shrug. “I’m neither. I don’t belong here and I want to go home.”
He folded his arms across his chest and nodded his head knowingly. “Oh. Mean roommate, right?”
I folded my arms to match his. “No,” I scoffed. “Like I would let some mean girl with perfect hair and creamy skin scare me off in the first fifteen minutes. It’s like you said—here you have to be an actor or a musician. I’m neither. I’m a dancer. A ballerina, to be exact. I shouldn’t be here.”
“Then why are you here?” He dropped his arms and leaned on the desk.
“My parents…thought I should be more well-rounded. They thought working on my acting would help with the robustness of my dance performance.” It’s not like I was going to admit why I was actually there.
“Robustness?” He raised his eyebrows.
“Yeah, I don’t know what that means either.”
A sly grin spread across his face. “Well, Robust, it was nice knowing you. It turns out, you are an actor, and I’m a musician, and so we are sworn enemies.” With that, he did a deep bend, like something out of an old movie. And I should know because my mom was obsessed with old movies.
“You’ve got quite the flair for the dramatic yourself there…” I paused, not knowing his name.
“Josh. Josh deChambeau. Piano, guitar, and trumpet.”
“Leslie. Leslie Ann Moose. Sidelined ballerina.”
Josh nodded. “Leslie Ann Moose, I think you are a rule breaker.”
“Maybe.” I shrugged.
“I think we should break the rules and be friends. What do you think?” He smiled and waggled his eyebrows at me.
That was a rule I was willing to break.
When they are forced to work together to make the shows at The Edison successful, we experience their constant back and forth. We know that, at the end of the “will they or won’t they” debate, they will, in fact, get together. But the draw of a good romance is the journey to the happily ever after, and this is quite a journey.
Biel’s Center Stage Love Story series exposes a ton of personal growth for the people who find themselves in Hicklam. I truly enjoyed meeting all of these characters and seeing their stories through to this satisfying ending.
If you enjoyed this post, please comment below. Subscribe for regular updates, and share it with your friends. If you’re interested in starting a conversation, send an email to booksundertheblanket@gmail.com.
As an Amazon affiliate, I earn a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using the links on my site.
