Ms. Kent's style of writing mirrors that of her dancing: beautiful and inspiring. Throughout her fairytale, as this work cannot accurately be described as a story, nor a novel- it is every young girl's dream written elegantly and delicately onto the pages of her autobiography, Ms. Kent speaks honestly and candidly about her troubles and problems that arise in her life. Such situations include her emotional relationship with photographer Bert Stern, as well as her desire to continue dancing and performing after pregnancy (and how George Balanchine viewed her decisions regarding her choice to start a family mid-career). She also discusses her multiple attempts at careers outside the New York City Ballet; from her stunts as a guest artist, to her trials and misconceptions about the Allegra Kent School of Ballet. Ms Kent concludes her book with the statement, "...dancing well is the best revenge". Perhaps it could be better said that writing about life in dance has become Ms. Kent's true revenge. [HHS-4]

Ms. Kent's style of writing mirrors that of her dancing: beautiful and inspiring. Throughout her fairytale, as this work cannot accurately be described as a story, nor a novel- it is every young girl's dream written elegantly and delicately onto the pages of her autobiography, Ms. Kent speaks honestly and candidly about her troubles and problems that arise in her life. Such situations unclude her emotional relationship with photographer Bert Stern, as well as her desire to continue dancing and performing after pregnancy (and how George Balanchine viewed her decisions regarding her choice to start a family mid-career). She also discusses her multiple attempts at careers outside the New York City Ballet; from her stunts as a guest artist, to her trials and misconceptions about the Allegra Kent School of Ballet. Ms Kent concludes her book with the statement, "...dancing well is the best revenge". Perhaps it could be better said that writing about life in dance has become Ms. Kent's true revenge. [HHS-4]

I can't really even explain how wonderful I found this book to be. I loved how Kent began with a real background of her childhood and how that played a large part through the rest of her life. She begins the story from the very beginning, which allows the reader to not just read the words, but live and know the words.

Plus as a dancer, I was very intrseted to know her opinions on how the ballet world has affected her entire life. Kent also talks about what it was to live on and off the stage, and how both lives influenced the other. With her insane husband, draining money account, and later suffereing dance career, Kent survives it all, and eventually comes out on top. I am so happy she is at a great place in her life right now.

I also lovd her book "The Dancers Body Book" which is a great source of healthy diet information for dancers, dancer wanna-be's, and non-dancers alike. BRAVO Allegra!

I am a dancer and all I have to say for this book is NO!!! This book is basically telling people that you have to starve yourself to be a dancer or to look like one. And also it's giving the message that all dancers starve themselves as well!!! This is not going to accomplish anything except making yourself sick! Dancers *at least those who I know* stay in such great shape by devoting countless hours to dancing and practicing, and to eating healthy *not starving ourselves*...All in all I thought this was awful...it's promoting eating disorders and disgracing healthy dancers everywhere.

This is a good book that gives a young dancer an idea of how to keep their weight in check for their art. I was a professional ballet dancer (recently retired) and found this book to be very helpful in my career. It was published for the first time before there was the extensive research done on dancers, weight management and the 'healthy' ways to go about controlling weight. If the serious dancer wants to get and keep dance jobs, they have to know that their art demands they maintain a lower weight than the average person. Hopefully by the time they get to the point where they are looking for a book like this they have figured that out. It would be a good idea to read other books on dancers and diet that are newer, and use the information in this book along with the newer information to make sure that they are getting all the necessary calories, etc. to sustain their bodies for the training. No book should replace the advice and supervision of a doctor or nutritionist, but this book is a good guide and has really good recipes in it.

This book is really only meant for dancers, and only for professional (or aspiring professional) dancers at that. Ms. Kent is up-front about a dancer's awkward situation: a ballet dancer must stay strong and energetic while maintaining an especially lean figure. And that's exactly what makes this book wonderful. While most fat-loss books address the needs of someone who is medically overweight and needs to slim down, this book focuses on dancers who are already thin to begin with, but need to slim down further.
I find Dancer's Body Book to be both motivating and honest. You get to hear the dieting struggles and successes of those who have made it to the top (NYCB and ABT company dancers,), which is quite inspirational. Plus, you learn exactly how these professionals manage to maintain their extraordinary bodies. A great portion of the text is dedicated to the "philosophy" of a dancer's diet, which I found very interesting and informative.
This book does not encourage unhealthy behavior of any sort. It acknowledges the fact that watching what you eat is a sacrifice inherent to ballet, but presents a healthy way of achieving and maintaining the proper figure. A 1,200-calorie diet (which is regarded as a healthy weight-loss intake for females) and a 1,600-calorie maintenance diet are provided. These sample meal plans along with the "seven diet sins" (snacking, eating junk food, undereating and bad nutrition, not getting enough rest, inactivity, not knowing your own limits, and neglecting your equipment) are excellent.
The bottom line is that a dancer must know the body and treat it well.
PS: I was recommended this book at a nutrition seminar that was offered at my pre-professional ballet school. As someone who has wasted a year of training due to anorexia and regrets it terribly, I found that my philosophy agreed 100% with Ms. Kent's: an eating disorder is completely counter-productive to the art of ballet.