A dance like starlight : one ballerina's dream

by Kristy Dempsey

Other authorsFloyd Cooper (Illustrator)

Paper Book, 2014

Status

Available

Call number

[E]

Genres

Children's Books

Publication

New York, NY : Philomel Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA), [2014]

Description

A young girl growing up in Harlem in the 1950s, whose mother cleans and stitches costumes for a ballet company, dreams of becoming a prima ballerina one day, and is thrilled to see a performance of Janet Collins, the first "colored" prima ballerina.

User reviews

LibraryThing member nbmars

While this book is not strictly categorized as “poetry,” the author is a poet, and the text of this book reads like free verse, as with this description of a ballet performance:

"When she glides onto the stage,
I don’t know
if I am dreaming,
if I am even breathing,
because she doesn’t seem to

touch the floor.
She twirls and
my heart jumps up from where I’m sitting,
soaring, dancing,
opening wide with the swell of the music.”

The story is narrated by a fictional young African American girl in New York in the 1950's who dreams of becoming a prima ballerina. Her mother cleans and sews costumes for a ballet school, and the little girl dances in the wings as she waits for Mama. The Ballet Master lets her join lessons from the back of the room, but she is not allowed to perform on the stage with white girls.

One day she catches bits of a story in a newspaper about Janet Collins: “first colored prima ballerina… Metropolitan Opera House.”

Mama uses half the money she saved for a new sewing machine to take her daughter to see Janet Collins perform, and they are both inspired:

"Mama and I dance our way home
under the night sky,
and I don’t even try
to catch a glimpse of the first star.
no need to waste my wishes.
I’ve got dreams coming true.”

The award-winning illustrator, Floyd Cooper, known for his use of warm tones and historical accuracy, is the perfect choice for this story. His technique of “subtraction” to erase shapes from a background of paint, softens the pictures and gives them a gauzy quality, adding to the sense that this is a story from the past.

Discussion: Before you get to the Author’s Note at the conclusion of the book about who Janet Collins was and when she danced, there is no indication this story takes place in the early 1950’s. The Note provides brief background information on Ms. Collins, born in 1917 in Louisiana, who became the first African American to be hired full-time by the Metropolitan Opera in New York, initially performing in November, 1951.

Ms. Collins experienced a great deal of resistance in her attempts to perform in professional classical dance troupes. In 1932, for example, she was asked to join the prestigious Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, but she would have been required to paint her face and skin white to appear on stage. She turned down the offer. She was also not allowed to be on tour with the rest of her ballet company in parts of the Deep South. She retired in her forties and joined a Benedictine community.

The poetic prose is quite nice, and Cooper’s illustrations are lovely as usual, but I think it would help understanding of the story to know at the outset that it takes place in an earlier time.

Evaluation: Any story is enhanced by the outstanding artwork of Floyd Cooper, and the integration of ballet is a topic not often covered by other books.

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LibraryThing member kjacks26

I really liked this book because of how the author expresses the central message. The central message of this book is hope, “Mama says wishing on stars is a waste anyhow, says you don’t need stars in the sky to make your dreams come true. Hope can pick your dream up she says, off the floor of

your heart, when you think it can’t happen…” This quote is stated at the beginning of the book and the rest of the text is evidence of how hope can make your dreams come true. I like that every single illustration enhances the story and gives feelings to the words. For example, “But he took my face in his hands and looked into my eyes,” is a quote found on a page with only one picture. This picture is of the girls face, between two hands. When you look at the face, you can see emotions in her eyes—sadness, shame, and fear. I like how the author included an actual person to inspire the little girl, Janet Collins. Janet Collins is known for breaking the color barrier, and as this story shows, her accomplishments really impacted young African Americans who had dreams of becoming a dancer, “Hope puffs up my chest jut a bit. One day, those voices will be for me.” I really like how the main character opens up to the readers and allows you into her dreams, “In my heart I’m the one leaping across that stage, raising myself high on those shoulders, then falling slowly slowly slowly to the arms below.” In the book, the words “slowly” are written separately, each on their own line. This allows the reader to really focus on word. I think that the author wants the word slowly to symbolize how she feels about her dreams, and to show that even if things happen really slowly, they still happen.

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LibraryThing member sstelz2

In my opinion, “A Dance like Starlight” is an awe-inspiring book for children, especially African American children. I believe that the plot is very relatable for many African American girls. The story is about an African American girl who lives in the city with her mother. The girl desperately

wants to be a ballerina like the girls that her mother makes dance outfits for. However, the girl thinks that she cannot do it because she is African American. For example, she says, “The harder I work the bigger my hope grows, and the more I wonder: Could a colored girl like me ever become a prima ballerina?” Her hope grows even bigger when she sees Miss Janet Collins, the first colored prima ballerina. The young girl continues to work hard for her dream of becoming a prima ballerina. The writing of the book is entirely from the main character’s perspective. I greatly enjoyed reading this book from the girl’s perspective. The illustrations showcase beautiful paintings. The illustrations display the girl in the city, dancing at the studio, and watching her idol dance. This story contains an important lesson about race. This story pushes readers to broaden their perspectives about following their dreams. The big idea is to show children that they should work hard for their dreams no matter what gender they are, what race they are, or how old they are.

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LibraryThing member noah23

Loved this book. Read for Visual Literacy assignment

LibraryThing member herethere

Sweet story of a girl who loves to dance. The story is an account of a real event- when a famous black dancer came to the US to dance. The young girl who goes to see the black woman dance begins to dream of one day dancing for the big time.

LibraryThing member kacieholt

This is about a little girl whose mother works as a seamstress in a ballet studio, in an American city, during segregation. The little girl falls in love with the costumes, and ballet. The owner of the studio lets the little girl have lessons for free, but because she is African American, she has

to dance in the back of the class, and she can't perform with the other girls during performances. She is not discourage however, and works very hard to become as good as she possibly can. At the end of the book her mother treats her to seeing the first African American ballet dancer.

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LibraryThing member mlbailey77

A little girl dreams of becoming a ballerina, but it seems unattainable based on the color of her skin.

LibraryThing member madelire

This book tells the story of a young Black girl in New York City who wants to be a prima ballerina. Her mother works hard to make ends meet, and she makes costumes for a ballet school. The lead teacher sees the girl dancing and allows her to be a part of classes even though "colored" dancers cannot

perform. When Janet Collins becomes the first African-American prima ballerina, the girl sees her dreams coming true and a world of possibility before her. Her mother always says wishing on stars does not help anything; the hard work of hope is what keeps one going. The girl's hope pays off when she sees someone like her achieve her dream. This story was really heartwarming and helps demonstrate the importance of representation. I think it would teach children about hope, hard work, and how they can achieve anything if they can do both.

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LibraryThing member klamproe

This is the story of a young African American girl from Harlem in the 1950s who dreamed of becoming a ballerina. She would sometimes sit on her roof looking for a star to wish on but her mom said don't waste time wishing, you need hope and hope is hard work. The little girls is able to join a class

to learn how to dance even if she can't preform with the white children she is always hoping one day someone like her will be a prima ballerina. when the first african american ballerina is going to preform the mother takes half her saving to buy them tickets to see her. As the young girl watches the ballerina she imagines herself on the stage and everyone clapping for her. As the girl and her mother danced home she knew that she didn't need wishes because she had hope.

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LibraryThing member AnnaWaffles

This was a lovely little book, but I was disappointed with the pacing and the ending. It's unusual that I would want to know more about the people in a picture book, but I finished the book really wanting to know about the little girl's future in ballet. A surprisingly unsatisfying ending, but

otherwise a well-crafted vignette.

Read to support programming at my local public library.

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LibraryThing member sloth852

Lyrical celebration of Janet Collins, the first African American prima ballerina, narrated by a young black ballerina who watches her perform.

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