Dancers' Body Book [Paperback]

Allegra Kent (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 21, 1984

Ballet dancers have the strongest, most beautiful, probably the most envied bodies in the world. How do they stay slender and willowy while maintaining the extraordinary energy it takes to perform night after night? Can a nondancer or an amateur attain a dancer's figure and a dancer's vitality? And keep it?

Here, in The Dancers' Body Book, the legendary ballerina Allegra Kent discloses the health, weight-watching, and relaxation secrets of some of the world's greatest ballet dancers -- from Suzanne Farrell and Fernando Bujones to Darci Kistler and Madame Alexandra Danilova. Combining them with two well-balanced diets -- one to lose weight by and one to live by -- and an exercise regimen that can be tailored to the individual, she provides a fabulous fitness program for everyone who longs to be slimmer, healthier, and more energetic.

Fourteen varied menus incorporate delicious recipes from the dancers themselves (such as Jacques D'Amboise's Wonderful Dinner Salad and Dierdre Carberry's Almond Meringue Kisses), along with calorie guides and advice on how to create additional menus using your own favorite dishes. Helpful discussions on sports and exercise systems -- ranging from jogging and swimming to the sophisticated "Pilates" workout -- are also included, and in a special chapter entitled "A Healthy Outlook," the dancers talk candidly on such issues as smoking, anorexia, vitamins, doctors, massage, junk foods, fad diets, and injuries.

Dancers take meticulous care of all their equipment because training and performance depend on it. Of course, the most essential piece of equipment, the body, needs the most care of all, and that is what this book is about: how to take care of the world's greatest machine.

Allegra Kent joined the New York City Ballet at the age of fifteen and was a principal dancer with the company for thirty years, during which time she created a number of starring roles in ballets by Balanchine and Robbins. The mother of two daughters and a son, she is also the author of Allegra Kent's Water Beauty Book.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Allegra Kent joined the New York City Ballet at the age of fifteen and was a principal dancer with the company for thirty years, during which time she created a number of starring roles in ballets by Balanchine and Robbins. The mother of two daughters and a son, she is also the author of Allegra Kent's Water Beauty Book.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; 1 edition (March 21, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688015395
• ISBN-13: 978-0688015398
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #384,285 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars A bit Outdated, but still Useful July 5, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I like this book, cause it gives great reasons to be fit and in shape, for all kinds of people (dancers, dancer wanna-be's, and non-dancers alike) It also gives lost of quotes from different dancers on their different points of view and stradegies on how to maintain a good healthy diet and physical workouts, whether that be ballet or some other kind of workout. The great thing about this book is that there are diets that are very healthy and filling, and if one can follow them successfuly than one would be sure to drop a few pounds.

The only problem that I have with this book is that it is at times contradictory of what alot of the new nutritional values are, and at times it seems to me that what some of the dancers suggest, contains an underlying tone of anorexia. But hey it was written in 1984--over 10 yrs. ago, so what do ya expect?!

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great inside information on how dancers keep in great shape. October 14, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

LOVED THIS BOOK AND WILL KEEP IT TO REFER BACK TO. Allegra Kent interviews many dancers on how they stay in such super good shape. She interviews Fernando Bujones, Mikhail Baryshnikof, Gelsey Kirkland and so many others! It is very inspiring and honest. Many dancers confess to weaknesses - smoking, drinking, overeating, but tell how they compensate for it. When you put all the advice together it makes for a very informative book.

38 of 45 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars read this book with caution January 16, 2004

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I have read this book several times, and as a dancer, it actually encourages me NOT to follow the outrageous diet plans of the dancers featured in the book. Admittedly, i can relate to the desperate measures that these people will take to lose weight perhaps temporarily, for a certain ballet or an important audition. However, these are not measures that I am proud of, and frankly I find it disturbing that Ms. Kent feels free to encourage extreme behavior, especially in young people (and ESPECIALLY young dancers!) The active lifestyle of a dancer needs to be supplemented by proper nutrition; the mere mention of Susan Jaffe's summer of drinking "a lot of iced tea" to help acquire her job with American Ballet Theatre is dangerous information for aspiring, developing young girls to have their hands on. We can only hope that anyone reading this book for the first time will take it with a grain of salt, considering it was written nearly twenty years ago.

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Found This Book Very Helpful May 12, 2000

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

The diet outlined is this book is very easy to stick with, makes you feel better about your body (especially in a leotard and tights)and actually increases your energy level tremendously. After only a couple of days I noticed a change in my appearance, and my partner actually said I felt much lighter. I would recommend this book to dancers and nondancers alike.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Helpful and Inspiring October 24, 2001

By "[e-mail]"

Format:Paperback

I bought this book mainly because it's about ballet, but after I started reading I discovered the book was more than that. The diet plan works so well and the pictures and interviews with other dancers are inspiring. I actually lost weight with this book, and always keep it on hand to refer to. Its definitly a must have.

37 of 49 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars a dancer January 21, 2003

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK. this book promotes eating disorders, plain and simple. i'm a dancer, and i have always been thin, but the "suggestions" this book gives are absurd. dancers are very conscious of their bodies, compare themselves to other dancers and hold themselves up to high standards. this book pretty much says that a dancer who is 5'3" should be 94 pounds. this is so messed up. the book suggests a diet of 1200 calories a day. look at the titles: "why a dancer should diet: you can't hide anything in tights" and "the chain around the refrigerator." it shows a dancer ready to "feast" on garden products. besides that, this book was written in 1984. DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK.

37 of 51 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars No!!! May 26, 2003

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A good book, full of interesting quotes June 14, 2009

By kitkat

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I think, as a recovering anorxic/bulimic, that the book is NOT promoting anorexia. It may b e slightly triggering if read with unhealthy purposes. I found it VERY good, with interesting opinions from dancers, decent meal plans and ideas. A good read.