Customer Reviews

Drina Dances in Paris

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Having just returned from her performances in Francaster, Drina tackles another term at the Dominick. Soon enough, she and Rose are asked to reprise their performances as Clara (from Drina Dances Again) in Casse Noisette... with the Dominick in Paris! The portrait of Drina trying to find herself as an individual is realistic and engaging... highly recommended, along with the rest of the Drina series.

I have always loved the Drina series. This volume did not disappoint I just wish it was more affordable so I could own my own copy.

The "Drina" books were a long-running series of books published in the 1950s/1960s that centered on young Andrina Adams, orphaned at a young age and following her ambitions of becoming a prima ballerina as her mother was before her. Following her from childhood to adulthood, the series took place over several years as the imminently likeable Drina accumulates a wide range of trustworthy friends, fellow dancers, mentors and dancing experiences as the series progresses.

In "Drina Dances in Paris," Drina is nearly fifteen and on the cusp of adulthood. Returning home from an adventurous time in New York, she is preparing for another term at the Dominick School of Ballet, but feels oddly restless as she settles back into her usual routine. Though she's saddened to be away from the lights and excitement of the city, she also knows that she misses Grant Rossiter, the young American she met whilst over there and is troubled by the distinct possibility that she might be in love, calling it to herself: "the strange and lovely thing."

But there are plenty of things to distract her from her New York memories: classes and competitions, performances and holidays, friendships and rivalries. Drina participates in a children's Christmas play in order to help save an old theatre, and then travels to Paris in order to perform in "The Nutcracker." As usual, there is the enmity with Christine Gifford and Queen Rotherington (call a kid that and how can you expect her to end up as anything other than a snobbish bully?) and her friendships with Rose Conway and Hungarian refugee Ilonka Lorencz. Ilonka's elder sister has recently published a book that recounts her family's exile from Budapest, which is currently being adapted into a play that the Lorencz family wants Drina to be a part of. (There is a particularly nice moment in which one of the bullies, witnessing the play and the hardships of the girl she's been picking on, is suddenly moved by Ilonka's plight and shamed by her own behaviour).

Throughout it all, Drina grapples with her longing for Grant, as well as her hidden fear that the honours bestowed upon her by her teachers have more to do with her parentage than with her innate skills as a dancer. Furthermore, there is a little bittersweetness concerning her inevitable drifting apart from her oldest friend Jenny Pilgrim, whose family has fallen on hard times, and who feels resentful of Drina's success.

More than any of the other books, this is Drina's coming-of-age story, containing her delicate awakening to the world. She has a growing interesting in adult life: meeting people, visiting places and exploring galleries and architecture, as well as her burgeoning feelings for Grant. Drina herself makes a good protagonist: not without her foibles, but still coming across as a very mature, very kind-hearted, very feminine young woman. Even all these years on, there is still a freshness to Drina's stories, along with the charm of a more innocent era, and they will most likely still appeal to young ballerinas-in-training.