Winter Season: A Dancer's Journal, with a new preface [Paperback]

Toni Bentley (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Deservedly praised by critics and George Bal anchine for its freshness, candor, and eloquence...it's still an enlightening read." -- Seattle Times, Nov 16, 2003

"Winter Season" gave me hope—fuel that every young artist needs. – Teresa Wiltz -- Washington Post, 6/12/05

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: University Press of Florida; 1st edition (November 10, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813027055
• ISBN-13: 978-0813027050
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #515,238 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why isn't this still in print?, September 6, 2002

By 

Shantell Powell "The ShanMonster" (Kitchener, ON, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Winter Season (Paperback)

Winter Season: A Dancer's Journal is the exquisite chronicle of a ballet dancer's experiences with the New York City Ballet. The dancer, Toni Bentley, claims a certain naivetee, but I don't believe it's innocent ignorance as much as it is simple yearning for experiences she rarely has.

She has a delicate flair for words, and her prose couldn't be any less lovely than her pliees and tondus.

Dancing with a world-famous ballet company is gruelling. The dancers are overworked, underfed, and have little understanding of how the "real world" works, yet it would seem they like it that way. Ballet companies thusly have much in common with military outfits: soldiers and dancers work brutally hard, but have their concerns looked after by the higher-ups. Balanchine is the dancers' general.

With the incredibly long hours and the accompanying mental and physical exhaustion, how did Toni get the time to write this book?

She writes,

"We are hairless. We have no leg hairs, no pubic hair, no armpit hair, no facial hair, no neck hair and only a solid little lump at the top of our heads. Any sign of stubble must be closely watched out for and removed.

"That is not all. We don't eat food, we eat music. We need artistic sustenance only. Emotional, inspiring sustenance. Al our physical energy is the overflow of spiritual feelings. We live on faith, belief, love, inspiration, vitamins and Tab."

Toni eventually does break free of the NYC Ballet machine, but she's drawn inexorably back. After all, as she says, "We live only to dance. If living were not an essential prerequisite, we would abstain."

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful glimpse into an intriguing, demanding world, June 16, 2000

By 

Sophia (the Pacific Northwest) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Winter Season: A Dancer's Journal (Hardcover)

With "Winter Season," Toni Bentley allows her audience to see a real picture of the incredibly tough, demanding and creative world of professional ballet. We see George Balanchine at the end of the career, and such greats as Suzanne Farrell and Peter Martins. The incredible, difficult, almost insane demands put on the dancers are clearly drawn, as is Ms. Bentley's love for her art. Especially evocative is her struggle with reconciling art with her demanding profession.

Often, artistic memoirs focus on the superstars, the Tallchiefs and Nureyevs, for instance. The view from the corps de ballet is all the more interesting for being so rare. This book is beautiful, wry, humorous and exquisitely-written. I wish Ms. Bentley had written several other volumes.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, revealing, thouroughly enjoyable, November 27, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Winter Season: A Dancer's Journal (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed this book. It gave a wonderful glimpse into the real world of professional dancing. Miss Bentley told this story with beautiful language, her words flowed like water. I found it wonderful to know what it was like to live the life of a dancer, to know the struggles and the victories, the fantasies and the realities. I recommend this book for all who love dance and for anyone interested in show business or simply anyone who enjoys a good read.