By Julie Sara Porter
Bookworm Reviews
Spoilers: Of all the subjects that I thought that I would read this year, I did not expect one of them to be ballet. This month, I am reviewing not one but two books about ballet and they couldn't be more different. The first, Music Boxes, is a YA Fantasy in which a young girl gets involved with an enchanted dancing school and its powerful magical headmistress who hypnotizes and transforms her students.
The second book, Arabesque by Amy Shomshak, is a more realistic book about the art of dancing but just as good in its own way.
Gina's best friend Tina is currently studying ballet in Paris while Gina remains in New York. Gina is tired of the dance classes that are far from the Russian training that she is used to and the mean girls who play pranks on her and shove her into the corps. She is also becoming aware that her relationship with her boyfriend Charlie, a stand up comedian, is not getting better. Her only constant is her uncle Gene who raised her and encouraged her love of dancing and her letters from Tina telling her how great her life is now that she is a lead dancer. Once Gina learns that Tina's life isn't as rosy as she portrays and Gina's depression worsens, Gene invites her to accompany him to Paris and reunite with her best friend.
In some ways, Arabesque reminds me of Melissa Muldoon's books about Italy like Dreaming Sophia, Eternally Artemisia, and Waking Isabella. It is an imaginary trip to Paris written by someone who loves the city, recognizes every street, every cafe, every location. Shomshak recognizes the beauty, marvel, and history of the city. She clearly loves the location and wants her readers to love it too. It is a perfect summer reading for those who need an imaginary vacation.
When Gina, Tina, and their friends go clubbing and dine at a cafe, you know it's a place that is real or at least made real by Shomshak's sensory images and attention to detail. Readers can smell the coffee brewing, hear the side chatter, and see the people talking and laughing. Even common tourist spots like the Louvre, Left Bank, and the Eiffel Tower are made unique by the characters' encounters with them. Paris is alive in this book.
In a touch very similar to Muldoon's work, there are brief scenes in the afterlife where Gina's late mother, Lili is following her daughter and encouraging her on a path. She's not alone, Lili engages in conversations with the likes of Marie Antoinette, Vaslav Nijinsky, Zelda Fitzgerald, and other members of Paris' past. Similar to Muldoon's Italy books in which artists, patrons, film stars, and other notables encourage their protagonists, here Paris' Finest does the same for Shomshak's. When a setting fits the character, it seems that everyone, past and present, conspire to make it feel like home, the place where they belong.
The Parisian setting isn't the only thing that comes to life in this book. The characters shine as well, particularly Gina and Tina. They have a very close sisterly friendship that fills empty voids in their lives. Like many strong friendships, they work better together than they do apart. Separately, they are going nowhere in their ballet studies. They are at most bit players when they have enough talent to get bigger roles. Together, however, they decide to take their talents into their own hands.
Gina and Tina perform a series of dances in outdoor venues throughout the city wearing elaborate costumes and masks that Madame Destinee from Music Boxes would envy. They do their own choreography and tell their own stories, sometimes original and sometimes variations of known fairy tales. These dances not only make them famous, if anonymously, but they give them artistic freedom and the ability to express themselves creatively.
A favorite performance is when the duo dance and communicate entirely with fans. They use gestures with their fans to reveal a conversation between characters and wear monochromatic black and white gowns and masks. It's a simple yet evocative dance piece.
Gina and Tina also open a wider circle of friends and family. They meet some female friends who help them with their outdoor dance. They also receive boyfriends who are supportive and interested in their pursuits, even revealing talents of their own. Gene also has a romance going with Josette, a married woman with a brilliant son. They clearly love each other but are playing things slowly because of Josette's marriage. Gina and Tina's circle of friends and family bring out the best in them and everyone else around them.
Music Boxes has plenty of magic, true. But Arabesque is a realistic story with plenty of magic of its own: the magic of friendship, the magic of the arts, and the magic of a place that tells you that you are home. When you find that magic, well c'est magnifique.
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