"A luminous new memoir. Poignant . Both a personal account and a universal take on the life of a professional ballet dancer."-- New York Times "A personal chronicle of a professional dancing life that is as accessible as it is engaging."-- Christian Science Monitor "Larsen's memoir oftentimes reads more like a novel than an autobiography. Interstitial chapters walking through an average day in the life of a professional dancer go a step further, dropping the reader . directly into the everyday agonies and ecstasies of a life in dance."-- Dance Magazine "Excellent.
[Larsen's] story is all the more engrossing for its vivid portrayal of the 'everyday' ballerina, making it relevant and resonant for a multitude of dancers who aspire to a professional dancing life. As she documents the discipline, dedication, and sheer stamina that life in the ballet world requires, she traces a journey of transforming craft into art."-- Pointe Magazine "A lovely debut that's relatable, engaging, and unafraid to show vulnerability. A thorough, evocative, and deeply reverent remembrance."-- Kirkus Reviews "Warm, insightful and enjoyable to read, Being a Ballerina helps cast the life of a professional ballet dancer in a new light."-- Dancing Times "Being a Ballerina floats along like a lovely adagio solo; we both feel a dancer's constant pain and share the magical soar of a perfect lift. Reading it is a reminder that words can dance too."-- Seattle Times "One has to be grateful to Larsen for taking the time to write so well about the thoughts and the emotions that she revealed--and passing on the art form and those experiences to the next generation of ballet students and professional dancers.
"--Mark Kappel, NewsNotes Dance Blog "A lush memoir that spans Larsen's 18-year career. It's a vivid insider's perspective on the rigors of professional ballet, as well as what a dancer's life is like beyond the footlights."-- Oregonian "A memoir to sweep you off your feet. Vividly engaging. A pleasure to read not just for the backstage stories it tells but also for the line-by-line, sentence-by-sentence reward of [Larsen's] way with words. Like a good dance, it's swift, taut, and abundant."-- Oregon ArtsWatch "Revealing and relatable, Being a Ballerina is one of the most readable dance books I've picked up for a long time."--David Mead, Seeing Dance "It is a vulnerable window into the inner life of a ballerina, and a true story of longevity and endurance.
" -- Dance Teacher "Few if any books have ever taken us so acutely into multiple facets of the dancer's art. It's an important addition to the dance bookshelf - and an important, sensitive, intelligent case study in ballet as psychological odyssey."--Alastair Macaulay, former chief dance critic, New York Times.