If synopses of ballets (no matter how humorously presented) and accounts of classes and rehearsals leave you cold, this may not be the book for you. But the writing is so vivid, the narrator so alive, that even if you're no balletomane you may want to give this a try. Part of why I loved this book is that I am fascinated with real serious classical ballet. Not in the sense that I want to go do it (please try to stifle your laughter), but in the sense that I am intrigued by the people who have the discipline and the ambition and the physical gifts to do it. The Crane sisters, Kate and Gwen, have gone and done it. Dancers since childhood, they have both joined a prestigious New York City ballet company. Both have achieved some success; both have acquired some of the trappings of that success: a fan following, a rich man whose arm they decorate.But Gwen has both more and less than Kate. Gwen has been promoted within the company ahead of her older sister, and she has slowly lost control of her mental stability. Kate, who narrates the story, has been the mostly helpless spectator of her sister's decline.We enter the sisters' lives after the fall. Kate takes us through the years, months, and then days before Gwen's breakdown. She spares herself not at all, assigning herself responsibility for her sister's well-being, grimly assessing her own contributions to the tension, weaving the fine web that holds the two women together, yet also keeps them apart.The bulk of the action, though, takes place after Gwen's collapse and exit from the scene. Kate's relentless introspection, the tension of grueling rehearsal, class, and performance schedules, and the pain of a physical injury conspire to weaken her emotional control. It's the very intensity of focus that has carried her to her professional position that now threatens to drag her down.And the book is full of -- ironies? -- like this. How do you show enough emotion on stage to put across a character, yet hold back enough to maintain control over your physical performance? How do you give a partner, in life or in dance, enough to let him be what he needs to be, yet not be so needy that you can't play your own part? How do you grieve and hold yourself accountable for your role in others' lives, yet not allow that accounting to take over your own life?The only flaw in the book is that some of the characters come across as stock-y. There's the gay BFF male dancer; the icily perfect Russian ballerina; the straight male dancer who practically watches himself shag the women in the company (and who seems to shag them because they're there); the slightly less talented female BFF who considers life choices that Kate cannot...but maybe these people really exist in the ballet world, I don't know.I really enjoyed this book, couldn't wait to see how Kate and Gwen would end up, and tore through it really quickly because it was so interesting and well written. The more I read books with ballet dancers, the more I think these people must all have severe issues. Throughout this book Gwen Crane is the elephant in the room for Kate Crane and for the reader . I almost did not finish this book since I could not decide wether or not I liked Kate. Gwen is already out of the picture when the book begins, having suffered some sort of mental break. Kate is dealing with her own insecurities as a dancer, a person, a role model, girlfriend and sister. Kate was always the best in the company until her sister joins her and having been separated for two years prior Kate realized quickly that Gwen is equally as talented and two years younger. Kate goes through a metamorphosis during the story and I quite enjoyed her commentary on dancing and life. This book and characters stuck with me.
What do You think about The Cranes Dance (2012)?
Smart and funny at some moments, melodramatic and cliche at others. A good summer/beach read.
—0z44
Great read. Loved it as it was something different from my usual reads.
—egoyung
two ballet sisters enter the age old dance of sibling rivalary
—SimplyGabz
