As a child dancing to disco music in her room, Jenifer Ringer never dreamed of a career in ballet. But after visiting a friend's ballet class, Ringer began taking lessons and soon enrolled at the School of American Ballet. At 16, she joined the New York City Ballet, where she has worked ever since, eventually rising to her current rank of principal dancer.
In Dancing Through It, Ringer writes with warmth and engaging honesty about the dazzling but highly competitive world of ballet, including nerve-racking encounters with legendary choreographers such as Jerome Robbins and Peter Martins. She chronicles her struggles with body image and eating disorders, which led to her taking a year away from the ballet, and the Christian faith that gradually helped her regain her equilibrium and sense of self. She also shares her fairytale love story with fellow dancer James Fayette and discusses the scandal that erupted in 2010 when a ballet critic denounced her as "fat" in the New York Times. The article ignited a public debate about ballet, weight and body issues; Ringer calls for a continuing dialogue about healthy body image among dancers.
Although Ringer's writing sometimes lacks polish, her voice grows lyrical when she writes about dancing specific ballets, such as George Balanchine's Serenade and Jerome Robbins's Dances at a Gathering. Ringer's three decades as a dancer have been marked by the roles she has performed, their complexity and beauty providing an apt metaphor for her personal growth. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams