Dancing on My Grave

Rating:
Summary: Second Time Around
Review: I first read this book when I was 14 and studying dance. It had a tremendous impact on me, but now, having re-read the book at 29, I see that I either missed, overlooked or forgave a lot. Kirkland's egomania and failure to accept responsibility for her drug addiction escaped me then, and bothers me now. Three cheers for her decision to beat her demons, but I find it disturbing that she blames her choice to take drugs as a failrue by society. This was a woman, a 28 year old woman no less, who was so lacking in self esteem that she chose drugs because they were being offered by a male dancer she in whom she had an interest. The exchange happened in the home of a dear friend of Krikland's, who was nothing, if not adamant, about her displeasure of drugs being in her home. Kirkland had a choice: take the drugs and connect with potential lover, or stand by her friend, who was giving her shelter. She wrote, "His opinions mattered more than Georgina's at that moment." I guess I don't don't see how society failed Gelsey. She clearly knew what she was doing. It's an interesting (re-)read, espeically if you're at all curious about her methods for developing characters in ballet. However, I wouldn't go so far as to call it brilliant.

Rating:
Summary: Great reading for western women involved with Russian men
Review: I first read this book years ago, then again just yesterday and what a different take I now have. I was of course much younger the first time I read it. Now, in my 40s I can better appreciate the confusion, pain and struggle that Ms. Kirkland endured for so many years.
Additionally, this is an excellent book for *any* woman -- dancer or not -- who is involved with a Russian man. I am technically still married to one, and though I have great respect and admiration for both Baryshnikov and Russian men generally, reading Ms. Kirkland's words about dealing with the mood swings and game playing that went on -- my God -- it was like reading my own experiences. Ms. Kirkland, you are spot on about the difficulties in a Russian-American relationship. Unlike Baryshnikov, my husband is not an intellectual nor an artist -- but he is Russian through and through, and is either tender and romantic and precious, or stone cold and punishing. Some of the passages from "Dancing on My Grave" I could repeat *WORD FOR WORD* from my own relationship. I struggle every day to move on. This is a most difficult entanglement to escape and to stay would mean my personal destruction. Ms. Kirkland is to be commended for her strength in this regard.
So. This book is not only a compelling autobiography but it is useful on so many levels to a great many people. For dancers, for individuals with eating disorders, self-esteem issues, and that sad little minority -- Western women involved with Russian men. The latter I relate to most strongly, and I can't say what it has meant to learn that it's not just me, and I am not losing my mind. This is something much needed for women in my situation because while there is a plethora of advice online and in books to assist western men involved with Russian women, there is absolutely no help for western women who hurt and struggle in their relationships with Russian men.
Thank you Ms. Kirkland for pouring your heart out in this amazing book. I have no doubt your honesty and directness has helped countless people.

Rating:
Summary: a dramatic life
Review: i loved gelsey's dramatic life and how she narrated it. this book will give you a glance at the world of ballet through the eyes of one of its stars! read it to learn the hardships of ballet and the story of a star, (her rise, fall, and recovery)!

Rating:
Summary: great book
Review: I read this book as my autobiography for an English assignment. I loved this book. I found it very interesting to learn about the life of a dancer being a dancer myself. I wouldn't mind reading more biographies of dancers.

Rating:
Summary: Dancing on my grave
Review: I read this book recently, and since I'm a young dancer, dedicated to my work, it was very inspiring. I learned from her mistakes and at the same time she is still one of my idols. I want to be her without the mistakes of anorexia, drugs, insecurities, and bad judgements of men. It was the best book I've ever read, no doubt about it, and I'd recommend this to anyone, dancer or non-dancer. It is beautifully written by someone who has gone through it all and knows the hidden secrets behind the so-called glamorous life of a famous ballerina from Balanchine to her downfall!

Rating:
Summary: View on dance
Review: I've seen several professional dance performances but until I read this book, dance didn't interest me. Kirkland gives a view into interpretation, and now I want to see her performances (those on tape) and also study the history of dance. I thought this would be a big gossipy book, and there is some of that, but most of her focus is on dance. She's very thoughtful and explicit in how she interpreted the roles she played. The gossipy bits can probably be put down to her lack of reflection; this book was written when she was very young.

Rating:
Summary: View on dance
Review: I've seen several professional dance performances but until I read this book, dance didn't interest me. Kirkland gives a view into interpretation, and now I want to see her performances (those on tape) and also study the history of dance. I thought this would be a big gossipy book, and there is some of that, but most of her focus is on dance. She's very thoughtful and explicit in how she interpreted the roles she played. The gossipy bits can probably be put down to her lack of reflection; this book was written when she was very young.

Rating:
Summary: I have now read this 13 times...
Review: If I could plagiarize a life story, this would be it. From the family, to our fathers, to the teachers, to the addictions, her life in dance matched my life in dance quite eerily. I even have Gelsey's mom's birthday, I found out through reading this. This book is not rooted in idolatry for Balanchine or Baryshnikov, it tells the truth of a talented, intense, insecure woman who found her way out of the darkness to claim her gift, her voice, her artistry. Great artists are not just good or bad, they are both in equal measure. Could anyone else have the courage to leap towards fame only to come crashing down and then tell it like it really was? Kirkland is an anomaly in the dance world for her unorthodox techniques on the stage and in the classroom, but the physical articulation she achieved during her performances is amazingly surpassed by the strength, clarity, and conviction in her words. I picked this book up for the first time in 1991, only to read it again two months later. I have recently reread it for the 13th time, so comforting are her words. The layering of her descriptions and the vocabulary in which she illustrates the struggles of her life show nuance, shape, a dark ambience. This book, whether you're a dancer or not, tugs at the mind as well as the heart. Dance dies instantly after the performers leave the stage. Gelsey's words do not. Out of all the dancer's autobiographies out there, this one stands out. She struggles mightily for just the right phrase to describe the joy and the sorrow of the art she chose. The pictures you will gather upon finishing this, will show once and for all that substance is much greater than shadow, and that truth is the only thing worth holding onto in the end. She might be something of a maverick, but her contributions to ballet and teaching are illuminated brilliantly as she recounts the more sordid moments of her life without apology. No one could have described her better than herself. Read this and gasp--once again, she gives us her best. No dance collection is complete without this book.

Rating:
Summary: Gelsey is Interesting, and Obnoxius
Review: It was interesting to read about Kirkland's attempts to make herself and everyone around her perfect. But I also found it very annoying since even in writing this book she believes that she's right in all quests to make people reach her standards. I wouldn't like Gelsey as a person, but she does make an interesting read.

Rating:
Summary: Flawless Autobiography From a Flawed Author
Review: Judge Not the Author but her work. How many of us would ever be courageous enough to publish an autobiography of such blistering candor as Kirkland's? "Dancing on My Grave" is a riveting performance from a flawed individual, but who among us does not have any flaws? I was deeply moved by the trials and redemption of Ms. Kirkland.