Ballerina Gets Ready

Kent (Ballerina Swan), who danced with the New York City Ballet for more than 30 years, follows a ballerina as she prepares for an evening performance. Iris, who Stock (Ready and Waiting for You) portrays as a lanky young woman with a bushel of curly red hair, crosses through busy autumn city streets to the theater where she rehearses and attends class. Her partner’s injured foot means that Iris will dance with someone new, and the two practice together before they are to take the stage. Aspiring dancers should be easily drawn into Kent’s methodical detailing of even small moments of a dancer’s routine, such as choosing the right pair of shoes, while recurring timestamps (“At 7:20 Iris is back in the dressing room”) quietly underscore how much of a dancer’s life is governed by repetition, consistency, and precision. Ages 4–8. [em]Author’s agent: Faith Hamlin, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. (Mar.) [/em]