Ballet Class

Abstract Surveying American ballet in 1913, Willa Cather reported that few girls expressed any interest in taking ballet class and that those who did were hard-pressed to find anything other than dingy studios and imperious teachers. A century later, ballet is everywhere. There are ballet companies across the United States; ballet is commonly featured in film, television, literature, and social media; professional ballet dancers are spokespeople for all kinds of products; nail polish companies market colors like “Ballet Slippers”; and, most importantly, millions of American children have taken ballet class. Beginning with the arrival of Russian dancers like Anna Pavlova in the early 1900s, Ballet Class: An American History explores the growth of ballet from an ancillary part of nineteenth-century musical theater, opera, and vaudeville to the quintessential extracurricular activity it is today, pursued by countless children nationwide and an integral part of twentieth-century American childhood across borders of gender, class, race, and sexuality. A social history, Ballet Class takes a new approach to ballet and helps ground an art form often perceived to be elite in the experiences of everyday people who spent time in barre-lined studios. Drawing on materials including children’s books, memoirs by professional dancers and choreographers, pedagogy manuals, dance periodicals, archival collections, and oral histories, this pathbreaking study provides a national perspective on the history and significance of recreational ballet class in the United States and its influence on many facets of children’s lives, including gender norms, consumerism, body image, children’s literature, extracurricular activities, and popular culture.