Other Stages (Ballet Theatre Chronicles)

Other Stages (Ballet Theatre Chronicles)

They thought the professional ballet world was tough. Then they tried parenting. From the author of Outside the Limelight —named a Kirkus Indie Best Book of 2017 — comes a story about parenting, the performing arts, surviving high school and fighting back, in this gripping finale to the Ballet Theatre Chronicles. Katrina Devries, having navigated the cutthroat world of professional ballet to arrive at the top, has found the perfect life as a principal dancer and mother of a three-year-old. But when her partner announces he’s found true love elsewhere and moves out, Katrina’s perfect world begins to crack. Devastated, she turns to April, her best friend among the company’s artistic staff, who promptly assembles a moms’ night, enlisting her daughter Kylie to babysit. Kylie, bright beyond her years but a high-school misfit, is miserable until that night, when she too finds true love. That she’s 14 and he’s 28 is a small matter, she decides. That he’s her mother’s friend and soon falling for Katrina is a bigger one. Now April is dealing with a mercurial teen, studio rehearsals misfiring, and a celebrity choreographer whose ballet featuring Katrina borders on disturbing. When Kylie, in a fit of despair, attempts the unthinkable, just as the choreographer and his ballet exhibit violence—toward Katrina—April and Katrina must make controversial decisions that upend protocol and imperil the careers they’ve both worked a lifetime to build. What emerges will prove life-changing for all.