Dancing Shapes: Ballet and Body Awareness for Young Dancers

Movement. Creativity. Gratitude. Persistence. Wisdom.

"A visually stunning and interactive" pandemic creation from an award-winning dance teacher and her ballerina daughter, both immersed in the ballet world until coronavirus.

Dancing Shapes provides an inside gorgeous glimpse into one ballerina's journey. Konora, whose career has been sidelined by COVID-19, leads readers through warm-up steps, a basic ballet technique lesson, and an exploration of movement and form.

With more than fifty poses to contemplate or re-create, aspiring young dancers:

• learn basic ballet technique and vocabulary
• develop an eye for detail
• explore movement concepts
• increase body awareness
• strengthen spatial perception and balance
• celebrate gratitude, the value of practice, and making healthy choices

What Moms and Dads Said:

Gorgeous! Inspirational! Dancing girls alllllll over my backyard!!!

...while looking at the cover with all those poses said, "I can do that one. I can't do that one. I can do that one. I can't do that one..." Then she started trying them. The pictures alone inspired her...

As soon as we read something like, "Can you try..." she would hop right up and try it.

She thinks the book is just right for her age [9], not too young or old feeling.

[This 11-year old] thought it was easy to follow and liked all the interesting shape pictures, she liked that there were "challenges" to try.

Tags: ballet photography, photos, ballet, ballerina, ballet dance, dancer, aspiring, young, dance, books for kids, picture books, juvenile, kidlit, children's book, dancing reference, home-school, elementary, preschool, school-aged, reader, Konora, physical education, body awareness, studying ballet, terminology, terms, classical dance, exercise, exercise at home, fitness, lesson, creative movement, pointed toes, first position, plié, relevé, arabesque, ballet positions, details, imagination, shapes, poses, tutu, leotard, ballet vocabulary, ballet technique, steps, strong, beautiful, strong girls, strong women, gratitude, discipline, practice, healthy choices, curtsy, bow, fancy French

Author: Once Upon A. Dance
Publisher: Once Upon a Dance
Published: 12/04/2020
Pages: 52
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.03lbs
Size: 8.50h x 11.00w x 0.25d
ISBN: 9781735984414
Audience: Ages 4-8

About the Author
A. Dance, Once Upon: - Konora is a Professional Division student at Pacific Northwest Ballet. Konora's mother taught creative movement and ballet for twenty years and was honored to be chosen and recognized by her local City Council for embodying the spirit of partnership and commitment to children in our community for her work with young dancers. Once Upon a Dance was created during Covid-19. It started with amateur videos encouraging kids stuck at home to join ballerina Konora on a journey of movement and dance for exercise and meditation. While the site is targeted toward a younger audience, readers can check it out at www.OnceUponADance.org.