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Shop nowDances
A Novel
Narrator
Samya De Meo
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Length
9 hours 55 minutes
Language
English
A ballerina at the height of her powers becomes consumed with finding her missing brother in this “striking debut” (Oprah Daily).
“A compelling novel about the spiritual and bodily costs of the dogged pursuit of art.”—Raven Leilani, author of Luster
LONGLISTED FOR THE CAROL SHIELDS PRIZE FOR FICTION • LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/HEMINGWAY AWARD
At twenty-two years old, Cece Cordell reaches the pinnacle of her career as a ballet dancer when she’s promoted to principal at the New York City Ballet. She’s instantly catapulted into celebrity, heralded for her “inspirational” role as the first Black ballerina in the famed company’s history. Even as she celebrates the achievement of a lifelong dream, Cece remains haunted by the feeling that she doesn’t belong. As she waits for some feeling of rightness that doesn’t arrive, she begins to unravel the loose threads of her past—an absent father, a pragmatic mother who dismisses Cece’s ambitions, and a missing older brother who stoked her childhood love of ballet but disappeared to deal with his own demons.
Soon after her promotion, Cece is faced with a choice that has the potential to derail her career and shatter the life she’s cultivated for herself, sending her on a pilgrimage to both find her brother and reclaim the parts of herself lost in the grinding machinery of the traditional ballet world.
Written with spellbinding beauty and ballet’s precise structure, Dances centers around women, art, and power, and how we come to define freedom for ourselves.
Nicole Cuffy is a D.C.-based writer with a BA from Columbia University and an MFA from The New School. She is a lecturer at the University of Maryland and American University. Her work can be found in Mason’s Road, The Master’s Review Volume VI (curated by Roxane Gay), Chautauqua, and Blue Mesa Review, and her chapbook, Atlas of the Body, won the Chautauqua Janus Prize and was a finalist for the Black River Chapbook Competition. When she is not writing, she is reading, and when she is not reading, she is probably dancing.
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Reviews
“Immersive and visceral . . . an impressive debut that leaps, fearlessly.”—The Washington Post“Leap into the world of professional ballet in this fictitious and yet so-real tale of a young Black ballerina.”—Ebony
“Mesmerizing.”—Elle
“You don’t have to know anything about ballet to start reading Nicole Cuffy’s lyrical debut about a Black principal ballerina with the New York City Ballet, but you’ll have a deep appreciation of it by the time you finish . . . a profound and captivating examination of family, ambition, power, and sacrifice.”—Bustle
“This debut novel by the author of a decorated work of short fiction, 2018’s Atlas of the Body, is an examination of the physical and spiritual costs all artists must pay in the pursuit of their art.”—The Millions
“A striking debut that centers on Cece Cordell, a Black rising star of the New York City Ballet, as she questions whether she will ever find fulfillment within the stern, ultra-white fortress of classical dance. Cuffy’s prose pours into Cece—head, heart, and body—and creates a moving portrait of an artist seeking to know herself and stretch the boundaries of her craft.”—Oprah Daily
“Nicole Cuffy sweeps us into the insider world of ballet with a voice that is beautiful and authentic. This is a singular debut, and a vivid portrait of the heartbreak of growing up and confronting the tension between family and career.”—Imbolo Mbue, author of How Beautiful We Were
“Dances is a striking ode to the world of ballet, full of Cuffy’s lush descriptions of its glittery highs and its excruciating lows. Cece’s struggles with self-acceptance are achingly resonant, and this beautifully intertwined family saga and artist’s journey keeps readers en pointes, propelled through the steps of a ballerina’s whirlwind year.”—Leila Mottley, author of Nightcrawling
“Nicole Cuffy’s debut is a mesmerizing behind-the-scenes look at the world of ballet, as well as an achingly human search for belonging, in both family and art. Dances is a graceful and propulsive ode to those who fed our dreams, and how our dreams feed us.”—Kyle Lucia Wu, author of Win Me Something
“The closest thing most of us will ever experience to actually dancing the ballet and to life in a dancer’s body.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Brilliant . . . A ballet dancer herself, Cuffy brings grace, control, and vigor to her prose. Through Cece’s trials, the story movingly explores the secrets and inner demons of a performer who struggles with artistic competition, betrayal, guilt, family, and ‘the ever-present weight’ of her race. . . . Readers will be enchanted.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) Expand reviews