| Title | : | Alicia Alonso Takes the Stage |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1733329226 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781733329224 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 128 |
| Publication | : | First published August 18, 2020 |
Alicia Alonso was born to dance. Her first big role came when she was only ten years old, and she knew right then that she was going to be a ballerina one day. Only a few years later, she moved from Cuba to the United States to fulfill her dreams.
As she danced, however, Alicia began to have trouble seeing. She was quickly going blind. How could a ballerina dance on stage if she couldn’t see where she was going? Alicia worried. But she wouldn’t let it stop her. With lots of practice, great dance partners, and a few on-stage tricks, Alicia found a way to keep doing what she loved: dancing all over the globe and as one of the world’s most beloved prima ballerinas.
Alicia Alonso Takes the Stage Reviews
-
Another inspiring bio by Rebel Girls, this one for middle grade readers on visually impaired Cuban ballet dancer Alicia Alonso. The story empowers girls of differing abilities to pursue their dreams, no matter the obstacles, just as Alicia did in real life.
Rebel Girls’ books always engender hope and the illustrations by female artists are always gorgeous. Highly recommended!
5 of 5 Stars
Pub Date 18 Aug 2020
Thanks to Rebel Girls and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.
#RebelGirlsSeries #NetGalley -
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Rebel Girls for providing me a free eARC of this book for me to review.
I fell madly in love with the story of Alicia Alonso who, despite the difficulties, managed to fulfill her dream of becoming a dancer.
🤍 As always the artworks are gorgeous. 🤍
I highly recommend this series of books that represent strong and wonderful women who have made their contribution to a society directed towards gender equality. -
I was very pleased to be given the opportunity to read and review this latest addition to the
Rebel Girls series, as my daughter (aged 10) is a big fan of the first two books,
Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Tales to Dream Big and
Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls 2.
Alicia Alonso Takes the Stage is the fifth, so far, in a related series of chapter books, aimed at middle-years readers and focussing on a single rebel girl who became a successful female role model in her chosen field.
Alicia Alonso (1920-2019) was a Cuban-born prima ballerina, choreographer, teacher and founder of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba. Her story is truly inspiring and an excellent choice for the Rebel Girls imprint. This chapter book relates her rise from a keen intuitive dancer as a child, to learning Spanish dancing styles, graduating to classical ballet and ultimately becoming a professional ballerina and international superstar.
As a young dancer, Alonso surmounted not only the considerable physical challenges of ballet, but also family disapproval of her career choice and the need to move far away from her home country to pursue a professional career. Having begun to achieve professional recognition in several lead roles, at the age of 19 she suffered detached retinas, which had a significant impact on her sight for the rest of her life. Despite being advised by doctors to retire from dancing and live as an invalid, Alonso persevered with practice and was able to return to her professional career in New York in 1943. She was soon promoted to the rare distinction of prima ballerina, which she maintained into the 1970s, using her battle with her sight as inspiration and employing various ingenious staging arrangements to circumvent her disability. After founding what would become the Cuban National Ballet in 1960, she continued dancing internationally into her 70s.
Alicia Alonso Takes the Stage focuses not only on Alonso's incredible personal achievements, but also on her unwavering commitment to her goals, her determination in the face of adversity and her desire to "give back" to the world of ballet and developing dancers in Cuba.
The book is written by
Nancy Ohlin in a straightforward style, aimed at readers between 8-15 years, and is illustrated colourfully and evocatively by
Josefina Preumayr. An activities section at the end of the book encourages readers to explore their own expressiveness, mental multi-tasking skills and motor co-ordination through dance moves and improvisation. Rebel Girls has partnered and collaborated with
Smashworks Dance in producing
Alicia Alonso Takes the Stage.
I would highly recommend this title to female readers aged 8-15, especially those with an interest in dance and/or performing arts. It is a remarkable story.
Thanks to
Rebel Girls, Timbuktu Labs Inc. and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title prior to its publication on 18 August 2020. #RebelGirls Series #NetGalley -
Very fun and light read! I don't often read middle grade books, but I still ended up enjoying this one. The writing style is definitely fit for children around 8 and the illustrations were a nice addition.
-
I had never heard about Alicia Alonso, so I was very interested in this book. It describes in the special Rebel Girls style parts of the ballet dancer´s life, first her childhood, then her taking dancing lessons, moving to the USA, founding a family and also her struggles with health problems. I fell in love with the girl with a big dream and the strong woman who overcame difficulties. I also liked the "exercises" for children to learn to know their body combined with their feelings.
Thanks to Rebel Girls and Netgalley for a free ebook of this new edition in exchange for an honest review. -
I love the idea of rebel girls books about women who worked hard and have rebelled to get to where they wanted to be, and it is fun to learn about women who were famous in their time, but are now largely forgotten.
This novel is based on the life of Alicia Alonso, one of the most wonderful ballerinas from Cuba. People could see how talented she was since childhood, but her life wasn't easy. At some point, it seemed like she would never be able to dance again after losing her sight. But her love for the dance was bigger than her fear. -
A huge thank you to NetGalley and Rebel Girls for allowing me an eARC of this book
This book is so hard to review, because I frankly struggled with it a bit. Not in terms of content; I've fallen in love with Alicia in no time at all, and am in awe of her strength and determination (and frustrated with the 'care' she was given at the start).
I am also aware this is a book for kids, on the lower end of Middle Grade, so I am not complaining about the writing style; it has to be juvenile for it to work on kids! So that was also very well done.
What I struggled with, is the lapse of time. I realize that if a book becomes too big, too long, kids are more likely to be daunted by it and not pick it up, meaning books can't be too long, but the time jumps in this were so fast! They happened super quickly, and not obviously at all. If I had to keep serious track of what was written to figure out when we were and how old Alicia was (I had to do math most of the time), how is a kid going to?
In short, it felt incredibly rushed and all jumbled up.
But I did love the concept, and the art. What this woman overcame, how she persevered, despite her visual impairment, is a huge inspiration. I can barely get out of bed sometimes and she just did That! Passion like that is rare, and stories like this should be shared. I'm just super sad it was so hard to follow in terms of the timeline.
Having said that, this book made me look up some videos of her, even though I am not a big ballet fan at all. She was stunning.
I'll go for a 3,5/5. 3 Feels too low, 4 too high, but I'll round it up to 4 in her honor. -
An uplifting story of a girl who loved to dance and never gave up on her dreams.
Alicia is a great role model for girls with vision problems or girls who love to dance. She worked hard to reach her goals despite life getting in the way.
There are some fun ideas and activities at the end of the book, as well as some qr codes for further online entertainment. -
Penelope and I have been enjoying the Rebel Girls series of chapter books about strong women who made a difference in the world.
I had never heard of Alicia Alonso before reading this book and I enjoyed learning her story. Alonso was a famous ballerina originally from Cuba. As an adult she lost her sight, but she kept working towards her dream and became a world-famous ballerina. Her story was very inspiring. Penelope and I liked the illustrations and how the story started with Alicia as a child and followed her through adulthood. We even found movies of her on YouTube to watch her dance. We loved that she also taught others how to dance and kept on dancing into her old age at a professional level.
Overall, Alicia Alonso Takes the Stage is a motivational story of a sight impaired woman who followed her dreams to become a famous ballerina.
Book Source: Purchased from Amazon.com
This review was first posted on my blog at:
https://lauragerold.blogspot.com/2021... -
I love the idea of these books about women who worked hard and rebeled to get to where they wanted to be, and it is fun to learn about women who were famous in their time, but are now largely forgotten. And although this book was well-written, I found myself getting a little bored, as I waited for something to happen.
Not to say that Alicia's story is not inspiring, it is. To dance what she danced, while going blind, is truly amazing. I just found the story of how she got there seemed to be drawn out a bit much.
However, it is a good way to introduce her, and a good way for kids to get interested in people and their lives.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. -
Actual rating - 3.75.
-
Passion, dedication, incredible techniques, exquisite interpretations, her ability to bring beauty and truth to a wild variety of roles
-
Reseña en Español y en Inglés.
Review in Spanish and English.
Gracias a #Netgalley por proporcionar una copia avanzada de este libro a cambio de una reseña honesta de este libro de #rebelgirlseries
No esperaba sentirme como me sentí con este libro. Es una novela corta sobre Alicia Alonso, una bailarina profesional cubana que siguió sus sueños: bailar. Esta historia fue como un cálido abrazo a mi corazón y a mis propios sueños y metas. Personalmente me inspiró a seguir en este momento difícil y cualquier otro. Los obstáculos que ella tuvo que superar en su vida pudo fácilmente excusarla de solo parar. Nadie habría dicho que se estaba rindiendo, si tu cuerpo no es ¨capaz¨ de hacer algo entonces es tiempo de buscar otro camino en la vida ¿no? Bueno, por lo que aprendí en esta historia es un gran ¨para nada¨. Esta bailarina bailó incluso con solo sus brazos y sus manos cuando los doctores le dijeron que descansara y que no se moviera, riera o llorara por un año entero. Y cuando le dieron las malas noticias y le dijeron que no iba a poder seguir bailando ella continuó y encontró esa inspiración dentro de ella. No se rindió, siguió y lo logró. Esta historia me inspiró y me hizo sentir fuerte, aunque tenga 21 años, así que estoy totalmente convencida de que esto podría significar un total cambio en la vida de una niña pequeña. Recomiendo totalmente esta novela corta y las otras de los Chapter books de Good Night Stories for rebel girls. Lo recomiendo para adultos o adolescentes, pero por favor lean esto a sus pequeños hijos o hijas e inspírenlos a ir a por sus sueños, justo como Alicia Alonso.
Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
I didn´t expect to feel the way I did with this book. It is a short novel about Alicia Alonso, a Cuban ballerina that followed her dream: dance. This story was like a warm hug to my heart and my own dreams and goals. Personally, it inspired me to keep going on even in this time or any other. The obstacles she had to overcome in her life could have easily excused her of just stopping. No one would have said she was giving up, if your body is not ¨capable¨ of doing something then it is time to look for another path in life right? Well, what I got from her story is a huge ¨not at all¨. She would dance with only her arms and hands when doctors told her to rest and not to move, laugh or cry for a whole year. And then when they gave her no hope at all about her capability to dance, she found it in her soul and continued against everything and succeeded. I am a 21-year-old girl and this story made feel strong and inspired me. I am totally convinced that to little girls this can be a huge life changer. I totally recommend this chapter book and the other ones of the Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls Chapter Books. I recommend it for adults or teenagers, but also please read this to your little kids, boys or girls and give them the courage to chase their dreams, just like Alicia Alonso did. -
Alicia Alonso Takes the Stage is a historical fiction middle-grade chapter book about the life of the famous professional Cuban ballerina, Alicia Alonso. Alicia fell in love with dance since she was a little girl taking her first dancing lessons in Spain. She knew she wanted to become a professional ballerina after trying ballet shoes during a class with Nikolai Yavarosky at the Pro Arte Musical building in Cuba. Alicia was so sure of her dreams that she moved from Cuba to New York City, United States, to pursue a ballet career. Critics praised her by 1939. However, serious eyesight problems threatened her treasured ballet career. How did Alicia Alonso become a world-renowned prima ballerina despite her disabilities?
Alicia Alonso Takes the Stage is a wonderful story of resiliency. Alicia loved ballet with her entire being, so she pushed through her eyesight conditions to achieve her dreams and much more. Her grit is inspiring and an excellent example for kids, particularly those interested in a dance career.
Nancy Ohlin's writing is concise and age-appropriate. It is obvious she did historical research to do justice to Alicia Alonso's life. I was glad the chapter book had Spanish because Alicia Alonso was Cuban, and her first language was Spanish. I would only suggest that the next time Ohlin includes Spanish words, phrases, and sentences, she gets an editor accredited in Spanish to review them.
Unfortunately, the Spanish used in the book has errors. An example is: "Olé, Mama!" It should be: "¡Olé, Mamá!" Monolingual English readers might not notice these errors, but fully bilingual readers like me will take note.
I loved the color pallet the illustrator, Josefina Preumayr, chose for the chapters' illustrations. But, I would have liked the images to reflect more the looks of the real Alicia Alonso.
Overall, Alicia Alonso Takes the Stage is a great chapter book for kids, between the ages of 9 and 12, who love ballet and dance. It is also a phenomenal life story that can serve as an inspiration to kids with disabilities, so they remember anything is possible.
Note that Alicia Alonso Takes the Stage is book number four in the Rebel Girls, Chapter Book series. The other chapter books in the series are Ada Lovelace Cracks the Code, Madam C.J. Walker Builds a Business, Junko Tabei Masters the Mountains, and Dr. Wangari Maathai Plants a Forest. All of these historical fiction chapter books by Rebel Girls are excellent for middle-grade girls. School libraries and libraries would benefit highly from having these on their shelves. -
If you are familiar with and love The Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls series, then you'll love the new chapter books geared for the young readers. These new Rebel Girls chapter books focus on one inspiring female, have over 100 pages and delve deeper than the one-page Goodnight Stories do.
ALICIA ALONSO TAKES THE STAGE, is the 5th book in the chapter book series (Madam C.J Walker Builds a Business, Ada Lovelace Cracks the Code, Junko Tabei Masters the Mountain, and Dr. Wangari Maathai Plants a Forest, being the first four). In these books we read about their childhood, what ignited their passion, and the incredible hurdles they had to overcome.
In this particular book, we read all about the ballerina, Alicia Alonso. Born in Cuba in 1920, she naturally takes to dancing from a very early age. Her mother signs her up for ballet lessons and she falls in love with the pink slippers with the silk ribbons. Ballet becomes her passion and she works hard at it. At the age of 19 she begins to have visual issues which only become worse and, sadly, irreversible. This news is devastating. But combined with her love for ballet and her tenacity, she keeps going, adapting the stage for her visual impairment, she becomes a graceful and accomplished prima ballerina, and even goes on to form her own ballet company.
ALICIA ALONSO TAKES THE STAGE is perfect for young children who love to dance and have a passion for ballet.
**Don’t forget to check out the end of the book, there are ballet activities which will inspire a young reader to become passionate about ballet as it did for the remarkable, Alicia Alonso.
Thank you to #NetGalley and #RebelGirls, it was such a pleasure to read this amazing story. -
Alicia Alonso Takes the Stage is one of the books in a series published by Rebel Girls. It's a more in-depth look at the life of an influential woman in history, someone who persevered in spite of obstacles and proved herself in a certain field. Alicia Alonso was a famous Cuban prima ballerina who became well-known all over the world. Her grit and work ethic were obvious when she became visually impaired.
The story follows Alicia from her childhood in a prominent Cuban family in Havana, through her dance classes as a teen and young adult, to her marriage to Fernando Alonso, and her first opportunities to dance ballet on big stages in the US. It is simply told, but it captures the essence of her character and focuses on the positive aspects. It's just as encouraging and inspiring for an adult as it is for a child. What's great about these stories is that they're not just for girls. In this story, for example, Alicia Alonso's husband was a ballet dancer as well. That's so cool for boys and girls to see, I think.
At the end of the book there is some information about ballet, a few techniques and prompts to immerse the (young) reader into the world of this art.
The book beautifully accompanies the episode on theGoodnight Stories for Rebel Girls podcast, episode read by Yuan Yuan Tan, a prima ballerina with the San Francisco Ballet.
Disclaimer: I received a free e-book copy from the publisher via Net Galley. All thoughts expressed in these reviews are mine. -
As a mother who is blind and who also shares the stories with her teenage daughter I am so glad they wrote the story about Alicia Alonso a blind ballerina. She was born in Cuba and her love of dance started and her family‘s nightly talent shows but when they move to Spain and her mom enrolled her in dance class her love for the art exploded. She even slept with her ballerina slippers somethings are power to worried about when she became a teenager she met Fernando Alonso who agreed to take ballet classes just so he could be with Alicia more than before Alicia knew it he was asking her to marry him and move to New York. This is where her star would really glow but unfortunately there’s always a downside and for Alicia she was diagnosed with retinal detachment with which is an ongoing disease that will eventually make the person blind but despite that Alicia continue to dance on stage with the help of her fellow dancers in a string attached to her corset she was able to do what she loved and lived to be 98 and wow what a story I truly love this book in the pictures and it’s one of our favorites. I received this book from NetGalley and rebel girls but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.
-
Alicia Alonso Takes the Stage
by Rebel Girls
Pub Date 07 Feb 2023 | Archive Date 03 Mar 2023
Rebel Girls
Biographies & Memoirs | Children's Fiction | Middle Grade
I am reviewing a copy of Alicia Alonso Takes the Stage through Rebel Girls and Netgalley:
Alicia always felt she had been born to dance. From the moment she put on her pointe shoes for the first time it felt that was her place. She is determined to become a professional ballerina. A few years later, Alicia moves from Cuba to the United States to follow her dreams.
After Alicia begins to loose her sight, she wonders how she will dance she can’t see where she’s going. Stuck in bed and only able to practice with her fingertips, Alicia doesn’t give up. She finds a way to get back on stage, dancing into the hearts of audiences as one of the world’s most famous prima ballerinas.
In Alicia Alonso Takes the Stage readers are introduced to the story of a world-renowned prima ballerina who impressed people all over the world with her beautiful dancing while living with visual impairments. This is a story about perseverance in the face of adversity, and how the arts can afford women the opportunity to achieve a global impact.
I give Alicia Alonso Takes the Stage five out of five stars!
Happy Reading! -
*Thank you to #NetGalley and Rebel Girls for a chance to read the digital ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.
This is a great book, and great series, about the determination that Alicia Alonso had in becoming a well-known ballerina. Born in 1920 in Cuba, ballet was not the cultural norm, but Alicia knew from a young age that she wanted to be a ballerina. Her first big role was as Giselle and the descriptions of the ballet are truly wonderful. Her family figured it was a passing phase, but ballet was her life. That was something that was not accepted by most, especially not her family. But Alicia followed her heart and stayed with ballet.
Even more than her family not supporting her at first, when Alicia was 19 she found that she had a detached retina and was going blind. That still didn't stop her from dancing. She had to find ways to make it work and was loved enough by her fellow dancers that they helped make it possible.
Rebel Girl stories are really great tools to let kids know of women who wouldn't back down from a challenge and lived their own perfect lives. They are written just right for the 8-12 crowd that they are intended for. -
Thanks to Rebel Girls for the ARC!
This novel is based on the life of Alicia Alonso, one of the most wonderful ballerinas from Cuba. People could see how talented she was since childhood, but her life wasn't easy. At some point, it seemed like she would never be able to dance again after losing her sight. How could she dance without seeing the stage? But her love for the dance was bigger than her fear. She practiced a lot and never gave up on her dream. And by doing that, she was able to help others too.
The Rebel Girls books are intended for children, but I always read them when I have the chance. They always bring inspiring, positive messages. I love how they tell stories about women from all around the world, exploring the different aspects of our cultures and presenting them to the children. For example, some words from "Alicia Alonso takes the take" were written in Spanish.
And also, the illustrations are absolutely beautiful. -
Another great chapter book from Rebel Girls! Text by Corinne Purtill.
Alicia was born in 1920 in an island nation in the Caribbean, went to regular school and took ballet lessons. She loved ballet and even went to study with a famous ballet! She became world famous for her skill. Then she became nearly blind! And still she went on tour. She determined to do it, and she did! She even founded the Cuban National Ballet and lived until 2019!
This fictionalized biography is quite realistic and encouraging to anyone facing difficulties in doing what matters to them.
The illustrations by Josefina Preumayr are simple, delightful, imaginative, and colorful.
Well suited for reading WITH someone of any age including ESL, and great for gifting to anyone, but especially to a school or your public library!
I requested and received a free temporary e-book on Adobe Digital Editions from Rebel Girls via NetGalley. Thank you! -
I was not really familiar with Alicia Alonso before reading this, other than hearing her name. What an amazing, inspiring woman! Seriously, look her up on Youtube and watch her in the Black Swan pas de deux, it's unbelievable. Young dancers will of course find her story inspirational, but those with physical limitations will find her story inspiring as well, as she dealt with severe vision problems and partial blindness for most of her life. She not only overcame this, she became one of the greatest ballerinas of her time, and founded one of the largest ballet schools in the world.
The text in this book is engaging, and gives the reader a sense of Alonso's excitement with dance, and the illustrations are colorful and vibrant, with much life to them. Another great addition to the Rebel Girls series!
#RebelGirlsSeries #NetGalley -
As always, I adore these Rebel Girl stories and support their aim's of uplifting women's stories across the globe.
I think these books are fantastic across the ages - I'm always learning something new (and embarrassingly, often have never heard of the female protagonist). But by young readers are learning alongside me, so we can discuss everything together.
The text of this book is aimed at an upper primary/middle grade reading age, although some younger reader's would be fine. Chapters are only a few pages long and are always accompanied by bright illustrations.
Alicia Alonso's story is a fascinating look at passion and dedication. What an amazing life and legacy. Another wonderful addition to this series. -
This is my second book from this series by Rebel Girls (the first one was my Book 11!), and their biographies never fail to leave me in awe. It tells the story of Alicia Alonso, a partially blind Cuban ballerina who didn't let her disability or her parents' hesitance get in the way of her dreams. The language is simple and engaging, the art as always beautiful. To be honest, I think I'm falling in love with this book series bec it keeps introducing me to new - at least to me - female game changers and role models ♀️ thanks, NetGalley, for often approving my requests for ARCs!
Everything I read in 2020 here :) -
Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE Rebel Girls?
The stories are fantastic, the books are appealing to look at and read, the length of the stories is just right for young readers, and the subject are fantastic!
Rebel Girls is doing a phenomenal job of finding diverse women, and interesting stories about lesser known heroines, to present as inspiration for a generation that has started their intellectual pursuits under much duress.
I just can't wait to have an entire bookshelf dedicated to Rebel Girls and strong women as a beacon to empower the young people (not just girls!) in my life
Thank you Rebel Girls!
Thank you to NetGalley and Rebel Girls for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinions. -
Never give up - this statement is so true to Alicia Alonso. When the world's against you, even when your body gives up, your soul doesn't give up on the one true love. That true love was the dance to Alicia. She loved to dance, and dance loved her back to become a world-famous ballet dancer.
Alicia Alonso's life is for all who dream and work hard for that dream. No matter the obstacles, you win with your hope.
Thank you, Rebel Girls, for this astonishing book.
Alicia Alonso Takes the Stage, is a quick, easy read filled with beautiful illustrations. It also contains fun, engaging extra content and activities. I loved reading it so much and will always cherish it in my heart.
