A husband and wife team up to provide an insightful, accessible, and aesthetically engaging graphic novel that follows the latter's dance career. Well- proportioned watercolor panels trace Siena Cherson Siegel's involvement with ballet from her introduction to it at the age of six and her training as an adolescent at the School of American Ballet to her leaving professional dance when she reached college and her return to it several years later, "because I still needed to dance." The fully realized account goes beyond the sacrifices and rewards she experienced to other matters, such as the effects of her parents' separation and divorce and her awe of ballet master George Balanchine. As a girl, Siena discovered Jill Krementz's photo-essay A Very Young Dancer0 (1976), but unlike that portrait of a girl ballerina, this one is in no way glamorized. Mark Siegel's images are often pretty, but like the story his wife tells, they are honest about a ballerina's life. Foot pain, leg injuries, and more are a part of Siena's story, which provides those who hope for or wonder about a career in dancing with a candid view of an individual for whom ballet is essential to a fulfilling life. --Francisca Goldsmith Copyright 2006 Booklist

Gr 4 Up-Siegel leaves her home in Puerto Rico to study at the School of American Ballet where she dances with the New York City Ballet. Her deeply rooted love of dance permeates this touching memoir. The graphic format and her husband's lyrical art bring to life the preparation and dedication required of performers. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(Intermediate, Middle School) Cliche deems that every little girl dreams of being a ballerina. The reality is that ballet requires strength, endurance, grace, commitment, and passion. This memoir follows one girl's journey into dance in the 1970s. As Siena matures from a delighted nine-year-old to a driven high school student, she progresses from taking classes to correct flat feet to attending the School of American Ballet in New York City. Absorbing every aspect of dance like a sponge, she bumps into Baryshnikov in the elevator and studies performances across the wings from director George Balanchine. Both narrative and images in this nimble graphic memoir are filled with enthusiasm and humor, chronicling Siena's strongest memories with palpable energy and enjoyment. To Dance is a coming-of-age story rich with details of ballet's modern history as well as a portrait of one girl, her family, and the hard work it took to make her dream a reality. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

For so many dancers, it's the magic of a performance that captures their spirit and fuels a dream. For the author, it was seeing the legendary Bolshoi ballerina Maya Plisetskaya in a performance of The Dying Swan. Reading Krementz's A Very Young Dancer (1976, o.p.) was also highly motivational. She moved from her home in Puerto Rico to become a student at the School of American Ballet in New York City and danced onstage in children's roles with the New York City Ballet during the late 1970s and early 1980s, when ballet was hot stuff indeed. The graphic format for her memoir works perfectly, encapsulating the many details of rehearsal, performance and home life. Her parents' bitter divorce gives the narrative a poignant edge. The writing is direct and personal, informative and engaging. Siegel's artwork brilliantly captures ballet movement, the luminaries of the time and the daily life of a dancer. A bravura performance by author and illustrator that will be read and reread and treasured by ballet lovers of all ages. (Graphic novel. 10+) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Siena Cherson Siegel's autobiographical story will be as inviting to balletomanes as to aspiring ballet dancers. In a credible, youthful voice that conveys both confidence and innocence, she recalls her earliest inspirations to pursue dance, including watching Maya Plisetskaya perform with the Bolshoi Ballet. Mark Siegel (Seadogs), the author's husband, gracefully portrays this subtle epiphany in a single panel illustration, as young Siena looks directly at readers: "I wanted to be a ballerina." Eventually, she gains acceptance to the School of American Ballet, co-created by George Balanchine to train dancers for his New York City Ballet. The format smoothly connects these milestones with humorous childlike observations. In one series of panels, she comments on the Russian teachers at SAB: "They wore black./ Floors were black./ Doors were black./ I wore green!" The next spread then explains that this green corresponds with a dancer's level. Under Balanchine's direction, Siena danced in Harlequinade, in which Baryshnikov starred, and she watches the ballet from the backstage wings, spying Balanchine or "Mr. B.," as the dancers call him, in the wings opposite her. Later, when Mr. B. dies unexpectedly, the artwork beautifully pays homage, with a shot of his empty place in the wings. Siena leaves the ballet, after a serious injury, to attend college, yet continues to dance ("Dancing fills a space in me"). The graphic novel format allows the Siegels to fluidly balance biographical events with onstage action, capturing both the dancers' movements and their passion. Ages 8-14. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved