Review: Once A Dancer... An Autobiography by Allegra Kent

Title: Once A Dancer... An Autobiography

Author: Allegra Kent

Year: 1997

ISBN: 0-312-18750-5

Allegra Kent was a former New York City Ballet principal dancer. She joined the New York City Ballet (NYCB) at the tender age of fifteen and became one of the most celebrated dancers ever produced by the co-founder and choreographer of the New York City Ballet, George Balanchine. In fact, she was one of the muses of George Balanchine.

Allegra Kent was born Iris Margo Cohen on August 11 1937 in Santa Monica, California. She began her first ballet classes with Bronislava Nijinska and Carmelita Maracci before proceeding to study at the School of American Ballet in 1951. She joined NYCB as a corps de ballet dancer one year later. Kent progressed rapidly through the company and was soon offered principal roles and also have roles created for her by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins.

Some of the roles created by George Balanchine for Kent were Ivesiana, Bugaku and the revival of The Seven Deadly Sins. She had excelled in these roles that would see her become one of the most well-known principal dancer NYCB ever had. However, the life as a ballet dancer Kent had lead was far from the stereotypical fairy-tale perception.

Kent's personal life was unfortunately intertwined with her professional life due to the fact that her mother had been a ballet mother; having had a strong influence on the direction of both her personal and professional lives would take. However, despite of the immense challenges she had faced, Allegra Kent's story was an inspiring one, also a riveting read especially if you are a fan of the ballet.

Reading an autobiography of a Balanchine ballerina where Allegra Kent was one is akin to studying the history of American ballet in which she gave a very insightful account. Readers can actually trace the major historical milestones of American ballet during the life and times of George Balanchine. The mere fact that Kent was at the height of her professional career with the big names in American ballet such as Maria Tallchief, Violette Verdy and Tanaquil Le Clercq, just to name a few, made her story all the more interesting read. A must read book if you are a big fan of the golden era of ballet, i.e. 1950s to 1970s.