{"product_id":"raising-the-barre-big-dreams-false-starts-my-midlife-quest-to-dance-the-nutcracker","title":"Raising the Barre: Big Dreams, False Starts, \u0026 My Midlife Quest to Dance the Nutcracker","description":"\u003cp\u003eby Lauren Kessler\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLike generations of little girls, Lauren Kessler fell in love with ballet the first time she saw \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Nutcracker\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, and from that day, at age five, she dreamed of becoming a ballerina. But when she was twelve, her very famous ballet instructor crushed those dreams -- along with her youthful self-assurance -- and she stepped away from the barre.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFast forward four decades. Lauren -- suddenly, powerfully, itchingly restless at midlife -- embarks on a \"Transcontinental \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eNutcracker\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Binge Tour,\" where attending a string of performances in Chicago, New York, Boston, and San Francisco reignites her love affair with the ballet--and fuels her girlhood dream.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat ensues is not only a story about \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Nutcracker\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e itself, but also an inside look at the seemingly romantic -- but oh-so-gritty -- world of ballet, about all that happens away from the audience's eye that precedes the magic on stage. It is a tale told from the perspective of someone who not only loves it, but is also seeking to live it. Lauren's quest to dance \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Nutcracker\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e with the Eugene Ballet Company tackles the big issues: fear, angst, risk, resilience, the refusal to \"settle in\" to midlife, the refusal to become yet another Invisible Woman. It is also a very funny, very real look at what it's like to push yourself further than you ever thought you could go -- and what happens when you get there.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Amazon","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46626473738523,"sku":"3410","price":12.8,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0754\/9934\/0059\/files\/51ybLr9BOrL._SY445_SX342.jpg?v=1696026827","url":"https:\/\/2b297a.myshopify.com\/products\/raising-the-barre-big-dreams-false-starts-my-midlife-quest-to-dance-the-nutcracker","provider":"Dancer's Closet","version":"1.0","type":"link"}