Europe On My Toes
Taken directly from Ysabelle Taylor’s diaries and letters written over a ten year period from 1976 to 1986, “Europe On My Toes” transports the reader into the dancer's inner world. It tells the personal story of a career in ballet companies at the time in Germany, Southern Ireland, Holland and Sweden. Ysabelle's journey starts as an aspiring ballet student, and ends as a seasoned professional transitioning into a new career as a teacher and choreographer. Along the way she experiences hope, disappointment, surprises, battles to be fought and triumphs. This insight into the private world of a professional ballet dancer will be of particular interest to dancers and balletomanes, as well as anyone enjoying an unusual memoir.
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Taylor's diary entries give a flavour of what it was like to be performing with a ballet company at that time - auditions, finding work, the building of confidence, the loneliness when working in a foreign country, injuries, the unexpected chance to dance solo roles, the need to keep in shape - all of which is described by Taylor with honesty and simplicity. Taylor never became famous, but that is what makes this book so interesting - it's an insight into the life of a real "jobbing" dancer.
Jonathan Gray, The Dancing Times, February 2020