Plie'! Jete'! Boys Dance! by John Robert Allman

SHORTS AND SOCKS AND SHOES ON TIGHT.

YOU'RE SET TO DANCE WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT.

Wiggly boys and giggly girls, the boys in black shorts and white tees and slippers and the girls in bright leotards and white slippers finish suiting up and take their place at the barre to learn ballet.

THEN AS MUSIC STARTS TO PLAY...

PLIE', PLIE', PLIE', PLIE'!

Under the watchful eyes of their ballet master, the boys warm up and then move out to the center of the floor, where they practice their positions from one to five. And then they get to show their styles with a tour jete', a piroutte, and a tour en l' air. Under posters of famous dancers who learned their skills as boys, they marvel at mighty lifts and and try to make their leaps cool and high.

In John Robert Allman's Boys Dance! (American Ballet Theatre) (Doubleday and Company, 2020), boys practice skills that will build muscles and balance that can make them primo ballerinos...

PRINCES, PIRATES, VILLAINS TOO!

SLAY THE MOUSE KING IN A COUP!

... and build strength and balance, speed and control that will serve them well on the basketball or tennis court or on the soccer or baseball field. In their lessons, they also can learn other dance styles--modern, tap, hip-hop, and jazz dance.

Why should girls have all the fun! Author Allman makes ballet look inviting, with boys going through their strenuous paces in the lively and humorous illustrations of artist Luciano Lozane. With an appendix showing young boy dancers in performance costumes and as adults in famous roles, this rhyming picture book puts in a positive plug for the American Ballet Theater for boys who like to make their moves to music to join in. As Kirkus Review puts it, "Boys and ballet—a happy and upbeat combo."

For more boys in ballet fun, share this one with Grace Maccarone's Miss Lina's Ballerinas and the Prince. (See my review here.)