The Shape of Love by Gelsey Kirkland, written in 1989, a few years after her memoir Dancing on My Grave was published, is a very different type of memoir than her first. While her first, Dancing on My Grave, was more of a tell-all memoir with some of her artistic process included, this sequel is almost entirely about Kirkland's thought processes, approach and analysis of ballet. She feels that, while technique is important, it is just as important for a successful dancer to express meaning.

Since I have a daughter deeply immersed in ballet, I found this book interesting and she will be reading it. For a layperson this book might not be as absorbing. Towards the end of this book (which overall covers only about a year or two in Kirkland's life after Dancing on My Grave), there is some insight provided regarding her teaching methods which seem to not strictly adhere to technique.

If Kirkland wrote a third memoir, I would like that. I'm not sure, however, who her co-author would be -- her now-former husband, Greg Lawrence, collaborated with her on this book and the previous one. I think a third memoir could show that life can continue on in positive ways when a dancer retires from the stage. ( )