Collusion: Memoir of a Young Girl and Her Ballet Master

Novelist and poet Zimroth (Gangsters) recounts her days as an adolescent ballet student and her masochistic relationship with her teacher, F., a famous Russian dancer. The story itself is compelling. F.'s treatment of Zimroth alternates between special kindness (taking her into his office to show her photographs of himself as a young dancer) and particular cruelty (F. hits Zimroth with his cane hard enough to leave bruises). Even without a demanding, often physically abusive instructor like F., serious early ballet study comes off sounding painful and self-punishing: Zimroth describes how to break in pointe shoes and confesses that for years she kept her first pair--caked on the inside with dried blood--as a souvenir. The book's weakness lies in its lack of factual explanation. When Zimroth was 13, her parents insisted on pulling her out of ballet school because of her poor grades. When she reported this to F., he told her she would have to choose between him and her parents. Zimroth chose her teacher but doesn't explain how she got around her parents' original demand. In a similar vein, Zimroth uses a disturbing yet unconvincing framing device in which she compares her relationship with F. to a sexual experience (confusingly, she introduces this as a rape, then immediately recants). Still, Zimroth's memoir is an interesting backstage look at the seamier side of an art form, and it raises interesting questions about artists and mentors and the personal price of success. (Jan.)