Raising the Barre
Big Dreams, False Starts, and My Midlife Quest to Dance the Nutcracker
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $14.61
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Hollis McCarthy
-
By:
-
Lauren Kessler
About this listen
When Lauren Kessler was 12, her ballet instructor crushed not just her dreams of being a ballerina but also her youthful self-assurance. Now, many decades and three children later, Kessler embarks on a journey to join a professional company to perform in The Nutcracker.
Raising the Barre is more than just one woman's story; it is a story about shaking things up, taking risks, and ignoring good sense and forgetting how old you are and how you're "supposed" to act. It's about testing limits and raising the bar(re) on your own life.
©2015 Lauren Kessler (P)2015 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
-
Apollo's Angels
- A History of Ballet
- By: Jennifer Homans
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 23 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For more than 400 years, the art of ballet has stood at the center of Western civilization. Its traditions serve as a record of our past. A ballerina dancing The Sleeping Beauty today is a link in a long chain of dancers stretching back to 16th-century Italy and France: Her graceful movements recall a lost world of courts, kings, and aristocracy, but her steps and gestures are also marked by the dramatic changes in dance and culture that followed.
-
-
a great book poorly read
- By Anonymous User on 04-14-11
By: Jennifer Homans
-
Swan Dive
- The Making of a Rogue Ballerina
- By: Georgina Pazcoguin
- Narrated by: Georgina Pazcoguin
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this love letter to the art of dance and the sport that has been her livelihood, NYCB’s first Asian American female soloist Georgina Pazcoguin lays bare her unfiltered story of leaving small-town Pennsylvania for New York City and training amid the unique demands of being a hybrid professional athlete/artist, all before finishing high school. She pitches us into the fascinating, whirling shoes of dancers in one of the most revered ballet companies in the world with an unapologetic sense of humor about the cutthroat, survival-of-the-fittest mentality at NYCB.
-
-
Pure joy!
- By Amazon Customer on 07-31-21
-
Ballerina Body
- Dancing and Eating Your Way to a Leaner, Stronger, and More Graceful You
- By: Misty Copeland
- Narrated by: Cherelle Cargill, Misty Copeland - introduction
- Length: 3 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The celebrated ballerina and role model Misty Copeland shares the secrets of how to reshape your body and achieve a lean, strong physique and glowing health.
-
-
Meh... unclear audience. Probably better in print.
- By Danya on 01-07-18
By: Misty Copeland
-
The Ballerina Mindset
- How to Protect Your Mental Health While Striving for Excellence
- By: Megan Fairchild
- Narrated by: Megan Fairchild
- Length: 3 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Learn how to thrive in intense, competitive environments with these secrets from one of America's premiere ballerinas - and get a sneak peek behind the curtain into what her life is really like.
-
-
Grateful for Megan
- By Mariana P on 12-30-21
By: Megan Fairchild
-
Serenade
- A Balanchine Story
- By: Toni Bentley
- Narrated by: Leslie Howard, Toni Bentley
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At age seventeen, Toni Bentley was chosen by Balanchine, then in his final years, to join the New York City Ballet. From both backstage and onstage, she carries us through the serendipitous history and physical intricacies and demands of Serenade: its dazzling opening, with seventeen women in a double-diamond pattern; its radical, even jazzy, use of the highly refined language that is ballet; its place in the choreographer’s own dramatic story of his immigration to the United States from Soviet Russia.
-
-
What a beautiful book!
- By Ning on 05-04-22
By: Toni Bentley
-
Life in Motion
- An Unlikely Ballerina
- By: Misty Copeland
- Narrated by: Lisa Reneé Pitts
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the only African-American soloist dancing with the prestigious American Ballet Theatre, Misty Copeland has made history. But when she first placed her hands on the barre at an after-school community center, no one expected the undersized, anxious 13-year-old to become a groundbreaking ballerina. Life in Motion is a story of passion and grace for anyone who has dared to dream of a different life.
-
-
Has Copeland heard this narration? Has Audible?
- By Debbie on 08-02-15
By: Misty Copeland
-
Apollo's Angels
- A History of Ballet
- By: Jennifer Homans
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 23 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For more than 400 years, the art of ballet has stood at the center of Western civilization. Its traditions serve as a record of our past. A ballerina dancing The Sleeping Beauty today is a link in a long chain of dancers stretching back to 16th-century Italy and France: Her graceful movements recall a lost world of courts, kings, and aristocracy, but her steps and gestures are also marked by the dramatic changes in dance and culture that followed.
-
-
a great book poorly read
- By Anonymous User on 04-14-11
By: Jennifer Homans
-
Swan Dive
- The Making of a Rogue Ballerina
- By: Georgina Pazcoguin
- Narrated by: Georgina Pazcoguin
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this love letter to the art of dance and the sport that has been her livelihood, NYCB’s first Asian American female soloist Georgina Pazcoguin lays bare her unfiltered story of leaving small-town Pennsylvania for New York City and training amid the unique demands of being a hybrid professional athlete/artist, all before finishing high school. She pitches us into the fascinating, whirling shoes of dancers in one of the most revered ballet companies in the world with an unapologetic sense of humor about the cutthroat, survival-of-the-fittest mentality at NYCB.
-
-
Pure joy!
- By Amazon Customer on 07-31-21
-
Ballerina Body
- Dancing and Eating Your Way to a Leaner, Stronger, and More Graceful You
- By: Misty Copeland
- Narrated by: Cherelle Cargill, Misty Copeland - introduction
- Length: 3 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The celebrated ballerina and role model Misty Copeland shares the secrets of how to reshape your body and achieve a lean, strong physique and glowing health.
-
-
Meh... unclear audience. Probably better in print.
- By Danya on 01-07-18
By: Misty Copeland
-
The Ballerina Mindset
- How to Protect Your Mental Health While Striving for Excellence
- By: Megan Fairchild
- Narrated by: Megan Fairchild
- Length: 3 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Learn how to thrive in intense, competitive environments with these secrets from one of America's premiere ballerinas - and get a sneak peek behind the curtain into what her life is really like.
-
-
Grateful for Megan
- By Mariana P on 12-30-21
By: Megan Fairchild
-
Serenade
- A Balanchine Story
- By: Toni Bentley
- Narrated by: Leslie Howard, Toni Bentley
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At age seventeen, Toni Bentley was chosen by Balanchine, then in his final years, to join the New York City Ballet. From both backstage and onstage, she carries us through the serendipitous history and physical intricacies and demands of Serenade: its dazzling opening, with seventeen women in a double-diamond pattern; its radical, even jazzy, use of the highly refined language that is ballet; its place in the choreographer’s own dramatic story of his immigration to the United States from Soviet Russia.
-
-
What a beautiful book!
- By Ning on 05-04-22
By: Toni Bentley
-
Life in Motion
- An Unlikely Ballerina
- By: Misty Copeland
- Narrated by: Lisa Reneé Pitts
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the only African-American soloist dancing with the prestigious American Ballet Theatre, Misty Copeland has made history. But when she first placed her hands on the barre at an after-school community center, no one expected the undersized, anxious 13-year-old to become a groundbreaking ballerina. Life in Motion is a story of passion and grace for anyone who has dared to dream of a different life.
-
-
Has Copeland heard this narration? Has Audible?
- By Debbie on 08-02-15
By: Misty Copeland
-
Turning Pointe
- How a New Generation of Dancers Is Saving Ballet from Itself
- By: Chloe Angyal
- Narrated by: Casey Holloway
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every day, in dance studios all across America, legions of little children line up at the barre to take ballet class. This time in the studio shapes their lives, instilling lessons about gender, power, bodies, and their place in the world both in and outside of dance. In Turning Pointe, journalist Chloe Angyal captures the intense love for ballet that so many dancers feel, while also grappling with its devastating shortcomings....
-
-
Interesting but idealistic
- By Daryl James on 11-28-21
By: Chloe Angyal
-
Year of Yes
- How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person
- By: Shonda Rhimes
- Narrated by: Shonda Rhimes
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The megatalented creator of Grey's Anatomy and Scandal and executive producer of How to Get Away with Murder chronicles how saying yes for one year changed her life - and how it can change yours, too.
-
-
Began well, but disappointing
- By Gary on 11-30-15
By: Shonda Rhimes
-
Speak
- Find Your Voice, Trust Your Gut, and Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be
- By: Tunde Oyeneyin
- Narrated by: Tunde Oyeneyin
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On any given day, thousands of devoted people clip into their bikes and have their lives changed by Tunde Oyeneyin. From her platform in a Peloton studio, she encourages riders with her trademark blend of positivity, empathy, and motivational “Tunde-isms,” to push themselves to their limits both on and off the bike. Now, fans and readers everywhere can learn about her personal journey, and discover how they too can “live a life of purpose, on purpose” with Speak, a memoir-manifesto-guide to life inspired by her immensely popular Instagram Live series of the same name.
-
-
Your story is your story
- By sydney Webster on 07-04-22
By: Tunde Oyeneyin
-
Talking as Fast as I Can
- From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls (and Everything in Between)
- By: Lauren Graham
- Narrated by: Lauren Graham
- Length: 4 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her first work of nonfiction, the beloved star of Gilmore Girls and Parenthood recounts her experiences on Gilmore Girls - the first and second times - and shares stories about life, love, and working in Hollywood. This collection of essays is written in the intimate, hilarious, and down-to-earth voice that made her novel, Someday, Someday, Maybe, a New York Times best seller.
-
-
I AM CRYING!!
- By Rebecca on 11-29-16
By: Lauren Graham
-
In Pieces
- By: Sally Field
- Narrated by: Sally Field
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this intimate, haunting, literary memoir read by the author, an American icon tells her story for the first time, in her own gorgeous words - about a challenging and lonely childhood, the craft that helped her find her voice, and a powerful emotional legacy that shaped her journey as a daughter and a mother.
-
-
Riveting Life Story of Sally Field's
- By DAW on 09-20-18
By: Sally Field
-
The Most Beautiful
- My Life with Prince
- By: Mayte Garcia
- Narrated by: Mayte Garcia
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the one-year anniversary of his death, legendary musician Prince's first wife shares a uniquely intimate, candid, and revelatory look inside the personal and professional life of one of the world's most beloved icons. In The Most Beautiful, a title inspired by the hit song Prince wrote about their legendary love story, Mayte Garcia for the first time shares the deeply personal story of their relationship and offers a singular perspective on the music icon and their world together.
-
-
BOTH HEART WRENCHING AND WARMING! LOVED IT!!!!!
- By Annie The Audible Addict!!! on 04-07-17
By: Mayte Garcia
-
Try Hard
- Tales from the life of a needy overachiever
- By: Em Rusciano
- Narrated by: Em Rusciano
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Funny, feisty and fabulous, Em Rusciano's insights into her world of mayhem, marriage and motherhood are a laugh-out-loud, cry-out-loud balm for the soul. From her exploits at the Miss Sheila Fancypants School of Dance and her efforts to secure a solo at her end-of-year performance to embracing the spotlight as an Australian Idol contestant and her deep and abiding love for John Farnham, Em Rusciano is a self-confessed bottomless pit of anxiety with a taste for glitter.
-
-
You need Emelia Rusciano in your life!
- By Anonymous User on 05-27-18
By: Em Rusciano
-
Fearlessly Different
- An Autistic Actor's Journey to Broadway's Biggest Stage
- By: Mickey Rowe
- Narrated by: Mickey Rowe
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
My name is Mickey Rowe. I am an actor, a theatre director, a father, and a husband. I am also a man with autism. You think those things don’t go together? Let me show you that they do.
-
-
Understanding the realities of disabled people
- By Lila on 03-24-22
By: Mickey Rowe
-
Boys in the Trees
- A Memoir
- By: Carly Simon
- Narrated by: Carly Simon
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Simon's memoir reveals her remarkable life, beginning with her storied childhood as the third daughter of Richard L. Simon, the co-founder of publishing giant Simon & Schuster; her musical debut as half of The Simon Sisters, performing folk songs with her sister, Lucy, in Greenwich Village; to a meteoric solo career that would result in 13 top 40 hits, including the number-one song "You're So Vain".
-
-
Gorgeous and Sad
- By Adele in CBus on 11-30-15
By: Carly Simon
-
Swing Time
- By: Zadie Smith
- Narrated by: Pippa Bennett-Warner
- Length: 13 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two brown girls dream of being dancers - but only one, Tracey, has talent. The other has ideas: About rhythm and time, about Black bodies and Black music, what constitutes a tribe, or makes a person truly free. It's a close but complicated childhood friendship that ends abruptly in their early 20s, never to be revisited, but never quite forgotten, either. Tracey makes it to the chorus line but struggles with adult life, while her friend leaves the old neighborhood behind, traveling the world as an assistant to a famous singer, Aimee, observing close up how the one percent live.
-
-
Enthralling and instructive. A novel of the highest caliber
- By Richmond Surrey on 07-27-17
By: Zadie Smith
-
On My Own Two Feet
- From Losing My Legs to Learning the Dance of Life
- By: Amy Purdy, Michelle Burford
- Narrated by: Amy Purdy, Jorjeana Marie
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this poignant and uplifting memoir, Dancing with the Stars sensation Amy Purdy reveals the story of how losing her legs led her to find a spiritual path. When the Las Vegas native was just nineteen, she came down with bacterial meningitis and was given less than a two percent chance of survival. In a near-death experience, she saw three figures who told her: “You can come with us, or you can stay. No matter what happens in your life, it's all going to make sense in the end." In that moment, Amy chose to live.
-
-
A Powerful Memoir of Truimph over Tragedy
- By ElizOF on 01-31-22
By: Amy Purdy, and others
-
Out of the Corner
- A Memoir
- By: Jennifer Grey
- Narrated by: Jennifer Grey
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this beautiful, close-to-the bone account, Jennifer Grey takes listeners on a vivid tour of the experiences that have shaped her, from her childhood as the daughter of Broadway and film legend Joel Grey, to the surprise hit with Patrick Swayze that made her America’s sweetheart, to her inspiring season eleven win on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars.
-
-
nothing new
- By DH on 05-12-22
By: Jennifer Grey
Related to this topic
-
Life in Motion
- An Unlikely Ballerina
- By: Misty Copeland
- Narrated by: Lisa Reneé Pitts
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the only African-American soloist dancing with the prestigious American Ballet Theatre, Misty Copeland has made history. But when she first placed her hands on the barre at an after-school community center, no one expected the undersized, anxious 13-year-old to become a groundbreaking ballerina. Life in Motion is a story of passion and grace for anyone who has dared to dream of a different life.
-
-
Has Copeland heard this narration? Has Audible?
- By Debbie on 08-02-15
By: Misty Copeland
-
On My Own Two Feet
- From Losing My Legs to Learning the Dance of Life
- By: Amy Purdy, Michelle Burford
- Narrated by: Amy Purdy, Jorjeana Marie
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this poignant and uplifting memoir, Dancing with the Stars sensation Amy Purdy reveals the story of how losing her legs led her to find a spiritual path. When the Las Vegas native was just nineteen, she came down with bacterial meningitis and was given less than a two percent chance of survival. In a near-death experience, she saw three figures who told her: “You can come with us, or you can stay. No matter what happens in your life, it's all going to make sense in the end." In that moment, Amy chose to live.
-
-
A Powerful Memoir of Truimph over Tragedy
- By ElizOF on 01-31-22
By: Amy Purdy, and others
-
Victorian Secrets
- What a Corset Taught Me about the Past, the Present, and Myself
- By: Sarah A. Chrisman
- Narrated by: Kristin Kalbli
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On Sarah A. Chrisman's 29th birthday, her husband, Gabriel, presented her with a corset. The material and the design were breathtakingly beautiful, but her mind immediately filled with unwelcome views. Although she had been in love with the Victorian era all her life, she had specifically asked her husband not to buy her a corset - ever. She'd heard how corsets affected the female body and what they represented, and she wanted none of it.
-
-
Exploration of Vanity
- By Sara on 09-08-14
-
Winning Balance
- What I've Learned So Far about Love, Faith, and Living Your Dreams
- By: Shawn Johnson, Nancy French
- Narrated by: Shawn Johnson
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty-year-old American gymnast Shawn Johnson is a four-time Olympic gold and silver medalist; a national- and world-champion athlete. Already a popular role model to all ages, in 2009 she captured the national spotlight again when she won on the widely popular Dancing with the Stars. Yet Shawn is no stranger to hard work and adversity.
-
-
LOVED HER STORY!
- By Anonymous User on 12-04-19
By: Shawn Johnson, and others
-
Why I Hate Green Beans
- And Other Confessions About Relationships, Reality TV, and How We See Ourselves
- By: Lincee Ray
- Narrated by: Lincee Ray
- Length: 4 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If there is one thing Lincee Ray has learned over the years, it's that the majority of women on the planet struggle with insecurities. Our skinny jeans mock us. Our just-trying-to-help mothers are just driving us crazy. Our social media feeds taunt us with everyone else's picture-perfect lives. It's enough to send you on a gummy-bear bender while binge-watching Friends reruns and not showering for a week. Lincee knows. She's been there. Right there, in fact. Gummy bears and all.
-
-
Perfect in every way!
- By Anonymous User on 10-19-22
By: Lincee Ray
-
Fierce
- How Competing for Myself Changed Everything
- By: Aly Raisman
- Narrated by: Natalie Roy Camargo, Aly Raisman
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discover Aly Raisman's inspiring story of dedication, perseverance, and learning to think positive even in the toughest times on her path to gold medal success in two Olympic Games - and beyond. Aly Raisman first stepped onto a gymnastics mat as a toddler in a "mommy and me" gymnastics class. No one could have predicted then that 16 years later, she'd be standing on an Olympic podium, having achieved her dreams.
-
-
Excellent gymnastics memoir
- By Brittany Cook on 11-21-17
By: Aly Raisman
-
Life in Motion
- An Unlikely Ballerina
- By: Misty Copeland
- Narrated by: Lisa Reneé Pitts
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the only African-American soloist dancing with the prestigious American Ballet Theatre, Misty Copeland has made history. But when she first placed her hands on the barre at an after-school community center, no one expected the undersized, anxious 13-year-old to become a groundbreaking ballerina. Life in Motion is a story of passion and grace for anyone who has dared to dream of a different life.
-
-
Has Copeland heard this narration? Has Audible?
- By Debbie on 08-02-15
By: Misty Copeland
-
On My Own Two Feet
- From Losing My Legs to Learning the Dance of Life
- By: Amy Purdy, Michelle Burford
- Narrated by: Amy Purdy, Jorjeana Marie
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this poignant and uplifting memoir, Dancing with the Stars sensation Amy Purdy reveals the story of how losing her legs led her to find a spiritual path. When the Las Vegas native was just nineteen, she came down with bacterial meningitis and was given less than a two percent chance of survival. In a near-death experience, she saw three figures who told her: “You can come with us, or you can stay. No matter what happens in your life, it's all going to make sense in the end." In that moment, Amy chose to live.
-
-
A Powerful Memoir of Truimph over Tragedy
- By ElizOF on 01-31-22
By: Amy Purdy, and others
-
Victorian Secrets
- What a Corset Taught Me about the Past, the Present, and Myself
- By: Sarah A. Chrisman
- Narrated by: Kristin Kalbli
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On Sarah A. Chrisman's 29th birthday, her husband, Gabriel, presented her with a corset. The material and the design were breathtakingly beautiful, but her mind immediately filled with unwelcome views. Although she had been in love with the Victorian era all her life, she had specifically asked her husband not to buy her a corset - ever. She'd heard how corsets affected the female body and what they represented, and she wanted none of it.
-
-
Exploration of Vanity
- By Sara on 09-08-14
-
Winning Balance
- What I've Learned So Far about Love, Faith, and Living Your Dreams
- By: Shawn Johnson, Nancy French
- Narrated by: Shawn Johnson
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty-year-old American gymnast Shawn Johnson is a four-time Olympic gold and silver medalist; a national- and world-champion athlete. Already a popular role model to all ages, in 2009 she captured the national spotlight again when she won on the widely popular Dancing with the Stars. Yet Shawn is no stranger to hard work and adversity.
-
-
LOVED HER STORY!
- By Anonymous User on 12-04-19
By: Shawn Johnson, and others
-
Why I Hate Green Beans
- And Other Confessions About Relationships, Reality TV, and How We See Ourselves
- By: Lincee Ray
- Narrated by: Lincee Ray
- Length: 4 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If there is one thing Lincee Ray has learned over the years, it's that the majority of women on the planet struggle with insecurities. Our skinny jeans mock us. Our just-trying-to-help mothers are just driving us crazy. Our social media feeds taunt us with everyone else's picture-perfect lives. It's enough to send you on a gummy-bear bender while binge-watching Friends reruns and not showering for a week. Lincee knows. She's been there. Right there, in fact. Gummy bears and all.
-
-
Perfect in every way!
- By Anonymous User on 10-19-22
By: Lincee Ray
-
Fierce
- How Competing for Myself Changed Everything
- By: Aly Raisman
- Narrated by: Natalie Roy Camargo, Aly Raisman
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discover Aly Raisman's inspiring story of dedication, perseverance, and learning to think positive even in the toughest times on her path to gold medal success in two Olympic Games - and beyond. Aly Raisman first stepped onto a gymnastics mat as a toddler in a "mommy and me" gymnastics class. No one could have predicted then that 16 years later, she'd be standing on an Olympic podium, having achieved her dreams.
-
-
Excellent gymnastics memoir
- By Brittany Cook on 11-21-17
By: Aly Raisman
-
It's Not About Perfect
- Competing for My Country and Fighting for My Life
- By: Shannon Miller
- Narrated by: Nicol Zanzarella
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When she retired at age 19, Shannon Miller did so as one of the most recognizable gymnasts in the country. The winner of seven Olympic medals and the most decorated gymnast, male or female, in US history, Shannon tells a story of surviving and thriving. A shy, rambunctious girl raised in Oklahoma, Shannon fell in love with gymnastics at a young age and fought her way to the top.
-
-
Loved it!
- By Kenna Anavisca on 02-03-17
By: Shannon Miller
-
A Little Bit Wicked
- Life, Love, and Faith in Stages
- By: Kristin Chenoweth
- Narrated by: Kristin Chenoweth
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this frank and funny memoir, the Tony Award-winning star of stage and screen shares her journey from small-town Oklahoma to big-time Broadway, vamping on what it takes to stand firmly on a foundation of family and faith while wearing a hot pair of Jimmy Choo platform sling-backs.
-
-
Salt of the Earth + Sparkles
- By Holly on 10-01-09
-
Going Om
- Real Life Stories On and Off the Yoga Mat
- By: Melissa Carroll - editor
- Narrated by: Eva Kaminsky, Luke Daniels, Allyson Johnson, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With candid, witty, and compelling experiences of yoga from renowned memoirists, including Cheryl Strayed (author of the number one New York Times best-seller Wild), Claire Dederer (author of national best-seller Poser: My Life in 23 Yoga Poses), Dinty W. Moore (author of The Accidental Buddhist), Neal Pollack (author of Stretch: The Making of a Yoga Dude) and many others, Going Om shares a range of observations about this popular practice.
-
-
a couple of good stories, but overall just eh
- By Melissa on 05-31-16
-
Running Like a Girl
- Notes on Learning to Run
- By: Alexandra Heminsley
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Sastre
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Until five years ago, Alexandra Heminsley was decidedly not a runner. Nor was she athletic in any sense of the word. She was an ordinary, curvy woman who was convinced that sports of any kind, especially running, were beyond her. But she's made running part of her life, and gets to reap the rewards: not just the obvious things, like a touch of weight loss, health and glowing skin, but self-belief, and immeasurable daily pleasure.
-
-
Meh... not what I thought...
- By Maria on 12-03-14
-
Knitting Yarns
- Writers on Knitting
- By: Ann Hood - editor
- Narrated by: Ann Hood, Sam Adrain
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Knitting Yarns, twenty-seven writers tell stories about how knitting healed, challenged, or helped them to grow. Poignant, funny, and moving, Knitting Yarns is sure to delight knitting enthusiasts and lovers of literature alike.
-
-
Love it!!!!
- By Indigo on 01-30-14
-
Life, Animated
- A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes, and Autism
- By: Ron Suskind
- Narrated by: Ron Suskind
- Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the real-life story of Owen Suskind, the son of the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind and his wife, Cornelia. An autistic boy who couldn't speak for years, Owen memorized dozens of Disney movies, turned them into a language to express love and loss, kinship, brotherhood. The family was forced to become animated characters, communicating with him in Disney dialogue and song; until they all emerge, together, revealing how, in darkness, we all literally need stories to survive.
-
-
Life, Animated ... is Love, Animated *****
- By Tom T. Rumble on 04-12-14
By: Ron Suskind
-
I'm Hosting as Fast as I Can!
- By: Tom Bergeron
- Narrated by: Tom Bergeron
- Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In I'm Hosting as Fast as I Can!, Tom elaborates on the process by which he is able to sit calmly and patiently, without being distracted, at any time, no matter how hectic, as well as respond quickly (and hilariously) when Marie Osmond faints at his feet on live TV. Haven't seen it? Check it out on YouTube. The man is always in control.
-
-
A wonderful "read"
- By Chrys on 04-29-09
By: Tom Bergeron
-
The Unspeakable
- And Other Subjects of Discussion
- By: Meghan Daum
- Narrated by: Meghan Daum
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's a report tempered by hard times. In "Matricide", Daum unflinchingly describes a parent's death and the uncomfortable emotions it provokes; and in "Diary of a Coma" she relates her own journey to the twilight of the mind. But Daum also operates in a comic register. With perfect precision, she reveals the absurdities of the marriage-industrial complex, of the New Age dating market, and of the peculiar habits of the young and digital.
-
-
Complaining about her dead mom.
- By Erik Hermansen on 11-23-14
By: Meghan Daum
-
Life Is Short, Don't Wait to Dance
- Advice and Inspiration from the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame Coach of 7 NCAA Championship Teams
- By: Valorie Kondos Field, Steve Cooper - contributor
- Narrated by: Valorie Kondos Field
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Miss Val has shaped her UCLA gymnastics program as a life-skills class, and now she's sharing those lessons with you, whether you're an athlete, business leader, or simply someone who wants to own his or her destiny. Miss Val's philosophies are timeless. Her coaching style is unorthodox. Life Is Short, Don't Wait to Dance is a thought-provoking, fun journey through the personal stories and anecdotes of the 35-year career of a dancer/choreographer turned athletic coach.
-
-
Inspiring doesn't begin to describe this book
- By MG on 03-06-19
By: Valorie Kondos Field, and others
-
Size Zero
- My Life as a Disappearing Model
- By: Victoire Dauxerre
- Narrated by: Emily Lucienne
- Length: 6 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
memoir of a brief career as a top model - and a brutally honest account of what goes on behind the scenes in a fascinating closed industry. Scouted in the street when she was 17, Victoire Dauxerre's story started like a teenager's dream: within months she was on the catwalks of New York's major fashion shows and part of the most select circle of in-demand supermodels in the world.
-
-
Self-indulgent twaddle
- By Adeliese Baumann on 05-19-17
-
The Diva Rules
- Ditch the Drama, Find Your Strength, and Sparkle Your Way to the Top
- By: Michelle Visage
- Narrated by: Michelle Visage
- Length: 3 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Michelle Visage is not your average diva. Powerful, positive, and polished, this diva's not only glamorous, she's a savvy businesswoman with serious credentials who works her tail off. From her days vogueing in the downtown Manhattan clubs in the '90s to her successful career in radio and her ultimate cult status as a judge on RuPaul's Drag Race, Michelle has achieved her dreams and then some!
-
-
A Whole Lot of Nothing
- By teal on 04-29-16
By: Michelle Visage
-
Failing Up
- How to Take Risks, Aim Higher, and Never Stop Learning
- By: Leslie Odom Jr.
- Narrated by: Leslie Odom Jr.
- Length: 3 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Leslie Odom Jr. burst on the scene in 2015, originating the role of Aaron Burr in the Broadway musical phenomenon Hamilton. Since then he has performed for sold-out audiences, sung for the Obamas at the White House, and won a Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. But before he landed the role of a lifetime in one of the biggest musicals of all time, Odom put in years of hard work as a singer and an actor.
-
-
When you take one step, the universe takes two
- By Amy Aguilar on 04-11-18
By: Leslie Odom Jr.
What listeners say about Raising the Barre
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Daisy
- 12-02-22
Become a ballerina through the author
I enjoyed this immersive journey of dance, having restarted dance in adulthood myself. The story was comprehensive, informative, and full of new insights to the world of ballet. My only qualm is that the author interrupts herself a lot, which can be distracting. Overall, a good read though.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- rcastro
- 04-14-16
I love it!!
This is really amazing. I love anything ballet! Its so much fun! I love this book!:)
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 03-30-21
Great read for adults that dance!
Very heartwarming! Inspired my own adult ballet journey and Nutcracker dreams that became reality! If you are and adult that loves ballet and wants to find the courage to dance, this will give you wings!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Daarla
- 04-21-22
Less navel gazing, more plot
Almost a textbook example of why “show don’t tell” is a mantra. On chapter five and she still hasn’t entered a studio—just endless self-indulgent drivel about being middle aged. I hope it gets better.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- robin carson
- 01-23-18
very inspirational
It was so inspirational and full of tidbits of ballet history. just a joy to hear.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Claudette
- 02-07-20
Smug
I stopped listening to this book because the tone of the reader was so smug. I was hoping for a book that expressed the author's profound love of the art of dance and that her motive to pursue dance in midlife was artistry, not simply the drive to attain a goal. I didn't want to hear about the science of fear, etc.. I wanted to hear about the love of an art form.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jo Ice
- 09-24-24
good. interesting. enteraining
I liked the story overall! As a 37 year old ballerina (who's danced all my life and through adulthood - even postpartum), I had to chuckle at soooo much because it's all true! I can definitely relate! However, the author's narration is quite annoying - too many pauses and intonations randomly. BUT if you listen at 1.25 speed it isn't noticeable and the story flows so much better! I do admire the author for her tenacity and drive! Overall it was an enjoyable listen!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Janice Eyre
- 12-28-20
A Delightful Read!
This book is delightful, from the writing to the narration, the subject to the story. It is insightful without being preachy. The author writes with a human voice, a humble voice, and succeeds in achieving something really extraordinary and bringing the reader along.
The one criticism I have is that there are several bits of indiscriminate language that could easily have been left out.
All things considered, I highly recommend this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Miamigrrl
- 10-23-22
Charming and educational
I know little about ballet and have never taken classes. Perhaps because of this I found the peek into the inner world of ballet fascinating. I admired Ms. Kessler for sharing her self-doubts (and how she overcame many of them). The narrator sounded perfect for the part of an educated, worldly midlife woman stretching out of her comfort zone. I double-checked before buying another of Ms. Kessler's books to be sure it was Hollis McCarthy narrating.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Stacey Lynn
- 06-04-20
Meh... and I'm a 40 year old learning ballet!
Well, you don't really "dance the nutcracker" you "dance IN the nutcracker." My mom and step dad have done it with Pacific Northwest Ballet with NO dance training (in their 50s) so the tittle is a little annoying.
Secondly, there wasn't much she had to overcome (which would have made the plot more interesting) except learning the steps and how to put on makeup (false eyelashes with a handheld mirror).
I DID enjoy hearing about the company and how they went about their classes as well as there inside story of the nutcracker (that was fascinating). I listened to it while washing my dishes and got through the rest.
In other words, it's bearable but just OK.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!