Dance of Shadows #1 Dance of Shadows

Dance and Demons.... I'm very impressed. Presenting Dance of Shadows #1 Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black.

Here is the summary of the book:

Dancing with someone is an act of trust. Elegant and intimate; you're close enough to kiss, close enough to feel your partner's heartbeat. But for Vanessa, dance is deadly – and she must be very careful who she trusts . . .Vanessa Adler attends an elite ballet school – the same one her older sister, Margaret, attended before she disappeared. Vanessa feels she can never live up to her sister's shining reputation. But Vanessa, with her glorious red hair and fair skin, has a kind of power when she dances – she loses herself in the music, breathes different air, and the world around her turns to flames . . . Soon she attracts the attention of three men: gorgeous Zep, mysterious Justin, and the great, enigmatic choreographer Josef Zhalkovsky. When Josef asks Vanessa to dance the lead in the Firebird, she has little idea of the danger that lies ahead – and the burning forces about to be unleashed . .

Ballet Its is a killer on tip toes. It is elegance. It is poise. It is inmate. With someone it is an act of trust, a sojourn with the partner into the most deeper place of the body, mind and soul. You just can't help but get lost into the music and the story that the dance was created to tell you.

This is the story of Vanessa Adler, who enters the elite ballet school... not to dance maybe but to search for her lost sister, Margaret. Soon catching the attention of three mysterious males at the school, Zep, Josef and Justin. But things are amiss....and her way of dancing, the way she just losses herself deeply into the music, breathing the air so different than normal. After all the right steps, the right rhythm, the right tempo and the right level of sensitivity can do a lot of good and can raise certain things from the darkness....much more dangerous than anything you could imagine.

Brilliant. Brilliant and hauntingly beautiful with a dark embodiment. Yelena Black has given us another story that comes alive by the grace of ballet. I confess I know nothing of this form of dance besides watching the anime series Princess Tutu, and the animated movies Swan Lake, Nutcracker and 12 dancing Princesses(sue i still like my Barbie ;)) and the motion picture Black Swan. So I'm mos grateful that she had sent another ballet classic our way, the Firebird (I totally watched the whole thing on youtube after I finished the book).

Vanessa is the protagonist and while she maybe strong, and determined but there is a certain lack of surety and a certain amount of vulnerability too. She knows something is wrong with the school. Prima Ballerinas disappearing just before the showcase and never to be heard after succumbing to the pressure was definitely not unheard of but for the same play and disappearing in the same pattern was just suspicious. Then there is the question of Josef, Zep and Justin somehow or the other with her poise, her red hair, pale skin and the way she dances.... well the truth doe set you free but it also maybe deadlier than anybody wold have imagined.... Can't wait for the sequel.... Can' wait for the next one.... We don't even have a title for it yet.

"The embodiment of darkness with the hauntingly beautiful ballet... the dance of the firebird tells not just tale but those of much more darker consequences if you will..... Magnifique"