Lessons in Dance and Life, on Paper and on Screen.

South Africa was already independent from Britain when I was growing up in Cape Town, but in matters of children's literature, it was still entirely in thrall to colonialism. I was raised on a diet of boarding and ballet schools, sports days and summer hols, of aspiring dancers trudging through rainy London and riding horses over the purple heather of the Scottish Highlands. There were stern Russian dancing masters and flighty French teachers, and -- a particularly British strain that ran through all of this -- a solemn message. If you wanted to be a ballerina or anything else, talent and looks weren't enough. There had to be grit and perseverance too. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]