To Russia, With Love

June 15, 2013
Adventures are in store for three friends both in dance class and on a trip to Russia. Julie, Lucie and Alia enjoy going to parties and learning new routines. There's an African celebration dance that Alia aces, while all three sign up for a swing dance class that has, unusually, "more guys than girls." Here, Alia dreams of being partnered by the cute boy who is not even the boy of her dreams. Other vignettes feature a school choreographer who cannot find any inspiration and just tells the students to improvise. The high point is a trip to St. Petersburg to dance with Russian students in a performance of The Nutcracker. Some unusual turns, jetes and arabesques revolve around a Russian dancer, now a plump seamstress, who has not performed in 40 years. Throwing her into a role is no doubt meant to be a humorous plot thread, but it is not at all probable and none too kind. Still, this is another enjoyable Dance Class romp, though the cartoon art feels cramped and would benefit considerably from a much larger trim size. The author and illustrator duo introduced the girls in So You Think You Can Hip-Hop (2012). Quick-paced, graphic-novel fun for preteens. (Graphic novel. 8-12)

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