Alice Robb Bücher

'Don't think, dear' said Balanchine. 'Just do.' For centuries, being a ballerina has been synonymous with being beautiful, thin, obedient and feminine. It is the crucible of womanhood, together with the harassment, physical abuse and eating disorders endemic at top schools. Can we abide this in a post #MeToo world? Weaving together her own time at America's most elite ballet school with the lives of renowned ballerinas throughout history, Alice Robb interrogates what it means to perform ballet today. She confronts the all-consuming nature of the form: the obsessive and dangerous practices to perfect the body, the embrace of submission and the idealisation of suffering. Yet ballet also gifts its dancers 'brains in their toes', a way to fully inhabit their bodies and a sanctuary of control away from the pressures of the outside world. Perhaps it is time to reimagine its liberating potential.

Exploring the purpose and power of dreams, this book offers an enlightening perspective on the science behind dreaming. It reveals surprising insights that challenge conventional thinking and invites readers to reconsider their nightly experiences. The engaging writing style makes complex concepts accessible, transforming how one perceives the role of dreams in life.

While on a research trip in Peru, Robb became hooked on lucid dreaming: the phenomenon in which a sleeping person can realize that they're dreaming and even control the dreamed experience. Digging deeper into the science of dreams at an extremely opportune moment, she discovered how they help us learn and even overcome psychic trauma. Here she shows why dreams are vital to our emotional and physical health, traces the links between dreaming and creativity, and offers advice on how we can relish the intense adventure of lucid dreaming for ourselves.