Dancing On Her Grave

From the co-author of I Would Find a Girl Walking and an award-winning true-crime television reporter comes the shocking story of Debbie Flores, a Las Vegas showgirl whose dreams of a dazzling career ended in a nightmare… Vivacious Debbie Flores was a college educated Washington Redskins cheerleader when she headed for “Sin City.” It was a smart move for the aspiring showgirl who’d soon be making her star-making solo debut at the legendary Luxor. But after the morning rehearsals of December 12, 2010, no one saw Debbie alive again. A cryptic text message she left for her mother led authorities to Debbie’s charismatic boyfriend, Jason “Blu” Griffith. A fellow Vegas dancer, Blu was hiding a terrible secret. It involved a rental van, bags of cement, two plastic tubs, and a handsaw. When the details of the crime unfolded, everyone asked: how could a girl with such passion and promise come to an end so violent and unexpected? In time, the truth would reveal a life more tumultuous than believed—and what exactly transpired on Debbie’s tragic final day would stun the nation. INCLUDES PHOTOS

The liberating power of anger has rarely felt so good and healing as in this complete collection of a landmark in feminist poetry."She digs her teeth into the slaveries of woman, she cries them aloud with such fulminating energy that the chains begin to melt of themselves. Reaching into the hive of her angers, she plucks out images of fear and delight that are transparent yet loaded with the darknesses of life. Diane Wakoski is an important and moving poet."--The New York TimesIn 1971, Diane Wakoski published The Motorcycle Betrayal Poems to tremendous acclaim. In the decades that followed, she wrote additional "betrayal" poems, which are now collected here in one volume for the first time. Relevant, moving--at times shocking--it is Wakoski's honesty and bravery as an artist that continues to astonish, delight, inspire, and liberate readers.Wakoski responds to betrayal in a variety of ways including fantasies such as drilling bullet holes into the bodies of unfaithful lovers. But even her anger can be winking, as in the book's sly dedication to "all those men who betrayed me at one time or another, in hopes they will fall off their motorcycles and break their necks." There is joy here because it is self-knowledge that the writer seeks, as in the collection's title poem: So some white wolves and I will sing on your grave, old man and dance for the joy of your death. "Is this an angry statement?" "No, it is a statement of joy." "Will the sun shine again?" "Yes, yes, yes," because I'm going to dance dance danceDiane Wakoski's art as a confessional, storytelling poet has rarely been equaled. Her revelations become shared emotional truth with readers. The collection's new introduction by poet and Green Mountains Review editor Elizabeth A. I. Powell gives context to the long wake of Wakoski's inspiring influence on generations of readers. Dancing on the Grave of a Son of a Bitch is for anyone who ever lost a love and wishes to embrace the freedom, rather than the pain, it can bring.

Finalist, the Arts Club of Washington Marfield Prize A look inside a dancer’s world Inspiring, revealing, and deeply relatable, Being a Ballerina is a firsthand look at the realities of life as a professional ballet dancer. Through episodes from her own career, Gavin Larsen describes the forces that drive a person to study dance; the daily balance that dancers navigate between hardship and joy; and the dancer’s continual quest to discover who they are as a person and as an artist. Starting with her arrival as a young beginner at a class too advanced for her, Larsen tells how the embarrassing mistake ended up helping her learn quickly and advance rapidly. In other stories of her early teachers, training, and auditions, she explains how she gradually came to understand and achieve what she and her body were capable of. Larsen then re-creates scenes from her experiences in dance companies, from unglamorous roles to exhilarating performances. Working as a ballerina was shocking and scary at first, she says, recalling unexpected injuries, leaps of faith, and her constant struggle to operate at the level she wanted—but full of enormously rewarding moments. Larsen also reflects candidly on her difficult decision to retire at age 35. An ideal read for aspiring dancers, Larsen’s memoir will also delight experienced dance professionals and fascinate anyone who wonders what it takes to live a life dedicated to the perfection of the art form.

Ramon Sosa, a successful businessman and former pro-boxer, thought he had found the perfect woman. The devoted father of three, committed to rebuilding his life after his first divorce, met Maria De Lourdes Sosa (aka Lulu) while out dancing at a salsa club in Houston, Texas. She took his breath away. They began a whirlwind romance and married a year later. Shortly after the wedding Lulu, a once doting and loving wife began to change. She was now a U.S. citizen with her grandiose sights set on the American Dream for her and her children. Those plans no longer included Ramon. She wanted it all; the house, the business and the money and she would do everything in her power to get it, including having Ramon murdered. “I Walked On My Own Grave” tells the harrowing story of how Lulu, after trying to destroy Ramon’s life for months, plotted with two “hitmen” to have her husband killed. Her carefully orchestrated plan would have been successful, were it not for the quick thinking of a brave young man who Ramon had once mentored. Little did he know one day his protégé would return the favor by saving his life.

Suzanne Farrell, world-renowned ballerina, was one of George Balanchine's most celebrated muses and remains a legendary figure in the ballet world. This memoir, first published in 1990 and reissued with a new preface by the author, recounts Farrell's transformation from a young girl in Ohio dreaming of greatness to the realization of that dream on stages all over the world. Central to this transformation was her relationship with George Balanchine, who invited her to join the New York City Ballet in the fall of 1961 and was in turn inspired by her unique combination of musical, physical, and dramatic gifts. He created masterpieces for her in which the limits of ballet technique were expanded to a degree not seen before. By the time she retired from the stage in 1989, Farrell had achieved a career that is without precedent in the history of ballet. One third of her repertory of more than 100 ballets were composed expressly for her by such notable choreographers as Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and Maurice Bejart. Farrell recalls professional and personal attachments and their attendant controversies with a down-to-earth frankness and common sense that complements the glories and mysteries of her artistic achievement.