SuitabookRace and access to ballet
The girl is admitted to lessons but placed at the back with the white girls; she wonders whether a Black girl can become a prima ballerina.
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Book details
Kristy Dempsey - Author
A child’s love of dance meets unequal opportunities: she is allowed into lessons but kept at the back. The story also brings her aspiration into contact with Janet Collins’s achievement.
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Sign in for personalised guidanceA child’s love of dance meets unequal opportunities: she is allowed into lessons but kept at the back. The story also brings her aspiration into contact with Janet Collins’s achievement.
The girl is admitted to lessons but placed at the back with the white girls; she wonders whether a Black girl can become a prima ballerina.
The girl dreams of ballet and attends a Janet Collins performance with her mother.
The story includes racial discrimination: the girl’s access to ballet lessons is limited by being placed behind the white girls.
This is a grounded book brief while Suitabook strengthens the analysis: some draft conclusions still depend on unresolved evidence.
A dance like starlight by Kristy Dempsey | Open Library
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Checked: 27 September 2026.
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