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The Swans of Harlem
- Five Black Ballerinas, Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and Their Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History
- Narrated by: Karlya Shelton-Benjamin, Sheila Rohan, Lydia Abarca Mitchell, Marcia Lynn Sells, Khadija Tariyan McKinney G., January LaVoy
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
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Publisher's summary
A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK • The forgotten story of a pioneering group of five Black ballerinas and their fifty-year sisterhood, a legacy erased from history—until now.
“This is the kind of history I wish I learned as a child dreaming of the stage!”—Misty Copeland, author of Black Ballerinas: My Journey to Our Legacy
“Utterly absorbing, flawlessly-researched…Vibrant, propulsive, and inspiring, The Swans of Harlem is a richly drawn portrait of five courageous women whose contributions have been silenced for too long!”—Tia Williams, author of A Love Song for Ricki Wilde
At the height of the Civil Rights movement, Lydia Abarca was a Black prima ballerina with a major international dance company—the Dance Theatre of Harlem, a troupe of women and men who became each other’s chosen family. She was the first Black company ballerina on the cover of Dance magazine, an Essence cover star; she was cast in The Wiz and in a Bob Fosse production on Broadway. She performed in some of ballet’s most iconic works with other trailblazing ballerinas, including the young women who became her closest friends—founding Dance Theatre of Harlem members Gayle McKinney-Griffith and Sheila Rohan, as well as first-generation dancers Karlya Shelton and Marcia Sells.
These Swans of Harlem performed for the Queen of England, Mick Jagger, and Stevie Wonder, on the same bill as Josephine Baker, at the White House, and beyond. But decades later there was almost no record of their groundbreaking history to be found. Out of a sisterhood that had grown even deeper with the years, these Swans joined forces again—to share their story with the world.
Captivating, rich in vivid detail and character, and steeped in the glamour and grit of professional ballet, The Swans of Harlem is a riveting account of five extraordinarily accomplished women, a celebration of both their historic careers and the sustaining, grounding power of female friendship, and a window into the robust history of Black ballet, hidden for too long.
Critic reviews
“Karen Valby’s The Swans of Harlem brings to life the stories of Black dancers whose contributions to the world of ballet were silenced, marginalized, and otherwise erased. Karen introduces readers to important figures of our past, while inspiring us to courageously chase our dreams. This is the kind of history I wish I learned as a child dreaming of the stage!”—Misty Copeland, New York Times-bestselling author of Black Ballerinas: My Journey To Our Legacy
“These five original Dance Theatre of Harlem ballerinas fell in love with an art form that most of America believed was white and should remain so. Upon Arthur Mitchell’s founding of an all-Black company in 1969, they eagerly took their places at the barre and challenged themselves to the utmost. They triumphed. They showed that Blacks could not only excel at classical ballet but could also shape the art in their own vibrant image. Karen Valby weaves their stories together as a choreographer would: the women form an ensemble, yet each gets her own riveting solo. It’s thrilling to watch as they join forces at last and claim their unique place in American ballet’s past, present and future.”—Margo Jefferson, author of Constructing a Nervous System
“Until Valby’s utterly absorbing, flawlessly-researched book, I never knew the story of the original Dance Theatre of Harlem ballerinas—and now, I demand that their lives be taught in schools! Valby finally sheds light on these towering dance pioneers, all of whom triumphed as dancers in a world that didn’t believe Black people had a place in the classical art form. Vibrant, propulsive, and inspiring, The Swans of Harlem is a richly drawn portrait of five courageous women whose contributions have been silenced for too long!”—Tia Williams, New York Times-bestselling author of Seven Days in June
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
It was supposed to be a romantic getaway weekend in New York City. Breanna’s new boyfriend, Ty, took care of everything—the train tickets, the dinner reservations, the rented four-story luxury rowhouse in Jersey City with a beautiful view of the Manhattan skyline. But when Bree comes downstairs their final morning, she’s shocked. There’s a stranger laying dead in the foyer, and Ty is nowhere to be found.
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So disappointed….
- By KellsBells on 05-16-24
By: Kellye Garrett
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Cracking the Nazi Code
- The Untold Story of Agent A12 and the Solving of the Holocaust Code
- By: Jason Bell
- Narrated by: Christopher Grove
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
As an MI6 spy—known as secret agent A12—in Berlin in 1919, he evaded gunfire and shook off pursuers to break open the emerging Nazi conspiracy. His reports, the first warning of the Nazi plot for World War II, went directly to the man known as C, the mysterious founder of MI6, as well as to various prime ministers. But a powerful fascist politician quietly worked to suppress his alerts. Nevertheless, Dr. Bell’s intelligence sabotaged the Nazis in ways only now revealed in Cracking the Nazi Code.
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Learn REAL History
- By James on 05-04-24
By: Jason Bell
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Skin & Bones
- A Novel
- By: Renée Watson
- Narrated by: Zenzi Williams
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
At 40, Lena Baker is at a steady and stable moment in life—between wine nights with her two best friends and her wedding just weeks away, she’s happy in love and in friendship—until a confession on her wedding day shifts her world.
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High school
- By Erin on 05-12-24
By: Renée Watson
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The Mother Act
- A Novel
- By: Heidi Reimer
- Narrated by: Beth Hicks, Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Sadie Jones, a larger-than-life actress and controversial feminist, never wanted to be a mother. No one feels this more deeply than Jude, the daughter Sadie left behind. While Jude spent her childhood touring with her father’s Shakespearian theater company, desperate for validation from the mother she barely knew, Sadie catapulted to fame on the wings of The Mother Act—a scathing one-woman show about motherhood. Two decades later, Jude is a talented actress in her own right, and her fraught relationship with Sadie has come to a scandalous head.
By: Heidi Reimer
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The Way You Make Me Feel
- Love in Black and Brown
- By: Nina Sharma
- Narrated by: Nina Sharma
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
When Nina Sharma meets Quincy while hitching a ride to a friend’s Fourth of July barbecue, she spots a favorite book, Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior, in the back seat of his cramped car, and senses a sadness from him that’s all too familiar to her. She is immediately intrigued—who is this man? In The Way You Make Me Feel, Sharma chronicles her and Quincy’s love story, and in doing so, examines how their Black and Asian relationship becomes the lens through which she moves through and understands the world.
By: Nina Sharma
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Traveling
- On the Path of Joni Mitchell
- By: Ann Powers
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 14 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Celebrated NPR music critic Ann Powers explores the life and career of Joni Mitchell in a lyrical style as fascinating and ethereal as the songs of the artist herself.
By: Ann Powers
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When the Sea Came Alive
- An Oral History of D-Day
- By: Garrett M. Graff
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Story
D-Day is one of history’s greatest and most unbelievable military and human triumphs. Though the full campaign lasted just over a month, the surprise landing of over 150,000 Allied troops on the morning of June 6, 1944, is understood to be the moment that turned the tide for the Allied forces and ultimately led to the defeat of the Axis powers in World War II.
By: Garrett M. Graff