NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� who knows her way around a quick pirouette, had to move fast when her 6-year-old son Deveraux recently picked up a copy of her new novel, 鈥淔irst Position,鈥� as she was signing books.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 realize how well he was reading,鈥� the former ballerina and first-time author says of her first-grader, whom she shares with 鈥淗e opened it and I was like, 鈥極h my gosh, give me that book!鈥欌��
She suggested an alternative: 鈥淭he Cat in the Hat.鈥�
Wise move. 鈥淔irst Position鈥� (get the pun?) is what they call a romance novel but might easily have been called 鈥淔ifty Shades of Ballet.鈥� Hamrick, who spent 16 years at before leaving to raise Deveraux, writes about a young dancer, Sylvie, who joins a prestigious national ballet company and tries to make her mark.
As the dancers move vertically up the workplace ladder, there鈥檚 also a lot of, er, horizontal action. Hamrick says she wanted to give readers a good time, but also a view of what the ballet is like 鈥渂ehind the gilded curtain鈥� 鈥� a world that presents as pristine and perfect.
鈥淵ou see this image on stage,鈥� says Hamrick, 36. 鈥淏ut if you saw what鈥檚 in the wings you鈥檇 be shocked. There鈥檚 shouting. There鈥檚 moving sets. People having snacks, people on their phones. And then on stage, it鈥檚 just this beautiful, perfect bubble. I love showing people that it鈥檚 not always what you see.鈥�
OK, but do ballerinas really hang out in Parisian sex clubs?
鈥淚 personally haven鈥檛 been but I have friends who have,鈥� Hamrick says. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 give away names because i don鈥檛 want people to be mad at me.鈥�
Hamrick sat down with The Associated Press to chat about the process of writing her first novel. The interview has been edited for length, clarity and flow.
AP: You danced with one of the country鈥檚 top companies for 16 years. Why did you stop?
Hamrick: I was fulfilled in the roles I was dancing. (But) once I had a child, the balance didn鈥檛 work. At the time, only one other dancer had a child in the company. I felt that it was hard, and they didn鈥檛 really understand my need to balance being a mother and being in the studio 10 hours a day.
AP: Is that when you turned to writing?
Hamrick: It was the pandemic, and we had all that time. I was originally working on a dance show 鈥� a bigger version of And I was so excited about it and we were looking at venues and then theaters closed. Unfortunately, ballet gets cut first from a lot of budgets. I had all these stories from the ballet, and my Mom would say 鈥淲rite them down!鈥� and Mick would say 鈥淲rite them down!鈥� And finally it was, 鈥淭his is the time, let鈥檚 do it.鈥�
AP: And why a romance novel?
Hamrick: The ballet world was a no-brainer. That's what I know. And I love a good romance novel. I wondered why there's no romance novel set in the ballet world. Ballet is so beautiful, so sexy, the dressing rooms and the tutus and the leotards. I wrote something I felt I would want to read.
AP: Fair enough. This is more like erotic fiction, though?
Hamrick: It's the escapism. 鈥淔ifty Shades of Grey鈥� was such a phenomenon, to embrace sex and talk about sex. And ballet is beautiful and the women are beautiful. So for me, you're already escaping into the ballet world, so let's go to the next level! And it's fun.
AP: Were you also influenced by 鈥淏lack Swan鈥�?
Hamrick: Yes, 鈥淏lack Swan鈥� opened the door a bit. I loved the movie. Some people said it wasn't authentic, but I was like, it's authentic enough, it's just that it all wouldn't happen to just one person. Maybe 10 people. It's like my book 鈥� it鈥檚 fiction, you can embellish it. You can twist it, you can do what you want with it.
AP: Back to the sex clubs for a minute 鈥� is this really a thing in the ballet world?
Hamrick (laughs): You鈥檙e in these beautiful cities. You鈥檙e young. You鈥檙e in Paris and you鈥檙e in your early 20s. You鈥檙e going to go have fun. You know, you missed out. You didn鈥檛 do the college thing. You didn鈥檛 do the high school thing, right? Now, 鈥渨ild nights鈥� are rare, but that鈥檚 what was so fun about writing this. I could make every a wild night.
AP: One serious angle you introduce is about the young women being mistreated by powerful men in charge.
Hamrick: I think it happens in every career, everywhere. I find people can relate to that. And ballet has always been such a male-dominated world 鈥� yet it's a female-dominated workplace. But I love that it鈥檚 changing, there are now than there used to be.
AP: How has your family reacted to the book?
Hamrick: Well, my mom read the first few chapters and said, 鈥淚 didn't know it was going to be THAT sexy!鈥� And I was like, 鈥淲ell, Mom, you encouraged me to write the book.鈥� And she said, 鈥淏ut I didn鈥檛 know it was going to be like THAT!鈥� And then I told her, 鈥淥K you鈥檙e not allowed to read anymore until it's finished!鈥� Mick was so supportive, he really enjoyed it. I kept saying, 鈥淒id you finish it yet?鈥� And he said, 鈥淕ive me a minute!鈥�
AP: And what kind of reaction do you hope to get from the public?
Hamrick: I just hope people are reading the book, so I can write more (Hamrick has already submitted her second novel, focusing on Sylvie's friend). I loved one (online) review, something like, 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 think I was a prude, but this was too sexy for me.鈥� And I鈥檓 like, 鈥淥h, I did it! I shocked someone.鈥� It's so hard to shock people these days.
Jocelyn Noveck, The Associated Press
