First Love

The Story

'Adam and Sandra are dancers, friends since they were fifteen, and now lovers. Sandra is in the corps of the New York City Ballet and has just caught the eye of George Balanchine. Adam is an explosively gifted new star who has defected to the rival company, American Ballet Theater. They are in love, passionate and ambitious, but ill prepared to handle the demands, seductions, and expectations that are visited on them as they come within reach of their dreams.' 'The novel picks up where ballet history has left off: Since the beginning of his career, Balanchine sought to create an opulent ballet from the fairy tale 'The Sleeping Beauty,' but never had the means and the muse come together at the same time. In First Love, Adrienne Sharp conjures in Sandra a last muse for the ailing ballet master. She has toiled invisibly in the corps for years, fearing that her moment to emerge as a principal dancer will pass unnoticed. Balanchine changes all that when he promises that he will make Sleeping Beauty for her, and that it will be his final and greatest ballet. But his favor comes at a price, and Sandra is forced to decide which of her loves come first. Should she continued her tumultuous involvement with the first boy to capture her heart, and succumb to his vision of their future? Or should she accept all that Balanchine offers - the fulfillment of a dream nurtured from childhood?'--BOOK JACKET.