© Tarcher/Penquin 2004 Anjuli Bai review of 'Attitude!' Alvin Ailey company reviews reviews by Anjuli Bai

Fishman, whose fresh-faced picture on the jacket cover is the model of lively, accomplished Americans, eschewed the School of American Ballet for her model, focusing on a school whose eclectic dance curriculum is both real, professionally-focused, and, while founded by African-Americans, multi-cultural in attitude. With credits relating to the mental health of children, Fishman is in an excellent position to assess what is healthy and human in training in a school committed to preparing students to assume either professional careers upon high school graduation or deciding on further training before taking the fully professional plunge.

As Fishman describes the Ailey School, recently featured in Dance Magazine, the faculty, class structure and syllabus are models of preparation for a professional career, the varying quotient being the individual student, degree of talent, application and seriousness of intent. She chose to study eight young dancers over the course of a school year, describing not only family situation, but academic schooling, and responses to training at the Ailey institution. The conflicts in attendance for students at the High School for Performing Arts, unusual forms of deviate behavior [overuse of family credit cards], to coping with parental death, are reported with insight and concern.

Of particular value are the interviews with the teachers, the comments of the faculty when reviewing progress of the students, interviews with Denise Jefferson, who heads the school, and Judith Jamison, the artistic director of the Alvin Ailey Dance Company.
 

© Tarcher/Penquin 2004

Having spent a decade in a psychiatric setting typing progress notes and assessments for psychiatric social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists, I found Fishman's approach owes a nod to the case study and progress reports of such mental health professionals. I was interested that the 2004 National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts Awards listed two of the students she had observed whose age eligibility to compete in Miami fell following the book's publication.

For a parent needing tools for assessing their child's aptitude, intent and professional training needs, Attitude can provide excellent guidelines. Dance enthusiasts can rejoice such a school exists providing a responsible beacon and alternative to the stricter parameters of classical ballet schooling.