“Beautiful ballerina, you are slender, straight-legged, high-arched, symmetrical, with strong this-little-piggie toes. You are poised, graceful, flexible, elegant. Your beauty invites bravissimos. Beautiful ballerina, you are the dance.” Marilyn Nelson’s seamless poetry celebrates many facets of African American dancers, from physical discipline and emotional strength to artistic interpretation and cultural heritage. Her vivid language is enhanced by Susan Kuklin’s photographs of four female students of the Dance Theater of Harlem, spanning an age range from young childhood to older adolescence. Shown in a variety of poses, their bodies stand out boldly against solid-color backgrounds. (Ages 6–11)