No way home

by: Carlos Acosta; 2007

When my first boxes of books arrived this year, I decided to push myself out of my comfort zone and read something I wouldn’t typically read.  I went straight for the biographies.  And, that one with the sienna-toned cover was one I could have kept ignoring.  I picked it up, split the book and began reading

Shiiit! I thought.  How the hell did he do that?  He was just hanging in the air?

everyone applauded.  I was trying to work out where the wire was, thinking the muscular guy must have been held up by something.  He jumped again.  It looked effortless.  He did not even appear to be sweating, just smiling as he kept time with the heavenly music.

My spirits soared.  I felt transported.  Perhaps if I worked hard, then I could hang in the air like that.

It suddenly dawned on my why my father had been so tough with me all these years.  I saw it with great clarity.  All he had ever wanted was for me to be able to jump like that!

Of course, his father wanted more. He wanted to keep his son safe from the streets and he wanted him to have a successful career based upon his talents.  Junior eventually comes to this realization, but as the above passage indicates, he often had to experience things for himself first.

This memoir does what any good memoir should:  it allows the author to reflect upon the good and bad of his life while the reader celebrates his accomplishments.  And Acosta has had many!!  While having quite an illustrious dance career, he manages to write a book that makes him sound like just an ordinary guy growing up in Cuba who happens to develop an amazing talent.  Really, isn’t that what any artist is?  And if students begin to realize that, perhaps they will realize how much they too can accomplish in this life.  This gentle memoir is as approachable to read as I’d like to beleive the author would be to talk with.  I think my students will relate to the need to dance, the draw of the street and the irritation cause by the insistent, confusing urgings of persistent parents.

The book is a great read, the body in flight on the cover is a vision to behold!  I’m glad I took a leap to try something different!