Various Positions
By Martha Schabas
Random House
Reviewed by: Alicia Gallant
For a journalist to expand into novel writing is a challenging task to master; the writing formats are different, and an inspired idea must be hatched. Various Positions, the debut novel by Martha Schabas, explores the world of professional ballet. The unabashedly emotional tale shines an authentic light on all its pressures and obstacles. Issues of self-worth, eating disorders, and making oneself shine in a combative arena such as ballet are acknowledged and dissected. Shabas leaves nothing to the imagination, and exposes a world she was once a part of.
The book begins with fourteen year old protagonist Georgia Slade. She learns that she has scored a coveted audition at the Royal Toronto Ballet Academy. A devoted dancer her whole life, she feels her fascination and vast knowledge of ballet will prove themselves, along with her unusual talent. At the audition, she meets a girl who gives insight into the school’s practices, and attempts to bring Georgia out of her shell.
Despite a fumble in Georgia’s audition, she manages to secure a spot at the school. Her introversion makes her interactions with her new overtly sexual, rebellious friends tough at first. Eventually, they begin to open her mind to many things that she tends to only internally acknowledge. It’s no doubt the girls’ strife to make it in the world of professional ballet would be the only thing to temporarily bond them together.
Georgia faces many struggles with her experience in her new environment. She is determined, nonetheless, to become the best dancer she can, and her efforts do not go unnoticed. She develops an obsession with Mr. Roderick Allen, the cutthroat artistic director and teacher who has been involved in some unethical rumours. He pays special attention to Georgia’s abilities, and she becomes determined to figure out ways to impress and communicate her growing sexual preoccupations.
It seems that just when Georgia was starting to become comfortable in her progression as a dancer and a woman, downfalls occur. She begins exploring family dynamics and learning that her naivete has kept her immune to the realities of her family’s struggles. Ideologies change, and a series of events lead her to determining who she can and cannot trust.
She opens up about her feelings for Mr. Allen, and in turn suffers consequences she never thought imaginable. Her life spirals out of control. Her decision making process is altered. Through living the consequences of her mistakes, she must determine whether or not she uses her many learning experiences to hinder or help her next steps towards her future.
While this novel has its moments that are hard to follow, it is an all around excellent read. There are story lines that appear predictable at first; however, the author did an exceptional job in surprising the readership with intriguing twists. With Georgia being at the age of pubescence, her thoughts are very sex-driven with extreme detail.
While some instances could be considered vulgar, it challenges an admittance of natural sexual curiosity and society’s obsession with the female body. All in all, Various Positions is a disturbingly honest coming-of-age for a young, vulnerable fourteen year old who has yet to discover the negative side of life’s trials and tribulations.
