Ballet Shoes

One of the themes in Ballet Shoes that made it so unique at the time of publication is the value of individuality and ambition. The three Fossil sisters have entirely different ambitions, passions, and desires in life, and the adults who collectively raise them all help nurture each girl in her own interests and ensure that each receives the discipline she needs.

Pauline is the eldest and therefore the first to become a licensed, working actress. However, her ambitions for the stage aren’t merely monetary. She has a true passion for acting and grows to excel in her craft. Dr. Jakes sees her love of recitation and teaches her how to recite Shakespearean monologues, which eventually helps her get roles. The adults in her life must help her through the pridefulness she gains as the star of Alice in Wonderland. Pauline learns best from words: either stories from Madame Moulin about the willingness to always learn or scoldings from Mr. French when she’s being commanding and disobedient. Outside of this, she becomes more mature and thoughtful of others by the novel’s end. Seeing her colleague Winifred worrying far more about money than she ever did helps her recognize the financial benefit of acting. Eventually, even though she worries about being far away from her sisters, Pauline takes a job in Hollywood so that the youngest sister, Posy, can study dancing in Czechoslovakia.

When the question of Posy attending the dance academy arises, Nana says, “Posy we may say is bound to dance anyway, coming to us with her dancing slippers and all” (39). Posy is notably best with her feet and body and not as focused on her studies in other classes. She’s the only young ballerina her age whom Madame Fidolia selects for private lessons. The adults make sure that she has access to the number of hours she needs for these lessons, and while her sisters sometimes accuse her of showing off, her teachers understand that Posy doesn’t intend to do so. Posy waivers when Madame falls ill, seeming more concerned about her training than her teacher’s well-being. Nana and Sylvia think, “It was all very well to be ambitious, but ambition should not kill the nice qualities in you” (213). However, Posy’s sisters remind them that she’s scared for her future, and the women give her some grace. In addition, they adapt to the best way to make her behave, which is to promise her tickets to the ballet if she’s good in class.

Petrova, the middle sister, is the only one who isn’t excited by the performing arts. Instead, she’s fascinated by cars and planes, visiting Mr. Simpson every Sunday afternoon to work at his garage and go on adventures. These “expeditions [are] their secret. Petrova never [tells] the other two about them. The best of them [are] to the civil flying grounds where they [watch] the planes take off and alight” (144). She’s often bored in her arts classes, and when she’s in plays, she reads her books about planes in the wings of the theater. Petrova doesn’t have behavior problems like the other two but is quite secretive about how she really feels. Sylvia asks several times if she enjoys performing because she never wants Petrova to feel like she must do something she doesn’t want to do. Each time, Petrova answers that she does enjoy it because she knows that the family needs the money. The one person she does learn to confide in is Mr. Simpson, who always listens. At the end of the book, Petrova opens up to Gum, who decides that they’ll live near an aerodrome so that she can learn to be a pilot.

For each sister, the adults who are helping raise them each fill in the gaps left by the others. Sylvia and Nana aren’t the only ones who encourage and discipline the girls: Their teachers and boarders do plenty themselves. Dr. Jakes uses her skills to help Pauline’s acting and later helps Petrova when she struggles with Shakespeare. Miss Theo Dane and Madame Fidolia help teach Posy dance in ways that she could never do on her own, and Mr. and Mrs. Simpson encourage Petrova’s love of machines. These characters are proof that to raise an individual, it takes a village.