Behind the Red Velvet Curtain

An American Ballerina in Russia

Elizabeth Shockman, Joy Womack

$55.99

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Rowman & Littlefield
18 May 2025

Ballet; Biography: arts & entertainment; Memoirs

Joy Womack made history in 2012 when she became the first American ballerina to sign a contract with the Bolshoi Ballet Theater in Moscow, Russia. It’s a dream she left her home country for and spent years of training to achieve.

But dancing in Moscow was not the Onion Dome and Tchaikovsky soundtrack fairy tale she’d hoped for. The Bolshoi and its school were filled with cutthroat competition, acts of violence, and coaches who encouraged obsessive devotion. They sent her on stage with broken bones, helped her forge immigration paperwork, and encouraged her to toe a dangerous political line - all for the privilege of dancing on one of the world's most storied stages.

As Joy’s career took off and she made a name for herself in the Russian ballet world, she had to face a hard choice. Despite her love for her adopted homeland and its world-famous theaters, she was aware of the growing dangers of a professional lifestyle descending into corruption. Her concerns grew stronger with the awareness of a possible war with Russia's neighbor, Ukraine.

Joy spent three years dancing prima roles for the Kremlin Palace Theater and now lives in Paris with her husband, where she performs internationally and with the Paris Opera.

By: Joy Womack
As told by: Elizabeth Shockman
Imprint: Rowman & Littlefield
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
Weight: 649g
ISBN: 9781538199374
ISBN 10: 1538199378
Pages: 274
Publication Date: 18 May 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Joy Womack is a ballerina, currently working at the Paris Opera. She has a combined social media following of approximately 75,000 across all platforms, was featured in a 2021 independent documentary,Joy Womack: The White Swan, and is also the subject of a biopic film,Joika, set to premiere in 2023. Her story has been followed by news outlets around the world, includingThe New York Times,The Moscow Times,Reuters,Time Magazine, theL.A. Times,NBC News. Elizabeth Shockman is a public radio journalist based in Minnesota with nationally and internationally published work atNPR,PRI,MPR,Reuters,The Moscow Times,BBC, andmany other publications. Elizabeth met Joy while working for Reuters in Moscow and has spent more than 12 years interviewing her for this book.

Reviews for Behind the Red Velvet Curtain: An American Ballerina in Russia

Raw and real about the demands of ballet, the politicization of culture in Putin's Russia, the corruption at the Bolshoi, and the risks - to body, to mind - of chasing placement and promotion. --Simon Morrison, author of Bolshoi Confidential