Jeanne Robinson (1948–2010)

https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3493524.html

“Stardance” is a story about a dancer who risks her health by staying too long in orbit where she is performing a new and revolutionary dance sequence; then aliens turn up who as it turns out communicate only through dance, and she makes the breakthrough on behalf of humanity before dying romantically. The narrator is the ex-dancer turned cameraman who loves her from (mostly) afar.

I'm not a huge fan of dance, though I thoroughly enjoyed Giselle in Bratslava last year, and much longer ago a royal command performance in the Hague in 2004. On the other hand, one of the silliest things I've ever seen was a solo interpretative dance about the love of God, performed in lieu of a sermon at a church I was visiting in Munich in 1992. On the other hand again, the choreograhy is an important part of what makes the Hamilton stage show so memorable. Anyway, it's not especially my fandom, but the Robinsons drew me into it.

But I do wonder how one could actually dance in zero gravity? The whole mechanics of dance are about balancing movement against weight; I can't imagine that you could do the same without anything to dance on, as it were. And the protagonist does her last dance wearing a spacesuit, which seems even more improbable.… (mais)

I liked the short stories published in Analog. They were good, and I bought the novel when it first came out, but gave it up long ago. I recently replaced it with this newer copy, because there were parts I liked, and it's easier to refer to a paper copy than an e-book.

It won the Hugo and the Nebula, and was an admirable effort, but it's not one of my favorites. I never thought that Spider's female characters were multidimensional, and I was disappointed to see that the addition of his wife didn't really change that.

It's a good story, and a great concept.… (mais)