SeeingDance.com ​ by David Mead     

     It looks like a children’s book. In some ways it is. Kids who take ballet classes will love it especially, although younger ones might need some help with the vocabulary used by the precocious 6-year-old Lilly Nilly in her off-beat thoughts and observations of life in and out of the ballet studio. But Nancy Paris’ Pardon My French – It’s the Language of Ballet will equally delight adults too, particularly those with aspiring ballet dancer children or experience of ballet themselves. It’s just as well it’s only 40 pages, because I couldn’t put it down. I think I laughed or smiled knowingly on every page.

      Her stories (not all about ballet) are often hilarious, always relatable to real life. Anyone who has ever set foot inside a ballet studio, at any age, will recognize the characters Lilly introduces us to. That it should be so is perhaps no surprise as they spring from the author’s own experience as a young dance student, and later, after graduating from New York City’s Juilliard School, as a professional dancer, teacher and choreographer across the US and Canada. Adults will relish her wit, spirit, and eternally optimistic outlook on life.

     Pardon My French – It’s the Language of Ballet is a little gem. Like all the best ballets, leaves you demanding more. So, it’s great news that Paris (who says she loves writing and drawing because she can do it sitting down!) has promised at least another two books in The Adventures of Lilly Nilly series.   READ MORE

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DC Metro Theater Arts

Pardon My French – It’s the Language of Ballet is written in the relatable language of a precocious, exuberant, and strong-willed girl, and complete with “supercute” childlike illustrations, the delightfully funny story, based on Paris’s own personal experiences as a professional dancer and teacher, encourages readers of all ages to share in Lilly’s adorable joie de vivre, “to trust their instincts, seek their own answers, and be kind to all.” I’m not exactly a six-year-old, but it kept me laughing and loving this spunky little girl, her irrepressible curiosity, and the valuable lessons she learned.   READ MORE

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Seven Summer Situations: That Were Not My Fault! – The second in Nancy Paris’s “supercute” semi-autobiographical children’s book series, The Adventures of Lilly Nilly, follows the misadventures of the now seven-year-old ballet student over her summer vacation from school and dance studio, when the inquisitive fun-loving girl had time to take on exciting new escapades that would quickly become messy “situations.”   READ MORE