Melanie Hamrick. Andres de Lara
Melanie Hamrick may have retired from the world of professional ballet, but the former ballerina is putting her skills to good use in her new book and her collaborations with partner Mick Jagger.
“I’ve always loved reading and writing and the few university courses I could fit into my schedule while I was dancing were focused on writing,” Hamrick, 37, told Us Weekly exclusively while promoting The Unraveling, the follow-up to her debut novel, First Position. “It felt like a natural step, and with a little encouragement from my family, I was able to pursue it.”
Hamrick retired from dance in 2019 after 15 years with the American Ballet Theatre, and she has used her experience as a ballerina — both in front of audiences and backstage — to write her two fiction books, which are both set in the world of professional ballet. Hamrick also utilizes her dance background to choreograph, including previously working on a Rolling Stones-themed rock ballet with Jagger, 81.
“It was nice to have his expertise,” Hamrick told Us of working with her partner of 10 years, with whom she shares son Deveraux, 7. “It was cool to share [because] there’s different ways to count music from his side [as a musician] and my side as a dancer.”
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While she enjoyed working with Jagger on the unique show — which premiered in the United States in 2019 — Hamrick advises against working professionally with romantic partners long-term.
“I don’t necessarily think partners should work together because I think it’d be boring to just go home and talk about what you worked on all day,” she quipped. “It was fun for a couple weeks, but I find it more interesting when we come to the table like, ‘Oh, what was your day like?’ instead of already knowing.”
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and choreographing major ballet productions was no longer an option, Hamrick took her talents to the written word instead with Jagger’s unwavering support.
“My whole family’s been supportive. Mick’s been super supportive,” she told Us of her career transition. “It’s always scary to change careers and hope it works. And I’ve just been really blessed.”
Her most recent release, The Unraveling, explores London’s professional ballet world and the scandal, lust and luxury that can come with being a professional ballerina. Through the character of Jocelyn Banks, Hamrick engulfs the reader into the sexy, intense and sometimes traumatic universe in which she spent the majority of her career.
“I’m very different from Jocelyn,” she said. “I think that’s why I really enjoyed writing her because she was so different. But we share similarities like experiencing the ballet world and the [types of] characters you run into and the people you meet.”
Readers of The Unraveling may also be shocked to learn about the donor system — a process in which ballerinas are matched with a sponsor or donor to essentially fund their careers — as well as the cutthroat environment in ballet and the body image issues many dancers face. While fictionalized and dramatized, Hamrick based these elements on real experiences she has had throughout her career.
“That’s why I wanted to write The Unraveling to let people know some things about the ballet world,” she told Us. “Like with any job and career, you have good things and bad things.”
In addition to the donor system — which goes terribly wrong in the fictional world of the novel, but Hamrick notes is typically “safe” in real life — she shared that readers may be surprised to learn that dancers go through about 10 customized shoes a week (“People are like, ‘women love shoes,’ and I’m like, ‘No, ballet dancers love shoes.’”) and ballerinas also know how to have fun despite their seemingly uptight demeanor.
“A lot of these dancers, they don’t go to normal high schools. They don’t go to prom and they don’t have the college experience,” she explained. “So a lot of dancers mature later and go through their late teens in their twenties… So when you do get that taste of freedom touring the world, you might go a bit wild.”
The Unraveling is on sale now.
