Toni Bentley danced with Balanchine’s New York City Ballet for ten years and is author of five books, all named New York Times Notable Books. Her essay “The Bad Lion” appeared in Best American Essays 2010 edited by Christopher Hitchens and she is a Guggenheim Fellow.  The one-woman play adaptation of her erotic memoir, “The Surrender,” will premiere this August at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Oscar and audiences may love Black Swan, but one former New York City Ballet dancer thinks it’s nothing more than “balletploitation.” Author Toni Bentley explains why Darren Aronofsky’s psychological thriller is insultingly off pointe.