CENTER CENTER: A Funny, Sexy, Sad Almost-Memoir of a Boy in Ballet is a daring, hilarious, inspiring memoir-in-essays from James Whiteside, the American Ballet Theatre principal dancer, drag queen, and pop star who’s redefining what it means to be a man in ballet. CENTER CENTER is his literary debut and Whiteside takes readers on a delightfully absurd and entertaining journey as he reveals how he got to the top of his field as a primo ballerino. Considered “one of the most talented dancers of his generation” (Vogue), Whiteside is extremely well-known in the dance world, he has also choreographed for music videos, commercials, film, and ballet.
And Whiteside’s profile is on the rise off the dance floor: He has been profiled in the New York Times, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and Allure; he hosts a popular podcast, The Stage Rightside with James Whiteside; and he has 335k and counting Instagram followers. James is available for interviews on Monday, August 16th, and I hope you’ll consider having him as a guest on your show. Please reach out if you would like to schedule an interview or would like to see a copy of the book.
“James Whiteside is an electrifying performer, an incredible athlete, and an artist, through and through. To know James is to love him; with Center Center, you are about to fall in love.” —Jennifer Garner
There’s a mark on every stage around the world that signifies the center of its depth and width, called “center center.” James Whiteside has dreamed of standing on that very mark as a principal dancer with the prestigious American Ballet Theatre ever since he was a twelve-year-old blown away by watching the company’s spring gala: the glamour, the virtuosity, the extremely fit men in tights!
In CENTER CENTER, “Whiteside pours out his soul in a debut that’s deeply resonant—but no less raunchy for it” (Publishers Weekly). He tells tales of the two alter egos he created to subvert the strict classical rigor of ballet: JbDubs, an out-and-proud pop musician, and Ühu Betch, an over-the-top drag queen named after Yoohoo chocolate milk and member of the NYC-based drag posse the Dairy Queens, which also includes RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Milk. Whiteside also muses about the tragically fated childhood pets who taught him how to feel, and reminisces on summer dance camps at which he paid more attention to partying than his craft. The memoir’s emotional core is firmly located in “Nancy,” a novella-length biography of Whiteside’s “brilliant, complicated, unicorn of a mother” that is breathtaking in its vulnerability and tenderness.
CENTER CENTER is an exuberant behind-the-scenes tour of Whiteside’s triple life, both on- and offstage—a raunchy, curious, and unapologetic celebration of queerness, self-expression, friendship, creativity, and pushing boundaries that will entertain you, shock you, inspire you, embolden you . . . and maybe even make you cry.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
James Whiteside (alter egos JbDubs and Uhu Betch) is a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre, a pop star, and a member of the NYC-based drag posse the Dairy Queens, which also includes RuPaul's Drag Race alum Milk. He has choreographed for music videos, commercials, film, and ballet, and in 2018, he starred in Arthur Pita's dance/theater work The Tenant at The Joyce Theater in New York City. Whiteside also hosts his own popular podcast, The Stage Rightside with James Whiteside. His song and music video "I Hate My Job" has been featured in The New York Times, Huffington Post, MTV, Billboard, and more.
Follow James Whiteside on Twitter @JamesBWhiteside,
“James Whiteside is an electrifying performer, an incredible athlete, and an artist, through and through. To know James is to love him; with Center Center, you are about to fall in love.” —Jennifer Garner
There’s a mark on every stage around the world that signifies the center of its depth and width, called “center center.” James Whiteside has dreamed of standing on that very mark as a principal dancer with the prestigious American Ballet Theatre ever since he was a twelve-year-old blown away by watching the company’s spring gala: the glamour, the virtuosity, the extremely fit men in tights!
In CENTER CENTER, “Whiteside pours out his soul in a debut that’s deeply resonant—but no less raunchy for it” (Publishers Weekly). He tells tales of the two alter egos he created to subvert the strict classical rigor of ballet: JbDubs, an out-and-proud pop musician, and Ühu Betch, an over-the-top drag queen named after Yoohoo chocolate milk and member of the NYC-based drag posse the Dairy Queens, which also includes RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Milk. Whiteside also muses about the tragically fated childhood pets who taught him how to feel, and reminisces on summer dance camps at which he paid more attention to partying than his craft. The memoir’s emotional core is firmly located in “Nancy,” a novella-length biography of Whiteside’s “brilliant, complicated, unicorn of a mother” that is breathtaking in its vulnerability and tenderness.
CENTER CENTER is an exuberant behind-the-scenes tour of Whiteside’s triple life, both on- and offstage—a raunchy, curious, and unapologetic celebration of queerness, self-expression, friendship, creativity, and pushing boundaries that will entertain you, shock you, inspire you, embolden you . . . and maybe even make you cry.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
James Whiteside (alter egos JbDubs and Uhu Betch) is a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre, a pop star, and a member of the NYC-based drag posse the Dairy Queens, which also includes RuPaul's Drag Race alum Milk. He has choreographed for music videos, commercials, film, and ballet, and in 2018, he starred in Arthur Pita's dance/theater work The Tenant at The Joyce Theater in New York City. Whiteside also hosts his own popular podcast, The Stage Rightside with James Whiteside. His song and music video "I Hate My Job" has been featured in The New York Times, Huffington Post, MTV, Billboard, and more.
Follow James Whiteside on Twitter @JamesBWhiteside,
Instagram @jamesbwhiteside
http://jamesbwhiteside.com/
