Estimated read time: 7-8 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — In the ballet world, where every dancer is supposed to look the same on stage, one dancer in Salt Lake City is proving how being different can be a strength.
Olivia Book was born with a congenital upper limb deficiency and her right arm is significantly shorter than her left, with less mobility. She is making waves in the dancing world by being the first professional ballerina with a limb difference.
"I sometimes can't believe it," she said.
Book always loved moving to music and dancing around the house, so her parents put her in ballet at 3 years old. She grew up dancing several styles of dance at a competition studio and didn't always love ballet the most.
"I slowly just began to love it more and appreciate the elegance and grace of all the movements. I knew the steps were so difficult, but they made it look so easy, and I always loved watching other dancers, so I imagined myself dancing like that," she said.
After attending a dance intensive in Copenhagen at the Royal Danish Ballet when she was 15, her eyes were opened to the ballet world, and she began to see it as a potential career.
"I really just fell more in love with ballet and all the possibilities out there," she said, so she started training solely in ballet.
While competing at the Youth America Grand Prix a year later, Ballet West artistic director Adam Sklute was amazed by Book's artistry and invited her to the Ballet West summer intensive. She was awarded Top 12 in the classical and contemporary categories and received an outstanding performance and special commendation from the jury at the competition.
"From that moment, I was just amazed that people from other places in the world also had an interest in me doing ballet and thought that my talent was good," she said.

Book was then accepted into the Ballet West Academy's professional training division, so at 16 years old she moved from her hometown in Grimsby, Canada, to Salt Lake City.
She spent two years in the professional training division then two years in the trainee division program before being promoted to Ballet West II, a feat only three trainees achieved in 2023. She was awarded the Adam Sklute Scholarship twice during the four years in the academy.
The 21-year-old made her professional debut last fall performing in "Dracula," "Stars and Stripes" and "The Nutcracker." She said she felt so welcomed by Ballet West and that it was a great environment for her training.
"I just love how freeing and beautiful (dancing) makes me feel, and the strength that is required for it is something that I think makes it even more beautiful," she said. "It always stems from the music, and then I get inspiration from there. I love working toward the goal and seeing the rewarding end result of performing on stage."
Rising to the challenge
Book has always been an independent person who wanted to do things on her own despite it being more difficult for her. Book has had to figure out how to do basic ballet tasks in her own way, such as knowing how long to make her pointe shoe ribbons so she can tie them herself.
When she was little, she could hold on to the ballet barre with her short arm, but as she grew up, she started to just use her left hand. This, however, was messing up her placement, so she and her dad designed an attachment she can use to make the barre the perfect height for her right arm.
"I discovered there were more muscles I needed to use to have that balance," she said. "Without the barre, I was focused more on just standing up versus improving other parts of my technique, but now with the barre, I can delve deeper without just worrying about not falling over."

A recent accomplishment Book is proud of is styling her hair herself in a bun. She could make the bun but needed someone to put a ponytail in first.
She was always jealous of the dancers who could just whip up their hair into a bun so quickly. This last year, she figured out how to hold her hair with her short arm to put it into a ponytail using a hair tie with a specific stretchiness, then use a clip to twist it into a bun and hold the hair while she pins it in with her left hand.
"It took a lot of practice and patience. I knew that working toward it, it'll hopefully become easier," she said.
Growing up, Book was sometimes nervous she would stick out when dancing in groups, so she did her best to execute every step as precisely and detailed as possible so she would still look like everyone else.
"I always tried to complete the movement even though I didn't complete the line with my arm, so that we all looked like we were still doing the same movement," she said. "I find it kind of funny, and sometimes nice, that some people almost forget that I'm missing an arm. They don't even realize it at first because I think they are focusing on other things that I have to offer, which is really exciting."

Turns, balances, partnering and other ballet steps require extra strength and balance to execute when you only have one arm.
While it was hard at first, Book said she's been able to work through the challenges to gain the confidence and strength so she feels comfortable taking risks and trying new steps.
"I'm not defined by it, but it's not the only thing about me. I have other things to offer," she said.
Breaking down barriers
Dancing with the corps de ballet, or the main group of dancers who all perform the same movements, was something she had to work through for herself mentally, knowing she was different.
But it helped that she could feel all of her teachers and the artistic staff believing in her and wanting her to be a part of the ballet, so she knew she could believe in herself too.
"It's so hard and also so common in the ballet world to feel that way because they expect perfection with everything. I think that's something that's been really exciting recently with the ballet world — there's more barriers being broken down," she said.
Book says she has felt so accepted and accommodated while at Ballet West, and she is grateful to be dancing onstage with a company that appreciates her talents. She said the costuming department has been wonderful to work with in figuring out how to make sleeves on her right arm look good and feel good for her.

Last year while learning "Stars and Stripes," Book was pleasantly surprised that the stager had already figured out where to place her so she would be in the correct spot to hold hands with her left hand.
"Growing up sometimes, I feel like they'd choreograph it all then they'd realize, 'Oh, we need to move Olivia.' But before we even set the ballet, she knew exactly where to put me, and that was just really special to me and amazing that they thought that through," she said.
Ballet West has received comments from audience members about how wonderful it is seeing Book just included, not singled out or made to feel like an outsider. In the company's Front Row winter magazine, a dance teacher reached out to Ballet West and said it was encouraging to see Book included as such a natural part of the cast. Others have told the company how seeing her perform has touched their lives.
"Looking in the mirror at everyone else, I just wanted to be as similar as possible. But it's also important to remember that every dancer also doesn't look identical. We all have our strong suits and stuff that makes us special and different," she said.
While not every dancer's uniqueness is as easily visible as Book's, she said it's important to know you can accomplish anything you put your mind to.
"Things do take time and patience, but for me, I always love looking back on how far I've come and that my hard work has paid off. I want people to know that they can accomplish things — even if no one has done them before," she said.
Book is preparing for her second year with Ballet West II and is looking forward to the upcoming season which will include "Jekyll and Hyde," George Balanchine's "Serenade," "Cinderella" and more.
