READERS GUIDE

Reader’s Guide
First Position by Melanie Hamrick
Discussion Questions:

1. Sylvie joined a professional ballet company at the age of eighteen, which is very young but not an unusual age for many dancers joining their first professional company. Sylvie is legally an adult at eighteen, but do you think the company should have more formal oversight over the personal lives of their dancers?

2. Jocelyn is also eighteen but has had a very different upbringing from Sylvie. How do you think this shows in Jocelyn’s personal and professional behavior?

3. It’s common for many children to take ballet lessons, but not many decide to make this their career. Why do you think that is?

4. Do you consider ballet an art form or a craft? Both?

5. How familiar are you with ballet? Did you recognize any of the ballets mentioned throughout the novel?

6. Sylvie’s ultimate dream as a dancer is to dance the role of Juliet on the stage. If you were a dancer, what roles would you want to dance?

7. Sylvie and Alessandro have an unconventional first meeting. Why do you think they decided to behave that way when they could easily have been seen?

8. Why do you think Sebastian seduced first Sylvie and then Jocelyn? Do you think his feelings for Sylvie are genuine?

9. How would you define the relationship between Sylvie and Jocelyn?

10. Why do you think Sebastian wasn’t visibly punished by NAB for his role in the affair with Sylvie? Although the relationship was consensual, do you think his behavior constitutes sexual harassment in the workplace?