Lise Friedman is author, in collaboration with photographer Mary Dowdle, of the forthcoming Junior Library Guild selection Becoming a Ballerina: A Nutcracker Story (Viking Children's Books), and coauthor, with her sister Ceil Friedman, of Letters to Juliet (Stewart Tabori & Chang), the inspiration behind the idea for the 2010 film of the same name. A former dancer with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Lise is also the author of two Children's Book of the Month Club selections--First Lessons in Ballet and Break a Leg! The Kids Guide to Acting and Stagecraft (Workman Publishing)--and of Alvin Ailey Dance Moves! A Dance-Based Approach to Movement and Exercise (STC). She has edited several books, including John Gruen's People Who Dance and, with David R. White and Tia Tibbets Levinson, Poor Dancer's Almanac: Managing Life and Work in the Performing Arts, and, as editorial director of Access Press, Inc., a series of international travel guides. She lives in New York City.
