History Literature / DancingShoes

* PluckyGirl: Both Rachel and Hilary.

* StageMom: Cora Wintle towards her daughter, Dulcie. On the other hand, she is very angry when Hilary or Rachel is more successful than Dulcie in anything. (Probably stemming from the fact whenever Cora auditioned she was too plain so was always in the chorus).

* TechnicianVersusPerformer: Polished Dulcie and carefree Hilary.

* HatedByAll: Dulcie is loathed by everyone at Wintle's Wonders, from Mrs Storm, Pat and Edna to all the other pupils and dancers. At one point a whole troupe of girls [[spoiler: scheme to help Hilary win a talent contest against her and there is mass rejoicing when Rachel takes Dulcie's film role.]]

* HatedByAll: Dulcie is loathed by everyone at Wintle's Wonders, from the other girls in her class to Mrs Storm and her dancing teachers.

* AbusiveParents: Cora subjects Rachel, and later Hilary to serious emotional abuse.

* BeautyBrainsAndBrawn: Vain Dulcie as Beauty, studious Rachel as brains and active Hilary as brawn. (While Dulcie is also a dancer her looks are emphasized more.)

** Also a posthumous example, as [[spoiler: it's mentioned that Rachel's father was a famous actor. Lampshaded when Cora comes under fire for not putting Rachel forward from the start.]]

* ChekhovsSkill: Mrs Storm starts setting Rachel extra acting and speech exercises after seeing she enjoys their literature lessons. [[spoiler: At the end, Rachel is pulled in to audition for a film and instantly lands the role.]]

* CinderellaCircumstances: Rachel is a textbook example. She spends most of the book being bullied by Cora and Dulcie for her plainness and difficulties with dancing, only to [[spoiler: land a world famous movie role in the final chapter]].

* DumbBlonde: Downplayed. Hilary isn't stupid, but she's much less studious and book smart than the brunette Rachel.

* GenkiGirl: Hilary
* TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry: Averted. Hilary and Rachel fit the pretty sister/smart sister dichotomy but are close, loving and deeply supportive of each other. Their main issue is Rachel is more worried about Hilary's dancing career than Hilary is.
* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Fair-haired Hilary is kind and good-natured, albeit with a mischievous streak.
* HappilyAdopted: Hilary Lennox with Rachel's biological parents. Averted when Cora becomes their guardian, as Rachel is unhappy and treated badly.
* HenpeckedHusband: Uncle Tom again. At one point he claims he can't get involved with "the dancing side of things", ignoring that dance controls ''everything'' in the household, from the girl's career paths to their daily routines.

* LaserGuidedKarma: Cora and Dulcie spend the book bullying Rachel for her looks and poor dancing, while Dulcie is spoiled and set for a glittering career. [[spoiler: At the end, Rachel takes a massive film role right from under Dulcie's nose - not only because she's a better actress, but as her looks were exactly what the director was after.]]

* StageMom: Cora Wintle towards her daughter, Dulcie. On the other hand, she is very angry when Hilary or Rachel is more successful than Dulcie in anything.
** Probably stems from the fact whenever Cora auditioned she was too plain so was always in the chorus.

** Cora's husband Tom, on the other hand, likes Rachel, and she's the clear favorite of the girl's tutor Mrs Storm, to the point that when Cora tries to send Rachel to the local school, she is forced to change her mind, as Mrs Storm tells her that she will quit if she has to teach Dulcie and Hilary without Rachel.

* WhenSheSmiles: Rachel is described as having a face that "easily looks sad" (and for most of the book has good reason to be), but is lovely when she smiles.

* TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivarly: Averted. Hilary and Rachel certainly fit the pretty sister/smart sister dichotomy but are close, loving and deeply supportive of each other. Rachel is much more worried about Hilary's dancing career than Hilary is.

** Also a posthumous example, as [[spoiler: it's mentioned that Rachel's father was a famous actor. Lampshaded when Cora comes under fire for not putting Rachel forward for the film from the start.]]

* LaserGuidedKarma: Cora and Dulcie spend the book bullying Rachel for her looks and poor dancing, while Dulcie is spoiled and set for a glittering career. [[spoiler: At the end, Rachel takes a massive film role right from under Dulcie's nose - not only because she's a better actress, but because her looks were exactly what the director was after.]]

* CinderellaCircumstances: Rachel is a textbook example. She spends most of the book being degraded by Cora and Dulcie for her plainness and difficulties with dancing, only to [[spoiler: land a world famous movie role in the final chapter]].

* HenpeckedHusband: Uncle Tom again. At one point he claims he can't get involved with "anything to do with dancing", ignoring that everything in the household - from the girl's career paths to their daily routines - is ruled by dancing.

* BeautyBrainsAndBrawn: With vain Dulcie as Beauty, studious Rachel as brains and active Hilary as brawn. (While Dulcie is also a dancer her looks are emphasized more.)

* ExtremeDoormat: Uncle Tom spends most of his time hiding in his art studio and won't interfere with Cora's decisions for Rachel and Hilary, even with how badly Cora treats Rachel and how unhappy Rachel is at being forced to become a dancer. Averted in an early scene where he demands that Dulcie apologize to her cousins for insisting they be sent away when they first arrive.

* ItsAllAboutMe: Dulcie is this. But Cora encourages. She even buys a television just so they can watch Dulcie.

* TechnicianVersusPerformer: Dulcie and Hilary.
* TheUnfavourite: Rachel is this to Cora and Dulcie. They make no secret of it at all. Cora's husband Tom, on the other hand, likes Rachel, and she's the clear favorite of their tutor Mrs. Storm, to the point that when Cora tries to send Rachel to the local school, she is forced to change her mind, as Mrs Storm tells her that she will quit if she has to teach Dulcie and Hilary without Rachel.

* ExtremeDoormat: Uncle Tom spends most of his time hiding in his art studio and won't interfere with Cora's decisions for Rachel and Hilary, even with how badly Cora treats Rachel and how unhappy Rachel is at being forced to become a dancer.

''Dancing Shoes'' (originally released as ''Wintle's Wonders'' in the U.K.) is a young adult novel by Noel Streatfeild (not a typo). It is about two sisters: Rachel and Hilary Lennox, one HappilyAdopted, living in 1930s England. Initially they live with their mother in a shabby boarding house, but when their mother dies, the girls are adopted by their Uncle Tom and Aunt Cora, and end up trained in dance, with varying degrees of success.

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''Dancing Shoes'' (originally released as ''Wintle's Wonders'' is a young adult novel by Noel Streatfeild (not a typo). It is about two sisters: Rachel and Hilary Lennox, one HappilyAdopted, living in 1930s England. Initially they live with their mother in a shabby boarding house, but when their mother dies, the girls are adopted by their Uncle Tom and Aunt Cora, and end up trained in dance, with varying degrees of success.

''Literature/DancingShoes'' (originally released as ''Wintle's Wonders'' is a young adult novel by Noel Streatfeild (not a typo). It is about two sisters: Rachel and Hilary Lennox, one HappilyAdopted, living in 1930s England. Initially they live with their mother in a shabby boarding house, but when their mother dies, the girls are adopted by their Uncle Tom and Aunt Cora, and end up trained in dance, with varying degrees of success.

* TheUnfavourite: Rachel is this to Cora and Dulcie. They make no secret of it at all. Cora's husband Tom, on the other hand, likes Rachel, and she's the clear favorite of their tutor Mrs. Storm.

* ICan'tDance: Rachel doesn't want to learn to dance, and although she learns enough to leave the beginner's class, she has to think hard about the steps and can't enjoy it. She dreads becoming old enough to get her license to perform.

* HappilyAdopted: Hilary Lenox with Rachel's biological parents. Averted when Cora becomes their guardian, as Rachel is unhappy and treated badly.

''Dancing Shoes'' is a young adult novel by Noel Streatfeild (not a typo). It is about two sisters: Rachel and Hilary Lenox, one Happily Adopted, living in 1930s England. Initially they live with their mother in a shabby boarding house, but when their mother dies, the girls are adopted by their Uncle Tom and Aunt Cora, and end up trained in dance, with varying degrees of success.

** Probably stems from the fact whenever Cora auditioned she was too plain so was always in the chorus

* GenkiGirl: Hilary.
* HappilyAdopted: Hilary Lenox

* WickedStepMother: Cora ''definitely'' qualifies as a wicked step-aunt.

* BlitheSpirit: Hilary takes losing not one, but ''two'' sets of parents remarkably well.

* BeautyBrainsAndBrawn: With vain Dulcie as Beauty, studious Rachel as brains and active Hilary as brawn. (While Dulcie is also a dancer her looks are emphasized more).
* BookWorm: Rachel.

* TheDeterminator: Don't tell Rachel to give up on something. ''Especially'' not Hilary's ballet future.
* EvilStepMother: Cora ''definitely'' qualifies as an evil step aunt.

* TheUnfavorite: Rachel is this to Cora and Dulcie. They make no secret of it at all. Cora's husband Tom, on the other hand, likes Rachel, and she's the clear favorite of their tutor Mrs. Storm.