61 pages • 2 hours read
Nicola YoonInstructions for Dancing
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2021A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The “Black Box” Song
Evie and X write the song “Black Box” together, and it works symbolically on two levels. Firstly, the act of them writing it speaks to their natural, comfortable connection and fluid teamwork. Evie and X are both creatives, and their partnership is deepened not only by dance but writing and playing music. The couple’s writing also foreshadows their future album—which is completed before X dies.
Secondly, the song has symbolic lyrics: It details the complexity, mystery, and powerful, lasting emotions of relationships, even after they end. Many of the lyrics act as metaphors for the uncertainty of love. Lines such as “our love just turns to ashes,” “you’re a black box falling to the sea,” and “nothing survives” convey the raw grief, loss, and loneliness that can occur in any relationship (109). The repeated line that “nothing survives” relates to the theme of Taking Risks and being vulnerable enough to dive into love, because even though all love ends, this doesn’t make it meaningless.
X channels his experience with his friend, Clay, and Evie channels her beliefs about love not lasting, to write their lyrics. The titular black box “sinks down out of sight,” leaving the singer “with nothing” but memories (109-10). The lyrics also foreshadow X’s death and how Evie will feel about it, as if everything is “all wrong” because X is gone.
The Tango
The tango, as the hardest dance for Evie and X to learn, symbolizes her learning to let go and embrace love. As Fifi tells them, the tango is a dance of chemistry and sensuality. She often instructs Evie to give herself to X, and when Evie comments that the dance is sexist, Fifi challenges her by stating there is power in being desired. Fifi also compares the tango to good sex, fire, and smoke. With intimate comparisons, the tango is an inherently romantic dance, acting as a catalyst for Evie to give in to her affection for X. Evie reflects that Fifi is right about her avoiding her emotions: “‘While you are dancing, you belong to him,’ [Fifi says.] [...] But the truth is, I understand what she’s saying. I am holding back. I am afraid to give in completely to how I feel about X” (189).
During the Danceball competition, Evie finally allows herself to loosen up, relaxing into X’s arms and moving with his body. The tango (and dance overall) represents her being tested and transformed; the dance is one of vulnerability and connection, in which Evie is forced to confront her fears and insecurities to believe in love again. Evie grows so much that she not only wins the competition with X, but takes the leap to tell X she loves him at the end of the dance. Fifi also texts her that she danced with her heart, not just her head, in the tango.
Evie’s Visions and The Mysterious Woman
Evie’s visions of romantic relationships are a symbol of change and love, not heartache like she initially believes. The power being triggered by kissing is not a coincidence because it relates to her father. Evie saw her father and Shirley kiss, an act of betrayal that left a lasting scar. The mysterious woman who made the Little Free Book Library (where she and Evie meet) wanted to provide Evie another perspective, to understand that her father and Shirley share true love, like he did with Grace in the past. In other words, the woman wants to reframe kissing as an act of hope, not just betrayal.
Evie only fixated on the endings of her visions, when the mysterious woman “gave you the power to see love. The heartbreak is just one part of it. It’s not the all of it” (272). The power was “supposed to be a gift,” not “a curse” (272). Evie later understands that the visions were meant to help her change, to show her the beauty and power of love to make people feel happiest. The mysterious woman and her power are never explained, which fits the genre of magical realism and mirrors how love can’t be fully explained in one word—which is shown through the visions, particularly that of Archibald and Maggie.
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By Nicola Yoon
