'And Then We Danced,' 'Old in Art School,' tell of later-in-life creative endeavors

In the witty and touching , journalist and humorist Henry Alford’s exploration of the world of dance, the author observes “a blatant manifestation of snobbery” in that world: the habit of referring to nonprofessional dancers simply as “non-dancers.” Nell Painter encounters her fair share of snobbery, too, as the distinguished historian retires from academia to pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in painting, an endeavor she describes in her fascinating but fraught memoir, . The most hurtful instance is being told by a teacher