Bailando en silencio is a personal narrative made up of Judith Ortiz Cofers recollections of the bilingual-bicultural childhood which forged her personality as a writer and artist. The daughter of a Navy man, Ortiz Cofer was born in Puerto Rico and spent her childhood shuttling between the small island of her birth and New Jersey. In fluid, clear, incisive prose, as well as in the poems she includes to highlight the major themes, Ortiz Cofer has added an important chapter to autobiography, Hispanic American Creativity and womens literature.
The English version Silent Dancing has been awarded the 1991 PEN/Martha Albrand Special Citation for Nonficiton and has been selected for The New York Public Librarys 1991 Best Books for the Teen Age.