Ballet was my great young love. I loved the feeling of
being part of something larger and more important. I loved the striving for
perfection, the thrill of recognition. I trained as a ballet dancer from about
ages 8 to 14. After I stopped training that whole part of my life became
locked in a very private place. I felt cut off from this world where I
had found so much joy. I tried to put it behind me and devote myself
to other things, but the experience left me with some conflicted feelings about
dance. Then, something happened this year. First, I published GIRL THROUGH
GLASS, my novel based on memories of a ballet childhood.
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| Spring Dance Concert |
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| The Nutcracker |
Second, my daughter began performing in the dance concerts at her school. Watching her brings tears to my eyes—complex moments of pain, love, and healing.
Now, to bring things full circle, on the school’s stage, in an event hosted by the school PTO and open the the whole community, I will have a chance to talk with her school’s dance teacher, an energetic and visionary woman with big ideas about dance education. We’ll be talking about childhoods in dance (she was a child performer too) and more broadly about how dance can inform an entire life.
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