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The Book of Dance

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She has come to belong to something bigger than herself. She isn’t alone. She is a dancer, one of many, her movement in relationship with other dancers. And you realize, that dancer is the only thing we know we can call her, our protagonist otherwise nameless. This realization is an important one because it signals that our protagonist as Dancer is more than a fulfillment of a dream, of imagination, but of a revelation of a deeper part of herself. Dancer is a significant part of her identity. And so from the start of lessons to book’s end we're met with joy.

Usually when I see a disabled kid on the cover of a book, they're just in the periphery. Not here!! This is actually about a child who longs to dance, but uses a wheelchair and so people tell her to just pretend or imagine she's dancing. But then she discovers an ad for a dance class that proclaims all ages, all abilities are welcome and she finds a class full of her people! Is there a version of the Bechdel test but for disability? Because this one passes! (Or gets as close as possible to passing because it's a picture book and there's very little text overall, and even less dialogue.) I also really liked reading about Young Dance in Minnesota, and it reminded me of DanceAbility in Eugene, OR. I wish I had an accessible dance class in my area. It is incredibly important to note that when she imagines herself dancing, she is still in her chair, she is still in her body. And when she does dance, she uses her body and her chair; there is zero dissonance. I took Dance Theory once and wrote a paper on a scene from the TV show Glee where Artie imagines himself like his peers, dancing without his chair. His dream projection, his idealized self—it was a dancer without a wheelchair. [a question of virility is involved as well.] This episode, paired with outside discussions about how the actor Kevin McHale was actually the most trained and talented dancer on the show was in a wheelchair casted role, elicited pity. The wheelchair was an obstacle to overcome. Fortunately, importantly, I Will Dance makes no such offensive rhetorical suggestion. Wholeness is not the issue, access is. Flood’s dancer finds it and flourishes. The fun of dancing; the swirling, the overs and unders, the contracting and expanding all become a reality for the young girl who wishes to dance. On performance night, with a belly full of nervous butterflies, she dances on a real stage, with real lighting, real music with beats to count, and real people watching and applauding. Performance night seals the dream. Her wish comes true. She is a Dancer! Although there are hundreds of dance styles, for simplicity, we categorize different types of dance into a few large groups: ballet; modern and contemporary dance; hip-hop (or street dance); Latin, ballroom and social dance; and folk dance. 2. Who Was books about dancers? A little girl with cerebral palsy makes a birthday wish that she gets a pink tutu and can dance. When Eva was born, she wasn’t expected to survive more than a short while, but she is now ten years old. She wants to dance but can’t move more than her head and her arms and fingers. Eva can’t use her legs to run and move like other children can. Then her mother discovers a new dance program for people of all ages and all abilities. Still, will they let her join in even though she is in a wheelchair? Yes! When Eva arrives there are children of all sorts of ages, sizes, and who have a variety of assistive devices they use. Soon they are not only dancing but creating a performance where they do more than pretend and imagine. They dance!

It isn’t just a chair—it’s a steel chair, strong, unbendable, reliable. But humans aren’t made of steel. To dream we must bend, we must risk.

Aside from the diversity in abilities, Flood greets us with a birthday party attended by a diverse community. This book is a feast for the soul in offering representation and irrepressible longing and joy. Julianna Swaney’s illustrations play no small part in enchanting the reader/listener.Two volumes are crucial for anyone wanting to gain an appreciation of Indian classical dance, the “Natyasastra” and the “Gita Govinda” by the poet Jayadeva. The “Natyasastra” is the oldest known Indian text to exist on the performing arts and is considered a bible for dancers and musicians. It provides guidance on everything from body movements and make-up, to the intention of the dance itself. Understanding that spiritual enlightenment is the primary objective for the audience invites a different approach when you witness a performance. Meanwhile, the “Gita Govinda” recounts the relationship of the god Krishna and the milkmaid Radha, with many of the stories from this text serving as the narrative of Indian dance performances. 7. Mindy Aloff’s “Leaps in the Dark” and “Dance in America” The young girl watches dancers as they swirl, spin, and stand on tall toes. She wants to stand on tall toes. She wants to pirouette across the stage with arms like wings. She wants to dance. Not imagine or pretend, and certainly not alone. A school girl practices Bharatnatyam, an Indian classical dance, before a performance on the occasion of Mahashivratri festival in Thiruvananthapuram in 2012. Photo by REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui 6. “The Natyasastra,” attributed to Bharata Muni, and the “Gita Govinda” by the poet Jayadeva Swaney’s illustrations are magical and magically inclusive. Eva has two mothers and the children are of all colors, shapes, and abilities. There is a prosthetic leg, a walker, crutches, and wheel chairs. There are fully ambulant children also, who are essential to the message that dance and life is something that must be done together—“Not alone.”

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