Resuming the Dance

Bear with me. I am lately obsessed with the dance, the way bodies can move in space, the art of their shapes, the fluid motion, the way they hurl themselves into the air, knowing that everything is possible. Was such movement ever possible for me? I hated running as a child, it never felt comfortable on my body, and decades later, I learned that might have been because my left leg is shorter than my right. My knee joints also hyperextend, and the ligaments that hold them are like loose elastic, not protective at all. My son might shake his head at this explanation, as he knows the correct terms for things, and the anatomical relationships of things. He would say, you have to move anyway, even now, no matter that it hurts, it is the only way. Once, I danced, though. Growing up in Jamaica, I had a gifted teacher whose body, like mine, was not the dancer's ideal, but whose love of the dance, and grace and knowledge, were boundless. I should never haver stopped dancing.

These photos by Andrew Eccles are of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Company dancers.