Dance teachers, specifically Martha Armstrong Gray and Denise Mostacci Sklar, were my early gurus.
Their bodies are their temples are their timber and their stone.
Either you leap or you don’t.
Martha Gray retired after 45 years teaching high schoolers.
In tribute, a dance was made of her students stories.
Our assignment was to reflect her essence.
Mine was this…

i met a rockstar in the mountains
we stayed three days
he played
and i danced
round and round the fire
the next time i saw him was on stage
in new york
after the show
we ate sticky ribs and spicy rice
every time we saw each other
he played, i danced, and we ate
in the end,
he told me the single most painful thing i’ve ever been told–
that we were just two lonelinesses, looking after each other for a time
now,
we are both in love
with the loves of our lives
but he still sends me notes and pictures of the mountains
to remind me that
dancing
and nature
are the only two things
i should ever long for.