LIVE FOREVER PROJECT

When I was little

my dance teacher was the original

Miss Browni

who made everything up,

all the steps

all the time

all the steps

all the time.

Miss Browni said,

not those copycat records

not those kit routines always alike.

Original,

our own routines.

All the steps

all the time.

She made up everything herself

In the choreography of theater,

in the rehearsal

where he dropped me on my head,

in the performance

where we hated each other,

could not stand each other,

despised each other,

jealous rivals,

and pretended to be loving

in Adam Loves Eve,

where the Charleston

stole the show

our dancing toe to toe,

he proposed,

and the dancer

turned out

to be my husband.

I danced 12 years in a studio,

then opened one and then another,

opened one in Philips,

one in Manitowoc that I

ran for 13 years

because dancing

isn’t about

English class and Speech,

red schoolhouse red tape,

and this duty that duty,

hall, bus, and homecoming.

What kind of dancing can you do when you have to watch teens build a float?

I loved the children.

I loved teaching.

If only… If only…

So I quit that big school. Abandoned my license.

Kept the studio.

Wrote a book.

Became Story Lady at the local library,

choreographer of storytelling,

hatracks and artifacts,

a history for kids,

a ruckus

alive in their own

minds to imagine.

Creating something new

makes best memories for me.

Choreography.

A lesson.

Or best memories come

when I remember

children,

my lost babies

unseen,

untouched, but loved;

my daughters all grown up now,

teacher-dancers like me,

all music and movement.

My students,

dancing without mirrors,

without compare,

joy-filled sweethearts,

sons and daughters,

all poise and balance,

confidence and closeness,

the best kids.

Creating something new

makes best memories for me.

Choreography.

A lesson.

Or best memories come

when I remember

children,

my lost babies

unseen,

untouched, but loved;

my daughters all grown up now,

teacher-dancers like me,

all music and movement.

My students,

dancing without mirrors,

without compare,

joy-filled sweethearts,

sons and daughters,

all poise and balance,

confidence and closeness,

the best kids.

Creating something new

makes best memories for me.

Choreography.

A lesson.

Or best memories come

when I remember

children,

my lost babies

unseen,

untouched, but loved;

my daughters all grown up now,

teacher-dancers like me,

all music and movement.

My students,

dancing without mirrors,

without compare,

joy-filled sweethearts,

sons and daughters,

all poise and balance,

confidence and closeness,

the best kids.