DANCE WITH JOY

When I was two years old my parents left Ohio and moved to FL and we lived there until I was in the fifth grade. I don't remember precisely when my mother found "Dance with Joy," but I think it was probably around kindergarten. Joy taught ballet, tap, gymnastics, balance beam, and trapeze. Joy was a trapeze artist in her glory days. Joy was amazing.

I loved everything about taking classes with Joy. There was a summer show each year that was always a rush. I suppose those were my first stage performances. I was extremely limber and a terrible show-off. There was no place that was sacred in our house. I cartwheeled, frontwalkovered, backwalkovered, etc. up and down the hallway, through the living room, dining room, kitchen and so on. I remember a specific case of showing off for a neighborhood boy resulting in a torn dress because I forgot myself after church and cartwheeled through the living room. My mother said that I could not come out and play because I was grounded the rest of the day.

A friend of mine and I won third place in the local talent show to the song "Greased Lightning." We choreographed it ourselves and our picture was in the newspaper. I was pretty proud of us for that. We went to the same elementary school and she also took classes with Joy.

I really didn't see the move coming. As I said, I was very involved with the dancing and gymnastics thing. I was really close to backhandspringing around the house. I was doing aerial cartwheels in class with a spotter, but really wasn't getting and/or needing much help. I loved the fact that I could stand on one foot and pull my other foot over my head until it touched my nose. I was drunk on the fact that Miss Joy was graduating me up to let me wear tap shoes with a little heel and *toe* shoes. I was good enough that I was moving into the big leagues. And then we were moving ~ literally. Shazam.

My dad was really sick. We lived with my grandparents for the rest of my fifth grade year in Ohio. We moved to Newark, Ohio, that summer. We looked for a place that offered dance classes. Did you know that there is not a single dance studio in Newark that teaches trapeze? More importantly, they didn't even watch me dance before deciding that I wasn't good enough for *toe* shoes or tap shoes with a little heel and they weren't interested in my tumbling skills, either. I can't remember the name of that place. I don't recall ever doing a cartwheel again.

What else can I tell you about that girl? She loved DARK SHADOWS, the color purple, sitting in her dad's lap, walking barefoot, deliberately not wearing her glasses, her cat (Rowr), riding her bike, writing on her chalkboard, and having her hair brushed. I am sorry I can't tell you more. I barely knew her.