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I was browsing through posts on Facebook this morning and read this wonderful quote by a dancer from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater...
I wish more people knew what it felt like to actually dance. I'm not referring to the difficulty of learning a technique or a combination. I mean the part that comes after everything clicks. When your most focused mind, your most moldable body, and your truest spirit all intertwine at their highest level. That point will look different for everyone, of course, but I wish everyone could attempt to reach it at least once. It can literally feel like flying. -- Ailey dancer
Fana Tesfagiorgis to the
NYC Dance ProjectI let this quote seep into my soul, "liked" it, and went on with my day. Little did I know it would creep back into my head later in the day when I was reading the new picture book
Bear Can Dance! by
Suzanne Bloom.
Bear Can Dance! is the seventh in a series of books by Bloom about Bear and his friend Goose. In this book, Bear wishes he could fly! Another character, Fox, comes up with a few clever ideas to help Bear, but none of them work too well. Goose isn't much help, either, insisting that Bear cannot fly. Or can he?
Bear can dance?
It's like flying, but with your feet on the ground. Mostly.
Ohhhh. Bear can dance!
The only reason Bear wanted to fly was because he wanted to "swoop and glide and feel the wind" in his fur. Flying can do that, but so can dance! After reading the book, I frantically searched Facebook until I found the quote from Fana Tesfagiorgis again, only realizing then how truly magical it was for today.
I love it when fate steps in to bring people, objects, ideas together. In this case it brought a beautiful quote from Fana Tesfagiorgis, a beautiful book by Suzanne Bloom, and me together. A perfect match!
Many picture books these days are considered "character-driven," focused on a loveable character who is introduced to readers and then usually shows up in a subsequent series of books.
Olivia,
Fancy Nancy, and
Ladybug Girl are a few you might be familiar with. In fact, all three of these characters are so popular that they each have an entire website devoted just to them. Wow!
It turns out that some dance books are also character-driven and have turned into a series. For instance, the very first blog post I ever wrote was called
Have You Met Katy Duck? It introduced readers to a dancing duck named Katy who has appeared in board books, a picture book, and most recently an easy reader. Katy seems to be dancing so much that I should probably find out what she's been up to and write another post about her soon. But until then...
All of this has me thinking that it would be fun to develop an informal blog series to introduce more picture book characters who dance. I don't think it will be a regular series, but as the muse hits me and as I learn more about other characters, I'll add to the series.
Are there any characters you think I should highlight? I already have a few in mind, but I'm sure there are more that I don't know about yet. I'd love to hear your thoughts!
That's a great idea, Kerry. As usual the mind is blank though.
Hi, Catherine. Glad you like the idea! My mind is blank much more of the time than I would like it to be these days, so no worries! Thanks for the support :)
Sounds like a really cool feature. Can't wait to read it! :)
Thanks, Maria!