"Still Dancing in Her Dreams." That was the title, and so I read, unprepared, this story about Liu Yan, 26, who was paralyzed in an accident just prior to the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. According to New York Times reporter David Barboza, Ms. Liu had been China's leading classical dancer, a woman of such extraordinary grace, extension, and soul that she had earned the only solo performance in the extravagant, theatrical Zhang Yimou show. It was to last six minutes. It was to have been called "Silk Road." She was rehearsing before 10,000 when, in Barboza's words, "she leapt toward a moving stage that malfunctioned, causing her to fall into a deep shaft and crash against a steel rod."
She woke in a hospital, with no use of her legs, her story unknown. She was asked not to speak of her fate; her family and witnesses were silenced, too. It would distract, officials felt, from the opening ceremonies, which she watched on a TV, in her hospital room.
Her arms still open to the wind. Her legs don't move.
I had been to Chanticleer, hours before, with a friend. We had seen a vase, its rooted limbs upreaching. We had spoken of its beauty, and I had thought of a dancer then—seen a dancer in the arcing, budded shafts. Now Liu Yan in my mind is that dancer—still a dancer, always a dancer, tragically caged now, as a dancer. These are the stories one cannot look past. The stories one can't fix, or mend.
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Blog: Beth Kephart Books (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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The First Tortilla: A Bilingual Story
Author: Rudolfo Anaya
Illustrator: Amy Cordova
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
ISBN-10: 0826342140
Rudolfo Anaya, author of one of my all-time favorite books, Bless Me Ultima has written a magical and lovely folktale about the origins of that of us Mexicanos/Chicanos, the delicious tortilla. The First Tortilla is the story of Jade, an indigenous girl that lives in a small village near a volcano. Her village has been suffering through a drought and all their squash and bean plants are dying. Jade prays to the Mountain Spirit to bring rain so that the precious plants will live and her village won’t go hungry.
As Jade works in the garden, a blue hummingbird brings a message to go find the Mountain Spirit and ask for rain. Without a question for her safety Jade sets off, braving the volcano and follows the hummingbird to the very top where she meets the Mountain Spirit. She offers the spirit food made by her own hand and he is so pleased with it that he gives her the gift of corn which the ants have in a cave.
Jade tastes the corn and finds it to be sweet and delicious. She takes it back to the village and plants it. As the prayed for rain comes, the corn grows alongside beans, squash and chiles. Jade grinds the harvested dried corn, adds water and makes masa. She puts it on a comal or griddle and the smell soon permeates the village. Her parents taste it and find the corn tortilla to be wonderful. Soon Jade is teaching everyone how to make the tortillas and the people have a new staple.
I loved this story. It has elements of old Aztec legends like the ants in the cave with the corn. It gives a feel to how important water was and is to people. It tells how water was so important that people would move from a village if there was no rain. Children will get a sense of the importance of the tortilla as a staple.
Amy Cordova’s rich and colorful illustrations give a beautiful insight into the village life. Her depictions of those beautiful indigenous faces are just amazing and give children a sense of how they lived and dressed.
I loved how the hummingbird, such an important figure in Aztec mythology was incorporate into the tale. This book is bilingual and the translation by Enrique R. Lamadrid is smooth and almost effortless. The book is recommended for ages 9-12 but I think children of pre-school age will love this book just as much. The bright colors and stunning illustrations are sure to capture their eyes and interest as much as the story read to them will capture their imagination and heart. Highly recommended.
Book Description from the publisher:
The First Tortilla is a moving, bilingual story of courage and discovery. A small Mexican village is near starvation. There is no rain, and the bean and squash plants are dying.
Jade, a young village girl, is told by a blue hummingbird to take a gift to the Mountain Spirit. Then it will send the needed rain.
Burning lava threatens her, but Jade reaches the top of the volcano. The Mountain Spirit is pleased. It allows the ants in a nearby cave to share their corn with Jade. The corn was sweet and delicious and Jade took some back to save the village.
Jade grinds the dry corn, adds water, and makes dough. She pats the masa and places it on hot stones near the fire. She has made the first tortilla. Soon the making of corn tortillas spreads throughout Mexico and beyond.
Reading level: grade 3 and up
The story of a young Mexican girl who saves her village by making the first tortilla with the help of the Mountain Spirit.
About the Author
Rudolfo Anaya, widely acclaimed as one of the founders of modern Chicano literature, is professor emeritus of English at the University of New Mexico. Anaya was presented with the National Medal of Arts for literature in 2001 and his novel Alburquerque (the city's original Spanish spelling) won the PEN Center West Award for Fiction. He is best known for the classic Bless Me Ultima. Amy Córdova is an instructor for the Taos Institute of Arts, Taos, New Mexico. She wrote and illustrated Abuelita’s Heart. Enrique R. Lamadrid is professor of Spanish folklore and literature at the University of New Mexico. In 2005, he was awarded the Americo Paredes Prize by the American Folklore Society in recognition of his work as a cultural activist.
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Here is my Illustration Friday piece for I Spy. I spy hummingbird babies in a nest.
That is really is a tragic story. Wow.
Beautiful photo. Such a sad story. Sadder because of the silencing.
That is so sad. I can't imagine what she must have felt.
What a sad and tragic story.
How horrifying; I can't even begin to imagine.
What a tragic story. I cannot imagine the horror of this for a dancer.
But we can hope, like she is. We can be glad for the grit she's showing - not taking the doctors words as established fact to which she bases the rest of her life.
Her story's not over.
I hated so much that this dancer, in addition to experiencing so much anguish from injury, was forced into a silence. May the world rally to her now.
And yes, Sherry: Always hope.
So unbelievably heartbreaking ...
Oh, how awful! That's terrible -- it breaks my heart to read it.
Beth, yes -being forced into silence, being pushed aside makes it all the worse. We still haven't figured out that the poor of health and financially poor should be attended to in honor and respect. The poor, those in need, are still outcasts or, at the very least, forgotten.