A dose of inspiration.

Thank you for the amazing letter in your June issue from Tara Gardner, who found the magazine helped her with autism. Like her, dancing has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. I have severe asthma that frequently flares. I've been unable to exercise or even attempt a plie for more than a month because I cannot breath well enough to walk, let alone dance. This happens at least once a year. Tara said she cut out pictures from the magazine and put them on her wall. Well,

I cut out her letter and put it on my wall.

Barbara Proulx

Detroit, MI

I'm moved to write this after reading Paloma McGregor's June "Why I Dance." It has always seemed to me that there is only one answer: I dance because I have to. But Ms. McGregor has said that in a better way--less desperate and more joyful. What she knows is that "Your greatest love will never let you go." By profession I am no longer a dancer, but an attorney. There are few opportunities in Indianapolis for an adult jazz dancer. So I return to NYC a couple times a year to take class at Steps, where, years ago, I was on scholarship.

Nearly 20 years later, I find I am a better dancer because I know so much more. I know that perfect happiness can be found in jazz class. For me it happened once in L.A., in Doug Caldwell's class, with the music so loud that I couldn't hear myself speak and the sun streaming in through the open doors and windows. And it's happened several times at Steps, where I could look out the window and see Broadway snaking downtown towards the theater district. At these times, miraculously, what I wanted my body to do merged with what it actually did, and I felt free and strong!

Jenny Shoup

Indianapolis, IN