Thanks to my friend and long-time blog reader Carla Golden, I found this beautiful clip of two dancers.
According to Carla:
She was a teenage dancer in China, having trained from early childhood, when she lost her left arm in a car accident. Depressed, she turned away from dancing for awhile. But when asked to coach a group of children, she realized her love of dance was still there.
She returned to dancing, finding at first that it was difficult to maintain balance in her turns and spins without her lost limb. But gradually she learned to compensate.
A number of years later, she heard of a young man in his 20’s who had lost his leg. He, too, was going through the roller coaster emotions of denial, depression and anger that she had gone through. Although he had never danced before, she talked him into trying it.
It was a challenge for both of them. They separated several times when the frustration became too great. He had no concept of how to use his muscles or even the most basic dance steps.
Eventually, they broke through their frustrations and went back to training, hiring a choreographer to design routines for them.
After watching it, tell me if what they are lacking in any way detracts from the perfection they demonstrate together. Breathtaking! A good lesson for us all.
In case you don’t see the video on this post, here is the direct link to the YouTube video.
Hi Pam,
Thanks so much for being you. I have been following you since sometime in April or May last year, while I was creating my blog. Now, after the incubation and gestation process I finally am able to contact you to express these long waited feelings. I am so grateful for people like you. It makes me feel I am not so crazy after all…and we are growing. It’s so much fun.
Every thing you write just resonates. You are right there in the center of things. Speaking the voice of so many of us.
My business cards read”Let’s read the perfection in our errors”
Learning to see the light underneath the ashes is just a needed conversation to keep having. Somebody sent me this video by email a while ago. I had your same reaction. Breathtaking balance of soul and body. What a testimony of humanity. Right on target.Thanks for the story. Now THAT is perfection. I couldn’t have said it better myself.I will link your blog to mine. I cant’t wait to share your great work with my friends. Keep it up.
Here is to life
Luz
Wow, so inspiring…
I keep watching it over and over again.
So lovely!
Just an unimportant little detail: It looks like she didn’t lose her left arm, but her right arm.
Thanks a lot for sharing, Pam.
WOW! I studied ballet seriously when I was young (up to high school)and always loved to dance. As a young adult, I never skipped the chance to dance at parties. When my feet became too numb and bad balance sent me to the floor (multiple sclerosis), I stopped dancing. Then I realized I could just do it differently – and keep dancing. Keep dancing, keep working, keep going.
Inspiring and lovely video, as is your writing about it, Pamela. I saw this at YouTube awhile back and thought it would be great to showcase elderly dancers, overweight dancers, dancers with burn scars. “Perfection” isn’t an attainment, it’s a noticing.
Pamela,
Reminds me of something similar that I read recently about Bethany Hamilton, an aspiring pro teenage surfer who lost her arm in a shark attack a few years ago.
She still surfs … and still is working towards going pro too.
Thank you for passing on the video. A moving story and two beautiful dancers…