welcome, dear ones.  this is my first foray into the world of blogging, so i hope you will be kind and overlook my many technological failings as i attempt to navigate this strange new world.

i write with the hope that my many wonderful supporters can be kept abreast of my work in india, and those who don’t can learn of it.  to sum up, i am leaving my life as a ballet teacher in mendocino, california, to practice dance therapy red light districts of bihar, one of the most impoverished states in india.  i will be working for an organization called apne aap (www.apneaap.org), teaching girls aged 9-16, and helping them to reclaim their bodies, and ultimately their sexualities, as their own.

i am terrified.  not of moving, or of living or being there, but of facing the reality of unspeakable horrors against women and children, against humanity.  just seeing a dead butterfly sends me into sadness, and now i will be every moment with young women who have experienced hells i can scarcely imagine.  i am hopeful that dance, as a universal language (the young women speak no english, and my hindi is… well… lacking…) can be used for healing and self-love, and that through that i may do good work in the world.