Third Girl from the Left

by Christine Barker

A female’s life is much too complicated and nuanced to be divided in such a binary way. We survive by making compromises, blending who we are professionally with parents, boyfriends, husbands, and children because for us, all life is a constant negotiation and a feat of logistics.

Dancers aren’t a rare breed of female; they’re just like every other professional female who’s looking in the mirror. Most all women who invite others into their lives are acrobats flying from one platform to another. It’s just the gooey power of being female that makes it look natural when it’s NOT natural at all. It is not natural for us to be asked to live in the world as halfpeople, often having to put the many authentic aspects of our selves aside.