Unveiling Hidden Truths: A Riveting Journey Through Michelle Herman’s If You Say So
In “On Balance,” Herman remembers a cherished childhood dance teacher who encouraged the children to be confident and expressive — “Telling us to take up space. To be joyful, to be bold.” That’s exactly what she does on the page in these essays.
In each of these essays, Herman fights against loneliness. Her daughter has moved away, she’s processing the death of her father, and living through the COVID pandemic. She writes about how dance gave her a purpose and a new place in the world:
“As the dance takes shape, it gives shape to our lives, too. Seeing one another twice a week, even as small squares on our computer screens, going through Russ’s familiar warmup, step-touch through shaking every part of ourselves, then settling in to review everything we have so far, then leaning in to the screen to watch as Russ shows us the new movement he has worked out since our last rehearsal, then trying it ourselves as he talks us through it—this is something we can count on when there is so little else that can be counted on. I feel anchored by this project. I feel as if, without it, I would float off into space.”
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