dancing in the light

i've always been something of an extremist, so while you might think this mandala, dancing in the light, is a departure from my typical style, it's actually just the other end of the spectrum that resides within me.

i love ballet. as a little girl, i took lessons at madeline walker's school of ballet. i was odd girl out in a mirrored room full of smooth haired buns, pink tights and black leotards. i still remember the excitement of recital nights...the pastel hues of scratchy, stiff, sequined tutus...the intoxicating smell of spray painted ballet slippers mingling with the musty smell of the heavy velvet auditorium curtains. for a few magical hours i was cinderella at the ball.

then, as now, i inhabit a body built for comfort not for speed. but inside of me there lives the long, lithe body of a dancer...a ballerina girl dancing in the light.