Acknowledgments

I deeply appreciate the support of the following people and organizations: Thompson Rivers University (formerly University College of the Cariboo) gave me a two-year Writer-in-Residence position during which I completed the first draft of this novel. Thanks especially to George Johnson. Carolyn Allen, my Ph.D. dissertation advisor, needed a house-sitter when I needed a place to write. My classmates in Lisa Moore’s fiction workshop, part of the University of British Columbia’s Booming Ground program, were the first to hear me read aloud from the manuscript, and I’m very grateful for their positive reactions. Later on, Booming Ground’s Mentorship program allowed me to rework the entire manuscript with Gayle Friesen, and she gave me invaluable guidance and encouragement. Susan Juby was an inspiration in her role as Writer-in-Residence at the Greater Victoria Public Library, and she set me back on course at a crucial stage in the process. Professional Development Funds from Thompson Rivers University, Open Learning allowed for a retreat to Hornby Island, where I completed final revisions on the book. Thanks to Alison Kooistra who, with insight and grace, made the editing process a joyful collaboration.

I would like to express heartfelt thanks, as well, to all the dance teachers and choreographers I have worked with or admired over the years. To name a few: Wendy Green, Maureen Eastick, Lynda Raino, Connie Cooke, David Earle, Lori Hamar, Hannah Wiley, Shannon Hobbs, Crystal Pite, Andrea Nann, Nicole McSkimming, Ali Denham, Joanne Winstanley. And my deepest gratitude to all the women with whom I’ve shared a passion for dance and who became dear friends, like Sue Lundgren McDonald, Melissa Walter, Ruth Kampen, Aletha Banner-Ennis, Lucinda Johnston Lawrence, Courtney Ryan, Christine Schieberle, and Jane Griffith. Dance is the only activity I’ve found that provides—all at once—a physical, artistic, social, and spiritual outlet, and I’m grateful for the communities that gather to practice and celebrate it in all its myriad forms.