Shadow Dancing

Emma Kate Thomas, a seventeen-year-old ballerina from a small midwestern conservatory, leaves her parents and partner behind when a world-famous director entices her to New York. But her imagined waltz to centerstage turns tango as soon as she arrives. Three male mentors vie to become her partner each exacting his price and she forges a family of immigrant women to prop her sagging spirit. As stagelight strikes, Emma Kate sees her shadow, recalls the defining moment of her childhood buried under the patchwork of her parents' love, and rediscovers the "dance" she'd learned in the heartland. Shadow Dancing vividly captures the world of ballet as seen from a young aspirant's eye.

NANCY PINARD danced with the Dayton Ballet Company and studied in New York at the studio of a national company. She has an MFA from Queens University and has taught creative writing at Sinclair Community College. Recently she founded The Intentional Muse, a writing workshop designed to help participants further their craft. She serves as a trustee of the Antioch Writers Workshop.