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Rozanne's Photo Gallery

In the beginning: Wizard of Oz, Portland OR I was a strawberry and sis was the Cowardly Lion.
Left: Most embarrassing photo ever taken of me. Check the turn-out or lack of it! People often comment to me that so and so does not have a ballet dancer's body. Here's proof that a person is not born with a ballet dancer's body. The body develops from taking ballet classes.	Right: My family referred to this show as my first and my sister's last. Sis went on to marry, have 5 kids, and then returned to the dance arena. For the last few decades she has been an active performer and belly dance teacher.

First pair Pointe shoes after 5yrs of ballet. Starting young means a long wait to get old enough for pointes.

First thought when announced that I was to be, The Littlest Mermaid, was "How do you dance without legs?" My teacher must not have known for she told me to choreograph my own dance. Mom worked hard to create a costume that had no feet yet allowed some movement. Still, it was the most impossible costume to dance in.

Miss Renoux's up-side-down dance was another difficult costume to dance in, but it was fun. I couldn't see that well, but I could kick!

I often took ballet classes from two or more teachers at the same time, especially in the summers (often taking 20 hrs per week.) I learned from them all. From the good teachers I learned what to do and from the bad ones I learned not to do. After 3 months at Schumacher's, I told my mother I wanted to change teachers again. Mom was frustrated as the list of teachers that I had not taken from was getting short. Mom thought I was changing teachers because she was picking them. Not true. I was looking for something. Schumacher was an extremely good teacher, but her style was allegro and her classes crowded. Very little space or time for flight.

Mom sent me to observe a class at The Ballet House without her and told me to lie about my age. When Maria Dare asked how old I was, I told her I was 13 when I was actually 12 (as if 1 year would have made a difference.) I asked Maria if she did a lot of performances. Maria said "Not much." I said "Good!" While I have always enjoyed performing, I have disliked the amount of time it robs from the class. I wanted to spend my time seeing if I could turn faster, jump higher, not repeating the same thing over and over and over. When I returned home, I told Mom I wanted to take from Maria. Mom said, "How long this time?" I replied, "She has something I want and I will take from her until I get it." At the time, I was thinking a couple years. As it turned out, it took me decades to get it.

In class at the barre at The Ballet House
My all time favorite photo of me.

The Class: My therapist, my minister, my mocker, my jokester, my challenger, where all that matters is one nagging question. Will I survive to see the end of this class?

North Carolina

A year of fun, Touring the East Coast with the Green Grass Cloggers - I never dreamed that the way to get a good review in the New York Times was to move to Greenville NC and join a clogging troupe.

Above: One of many events with clients at work, often followed by teaching wheelchair square dancing. These were too short breaks from my desk work.

Left: My 200lb Canary Costume invented for "Spring Happyning" in downtown Greenville NC, Promoting awareness and needs of persons with physical disabilities. My husband was proud to be seen with me at this event and escorted me about, but refused to be seen with me in the car driving to and from the event. (I have yet to figure that one out.)

Return to Oregon

I relocated in Seaside Oregon. Even though I had been teaching and taking ballet classes in North Carolina, and snatching classes from Maria on every vacation, it had not been enough. I returned to taking classes from The Ballet House, feeling old and over the hill. Maria snapped me out of that down hill slide and before I knew it, she had me flying again. Then she said, "Teach." So I did.