If there’s anything Heather Booysen knows through her 22 years as a dance teacher, it’s that every performer experiences stage fright.
Booysen teaches and photographs dancers at SI Dance, LLC in Williamsburg. The Historic Triangle has been her home for the past 11 years with her husband, Louis Boosyen, and two sons, 11-year-old Luca and 7-year-old Hunter.
The 40-year-old dancer wanted to explain this fear in a creative way to her students. A year and a half ago, Booysen thought of the perfect medium: a children’s book.
Copies of her first book, “Marley Takes The Stage,” were in her hands by the end of June.
“It’s just a story about a little girl, Marley, going on stage for the first time with stage fright, and her friends are helping turn that stage fright into excitement,” Booysen said.
While this story focuses on performance anxiety, the newfound author discovered a way to sprinkle in a strong message of inclusivity.
“Each of the characters are different genders, ethnicities, ages, eye colors, hair colors and body types,” she said.
Booysen tucked in a sticker, bookmark and information card inside the front of the hardback.
On the information card, she wanted to give the correct terminology on every disability and difference in each character. For example, one of the dancers has alopecia, an autoimmune disease causing someone to lose hair. Another character has diabetes and dances with her medication pod.
Booysen explained that she wanted to provide the terminology to educate not only the children, but also their parents.
Along with inclusive character choices, she wanted to bring her passion for photography into the mix.
Booysen found her passion for photography in 2010, and opened up her photography business known as Movement In Motion Photography. While she takes regular clients, she also started traveling across America photographing dancers.
Dance Knows No Boundaries, Booysen’s project featured at the end of the book, showcases 39 dancers breaking the stereotype that all dancers look the same.
“I spent time with some students and professional dancers just photographing them,” she said. “In the back of the book, there’s a collection of images showcasing real-life dancers. It has their name, description and social media.”
The first featured dancer in this collection is her 9-year-old student with hearing loss, Evie Gilbert.
“It was so cool to see myself. I thought it was really amazing because of how people were shown to be different. Even if they had a disability, they were still dancing,” Evie said with a smile.
Not only is she photographed, that very picture of her in a cheetah-style dance costume inspired the illustrations for one of Marley’s friends, Camila.
Along with Evie, Hampton Roads dancer Mary Claire Miller joined the project with excitement.
“I love to dance,” Mary said with a huge grin.
Mary is a 20-year-old dancer with Down syndrome. Mary and her mother, Bernadette Miller, were excited for the opportunity.
“We met Heather through Mary’s dance instructor that we’ve been with for the last 12 years, Todd Rosenlieb,” Bernadette said. “He has his studio down in Norfolk.”
Rosenlieb asked the duo if Mary would like to be featured in Booysen’s project.
“Mary always says yes, isn’t that right,” Bernadette said with a laugh and playful nudge. Mary soon nodded her head, beaming.
Some of her favorite styles of dance are hip hop and ballet, and she loves using her passion for dance to spread disability awareness.
“Dance has really helped Mary become empowered, and it brings her disability awareness through dance to the community,” Bernadette said.
Booysen didn’t just stick with local dancers; her lifelong college friend Cesar G. Salinas hopped aboard.
Salinas met the author at SUNY Buffalo, where they both studied dance.
Now, the 38-year-old dancer works professionally as the associate artistic director for Giordano Dance Chicago.
“I, as a Latinx, gay and male dancer, have had so many hits against me,” Salinas said. “Back when I was growing up, even in my college years, people didn’t look at dance as something you could actually have a career in.”
When the books were finally ready, Salinas got a copy immediately.
“I was the first stop. The whole shipment of books arrived at her parents’ house in the suburbs of Chicago, and so she brought her two sons from Virginia up to get them,” he said. “I have so many copies of the book. I bought five more that I’m giving out to people that I think will really love it.”
Books can be purchased for $19.99 through Booysen’s website, danceknowsnoboundaries.com. She also has a Dance Knows No Boundaries Facebook page and Instagram, @danceknowsnoboundaries.
Booysen is overjoyed by all the support she’s receiving.
“It’s been nothing but positive responses so far which has been so great and amazing,” she said. “This book is truly about inclusion and diversity in the dance community. It’s not just disabilities, but the uniqueness of all dancers.”
Her book has even traveled all the way to Europe, and it’s now being used at the Integrated Dance DK in Denmark.
The dancer-turned-author has a book signing and reading coming up on Aug. 27 from 1 p.m. until 2 p.m. at SI Dance.
“If it wasn’t for someone like Heather really taking that stance to push forward, then people like myself would not have these opportunities,” Salinas said.
Abbey Crank, abbey.crank@virginiamedia.com
