SHE KEPT DANCING

How Mesher became Radio City’s first visibly disabled dancer.

Sydney was born with just five fingers, but her 10 toes caught her mother’s eye first: Sydney, she declared, would be a dancer. Confirming Mom’s prediction, Sydney was “twirling, swaying, and leaping” before she could crawl. When young Sydney entered dance class, however, some kids called her a monster. Fortunately, Sydney heeded Mom’s advice: “Keep dancing.” In college, she became one of the first female backup dancers for K-pop group BTS. A broken foot made her stumble but was fortunately only “intermission”; she obtained a dance degree and landed modeling gigs, hoping to encourage others like her. Her biggest dream, though, was to be a Radio City Rockette in New York City. Despite several rejections, she tried “one / more / time”…and became the first Rockette with a visible disability. Both text and illustrations eloquently evoke dancing’s expressive capacity. Sydney’s sadness is “a slow dance with many turns and sweeping gestures”; after she realizes that not wearing a prosthetic hand feels more natural, her self-confidence becomes “a wild freestyle number.” Quek’s fluid cartoon illustrations use space and perspective to emphasize Sydney’s emotions. Aspiring dancers will especially enjoy her journey, and readers with limb differences will find reassurance that their bodies, too, are “worth celebrating.” Sydney presents white; background characters are racially diverse.

Affirming and uplifting.