A Dance with Baryshnikov

The legacy of Miami’s most inspirational dance teacher, Miss Gerri

A portrait of Miss Gerri in Dancer’s Point’s first recital program, Over The Rainbow

My mom cleaned out her storage unit and found an old box I thought lost with old photographs, unsent letters, an address book, and parts of my angel collection from my college years, mostly gifted to me by my own Guardian Angelina, all wrapped in the Miami Herald Newspaper Cultural Arts section from February 2000.

As I unwrap my angels, one printed news story catches my attention. The article announced that Baryshnikov’s new company, White Oak Dance Project, was headed to Boca Raton for a performance. Wow! Of all the stories that I could have unwrapped with my angels, how peculiar it was one with which I had a personal connection. I will explain but not before first explaining how.

Miami Herald Newspaper from February 2000 featuring Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project

I was taught to dance before I walked. I was born the only daughter to a Dance Mom trainee. She filled in for two working moms whose daughters attended preschool with my brothers. My mother loved dancing and volunteered to drive them from school to the dance studio, with me in toe, eagerly waiting to walk.