More Like a Partner

Holly Fairbank is my sister-in-law a couple of families over. She's a mother, dancer, choreographer, and professor of aesthetics in New York City. She's also a cancer survivor. One day, she and a friend made this video. At the time, she was in isolation at the bone marrow transplant unit. To me, it makes vivid the possibility of no solos, regardless of circumstance.

Here's an excerpt of Holly's description of that day:

"My friend and collaborator, Linda Mevorach, came to film me dancing in the hallway of the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit I was in. I was attached to this chemo poll 24/7 for over two weeks and had begun to find ways to relate to it more fluidly in my daily routine - more like a partner and less like an inconvenient, clumsy albatross attached to my chest. In fact, it began to dawn on me that this was a necessary union and one that I began to cherish. Nov. 23 was the first time I had danced with any fluency or purpose for over two years. It was a transitional moment. a sunlit hallway where I was transplanted into the future."