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Butterfly Dance

by Sabra Kiani

255 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #04-2549; ISBN 1-4120-4741-2; US$23.00, C$26.88, EUR19.00, £13.00

How does a young girl, who hears but cannot speak, end up as the director, choreographer and premiere danseur of a world famous school and dance company for (believe it or not) deaf and mute dancers? Lynette Barker managed this in spite of a mother who denied her existence and a father who only took care of his 'delicate' wife.

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About the Book About the Author Excerpts Catalogue Information

About the Book

How does a young woman, who hears but cannot speak, end up as the director, choreographer, and premiere danseuse for a world famous school and dance company for (believe it or not) deaf and mute dancers?

Our heroine, Lynette Barker, is blessed with parents who are wealthy, successful actors, a fine home and servants. Unfortunately, when she is found to be mute, her mother denies her existence and her father sees her as "broken" and, blind to her needs, leaves her in the care of the servants.

It was left to Lynette to find her own way and, with the loving support of the housekeeper, and butler, and two deaf friends whom she had found signing in the park, she was able to enter a school for the deaf and begin to joyfully live and learn as she had always wished.

Lynette's father, Belton Barker, a renowned actor, busied himself with his career and his wife and not only never saw what was going on in his daughter's life, but managed to continually block her from doing what she needed to do.

The ongoing struggle is devastating for Lynette and the last battle with her father - and her mother who tries to kill her - leaves her in the hospital in full pscyhologist retreat. Her father, finally realizing his culpability and fearful for her life, finally listens to the servants, teachers, and friends, who have kept a round-the-clock vigil at the hospital and begins to see who his daughter really is - a whole, quite wonderful person - and plans to help her develop the life she wants. Lynette is so angry with him that she will not accept anything from him directly but he remembers that at the sound of any music Lynette has danced since she could walk so he arranges for a young woman, who has found a way to teach the deaf to dance, to teach in Lynette's school and thus begins her career.

Lynette finally discovers that it was her father who made all this possible for her and they become reconciled.

Having found a way to do what she loves most, Lynette trains hard and learns to be a dancer and choreographer and finally, along with her two friends, Dan as Business Manager (and later husband), and Elsie as costumer, opens a school of dance and a dance company for deaf and mute dancers.

With the addition of other dancers and teachers, the school/dance company becomes an unprecedented success and because of their unusual focus and teaching methods they become internationally known. Where they go from here is an open question.

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About the Author

Sabra Kiani, mother of five, grandmother of fourteen and great-grandmother of four, at the age of 72, has finally had the time to complete her first novel. It has taken ten years to squeeze in the writing and edits between teaching exam prep High School English, adult reading, Moral Education in local High Schools, Drama, and writing, and putting on an occasional play. She also set up, runs and maintains a free library with over 1000 members and last but not least services as Chairman of the Spiritual Assembly of her Baha'i community in Guyana, South Africa.

Mrs. Kiani and her husband arrived in Guyana in 1002 as Baha'i volunteers. She soon had a job as assistant to the Director of the National TV station and wrote and produced children's programs and documentaries. She left the TV world to do private video work with her husband for UNICEF and other NGOs. In a school for handicapped children she carried out an experimental program teaching deaf children to act and perform a play which included dancing, and finally 'retired' to do volunteer work full time

In San Francisco, before leaving for Guyana, Sabra trained as an actress, performing in, writing, and directing a number of plays. She also writes children's books and hopes to have some out soon. She was on the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Playwrights group until she left the country.

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Excerpts

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Catalogue Information

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