It was not supposed to happen. The tottering metal fence should have held still while Cheryl Ale clambered on top. Instead, it fell, hit her left leg, and pinned her to the ground. She screamed in panic as the pain hit her. Her mother came running out of the house and drove at the best speed she could muster to the nearest hospital.
The doctor encased her leg in a cast from hip to ankle. She did not know it then but it was to be the event that would change her life.
The accident left Cheryl with a bowed and deformed leg. Her mother, concerned that it would affect the quality of her life, actively looked for ways to bring her daughter’s leg functions back to normal. After a change of residence, she came up with the idea to bring Cheryl to a therapeutic ballet studio located some 30 miles away. The journey and the four to six-hour lessons every week thereafter worked wonders. Not only did Cheryl’s leg become stronger, but she also developed a life-long passion for ballet. When Cheryl did a solo on Swanhilda in Coppelia at the age of 16, her mother knew that she had made the right call.
The irony was not lost on Cheryl. She became a dancer because of her broken leg. Ballet not only led to the complete healing and restoration of her damaged leg and corrected her postural flaws, but it also set her down on a path less traveled- that of ballet and dance teaching. She met a one-of-a-kind teacher in Ruth Petrinovic whose inspiration enabled her to put together the Revolutionary Principles of Movement (RPM). It would become the foundation of teaching ballet and dance the right way preventing any possible injury to the trainee.
The Revolutionary Principles of Movement (RPM) is the way forward for ballet and dance students and teachers to have long careers either as dancers or instructor. Adhering to the RPM is Cheryl Ale’s contribution to the revolutionary wind of change that is sweeping ballet in America.
Like Cheryl, we invite you to join the revolution for the better tomorrow of American children who are taken in by the charms of ballet.
Cheryl Ale The Spark 