Peoplescape: Savor the Last Dance

Editor's note: This story originally appeared in the News & Messenger on June 28, 2009.

Lisa Flannery prides herself on being "the sauce." The 33-year-old nurse and dance instructor said "the sauce" is the most important part of dancing; it's how she feels while doing it, and it's kept her going despite hurdles life has thrown her way.

To explain sauce, she asks her students about their favorite part of chicken tenders.

"They will say barbecue or honey mustard, so I remind them that they love the meal not because of the chicken but because of the sauce," she said. "A beloved dance teacher used to say that chicken was the dance, but showmanship and enthusiasm was the sauce. So my students understand when they hear me saying 'I want to see more sauce!' "

Flannery began dancing at age 5, professionally by the time she was in high school. While in college at the University of Kentucky, she became president of her dance ensemble, and eventually started a dance club at James Madison University, where she studied speech language pathology and audiology.

"I wanted to go to Gallaudet [University] and be a translator," says Lisa, but an illness during her senior year of college led her down a different path.

"After being in and out of hospitals, I decided that I wanted to be a nurse," Flannery said.

She taught dance several times a week to alleviate the cost of nursing school. And when she moved to Manassas in 2003 for work, she said dancing was a welcome emotional release after a difficult day.

"Dance melts away whatever is bothering me," she said.

Flannery, a full-time critical care nurse at Fairfax Hospital, spends her only day off work escaping through dance as an instructor at Virginia Dance Center.

She said she has a special connection to her adult class.

Her adult jazz students range from newbies to seasoned professionals, who also look forward to the weekly release.

"It used to be that dance class was a little dorky, but now with 'Dancing with the Stars' and other publicity, it's cool to salsa. And swing is also big," Flannery said.

She said enjoys seeing her young students' self-esteem blossom.

"I love the look on the kids' faces as they see progression," Flannery said. "They are not allowed to use the word 'can't' in my classes," she continues. "They can say that something is 'hard to do,' but never 'can't.' "

She has her reasons.

In August 2006, a few years into her nursing career, she experienced vision problems after riding a roller coaster.

With no other typical symptoms, doctors found a tumor the size of a fist at the base of her brain. It was removed in November 2006.

She said she awoke from surgery paralyzed on the left side of her face and with damaged vocal cords.

Flannery still speaks softly despite undergoing surgery to repair her vocal cords in June 2007.

"It's funny that I had use for my experience in speech pathology,"

Her nursing and speech experience allowed her to progress through physical therapy as quickly and inexpensively as possible.

By February 2007, Flannery returned to nursing and dancing.

"Each day, I was able to do a little more," she said.

She shares that theme with many frustrated students.

"Some dancers want to start out and know how to do everything perfectly. I remind them that you can't go from A to Z in a day. You have to do A, then B, then C and so on," Flannery said. "I always emphasize to the students how much they have grown. I remind them that 'In September, you could only do this, and now you can do all of this.' "

Although Flannery is experienced in many dance types, she said tap dancing is her favorite and she jokes that neither tumors nor age will hinder her.

"I was also never the smallest or the best dancer, but I was always the one in the front, because of my attitude," Flannery said with the same positivity she shares with her students.

"Regardless of how they dance," she said, "it just matters how they feel. I remind the students that their parents and teachers are proud of them no matter what."

True to her "A to Z" philosophy, she said she takes one day at a time, and is grateful for the continued ability to dance.

And even if she loses her agility one day, Flannery said she hopes to always dance with "sauce."

Shannyn Snyder can be reached at shannyn@jeff-snyder.com.