A dancer who became paralyzed finds balance between hope and acceptance

All of the ways by which Kelsey Peterson defined herself crumbled the moment she decided to dive into Lake Superior.

At the time, Peterson was a 27-year-old dancer and yoga teacher who regarded herself as sexy, sensual, confident and strong.

“My whole life, for so long, was about what I could do with my body,” Peterson told me. “One split second takes all that away.”

Peterson, who grew up in the Twin Cities and along Bay Lake in Crow Wing County, had been boating with friends on the July 4th holiday in 2012 near Madeline Island in Wisconsin. She was literally intoxicated — and intoxicated with the still water beckoning her to jump. She dove into a shallow part, hitting the sand 3 feet below and breaking her neck in three places. The injury left her paralyzed from the chest down.

Her journey as she travels from a place of hope for a total cure toward a more balanced state of self-acceptance is the heart of “Move Me,” a new documentary Peterson co-directed with Daniel Klein. The movie is being shown this month at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival.

Read more @ https://www.startribune.com/yuen-a-dancer-who-became-paralyzed-finds-balance-between-hope-and-acceptance/600173255/