photo courtesy/Paul Silverman Emily Silverman is shown practicing ballet at Missouri Valley College in a photo taken by her father, Paul Silverman.

The family created the Emily A. Silverman Memorial Fund to raise funds for the recycling of gently-used tap and ballet shoes, dance costumes and practice clothes, and tuition assistance.

"Dance was a safe haven for Emily. It was a place she could go when nothing was going right," her mother, Vicki Silverman, said.

Emily suffered from a variety of health issues, including obsessive-compulsive disorder and eczema. Her days could be frustrating. Dancing provided a vent for the frustration and an outlet for her self-expression, Silverman said.

"There was one dance step called a 'pull-back.' Part of the step involved bringing the heel of the tap shoe down hard. Well, we could tell what kind of day Emily had had by just how hard that heel came down!"

Emily knew total acceptance at Bette Tillotson's Dance Studio, and so did other kids, her mother said. "It didn't matter what kind of day they'd had at school, how smart they were, what they looked like or how graceful they were. That was especially important for Emily."

Emily began studying dance as a small child and performed in her first recital when she was almost 4. "Before we could put her to bed that night, she wanted to look at herself in the mirror, 'just one more time.' She twirled around and said, 'All my life I have wanted to be a ballerina, and now I am.' From then on she was focused on being a dancer, and she never wavered," Silverman recalled.

She tap danced her way through St. Elizabeth Grade School and Notre Dame de Sion High School. Emily attended Park University for a time, transferring to Missouri Valley College in Marshall to study dance.

In her audition interview for the dance program at Missouri Valley College, Emily was asked about her future hopes and dreams.

"She wanted to open her own dance studio. She didn't want it to be for the beautiful long-legged dancers. Emily wanted it to be for everyone, even those who were 'klutzy,' or had no sense of rhythm, were physically or developmentally challenged. But it wasn't to be a form of physical therapy. Emily wanted it to be fun for everyone," Silverman said.

"Emily told the interviewer that even if a person is paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair but could move a finger, they could dance. She (Emily) would create a dance for that finger. Dancing is a way a person can express themselves through music."

In March 2003, Emily was driving on Missouri Highway 65 near Marshall when a coyote ran in front of her car. While trying to avoid hitting the animal, Emily lost control of her car and crashed. She suffered a brain injury and never regained consciousness. She died five days later. Emily was 19 years old.

Emily's brother Cary said the eulogy at her funeral. He spoke of his sister as a very "typical big sister, obnoxious and always wanting to be in the spotlight. Maybe that's why she loved to dance. Now she's in the best spotlight of all, with God's face shining on her. Let's give her a standing ovation."

Vicki Silverman said everyone in the church was on their feet clapping for Emily.

In the weeks after Emily's death, the Silverman family decided they wanted to do something in her memory that would help other young people. Without actually talking about it, Silverman said, both parents and her brother came to the same conclusion.

The Emily A. Silverman Memorial Fund was created.

It took several months to get the details worked out, the paperwork underway and the volunteers lined up, but the fund's first project, Em's Spotlight, is shaping up.

Five high school students have volunteered to teach dancing as an eight-week summer program at the Upper Room of St. Louis Church. The Emily A. Silverman Fund is collecting donations of gently used tap shoes and dance attire for both boys and girls, for kids in the first through third grades, and older children. There will be laundry baskets at local dance studios around the Kansas City area to collect the dance shoes and clothing.

The fund hopes to provide dance scholarships and tuition assistance to students who, because of financial hardships, might otherwise be forced to quit dance lessons. Paul Silverman, Emily's father, said that an anonymous donor is covering all administrative costs, so any donations would benefit children in need.

Paul, Vicki and Cary Silverman hope that Em's Spotlight and the Emily A. Silverman Memorial Fund will help aspiring Shirley Temples and Gregory Hineses.

For further information, call the fund at (816) 363-3204 or e-mail: info@emilyfoundation.org.

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