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Dancing In The Dark In Nashville, Tenn.

Peggy Ivie, right, is a dancer.
Courtesy of Patricia Lefler
Peggy Ivie, right, is a dancer.

I had always dreamed of learning ballroom dancing. But when I lost most of my sight due to retinitis pigmentosa, the dream seemed over.

However, I joined a dance club in Nashville and began taking lessons. My instructor, Patricia Lefler, had never taught dance to a visually impaired person before, but she rose to the challenge.

One day she suggested that we volunteer to teach dancing at the Tennessee School for the Blind. In January, we taught our first group of six.

Learning merengue, waltz and East Coast swing is great exercise and we hope to train others to teach.

Peggy Ivie is a part-time travel agent. She listens to WPLN. It often serves, she says, as "my eyes to the world."

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Peggy Ivie
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