Dancing After Ten: A Graphic Memoir

Plot

In late 2004, Vivian Chong’s life was changed forever when a rare skin disorder, TEN (Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis), left her with scar tissue that left her without sight. In the wake of this traumatizing experience, Chong was forced to learn a new way of being in the world. She not only survived but thrived, forging a new identity and discovering anew how to express herself creatively.

In Dancing After TEN, Chong teams up with cartoonist Georgia Webber — whose own autobiographical graphic novel eloquently depicts her own struggles with disability — to tell her journey out of the darkness and into the spotlight. This extraordinary journey, rendered with rare sensitivity and rawness, takes her from the depths of despair to the realm of possibility, as she realizes her artistic vision in a variety of expressions — including singing, stand-up, drumming, running, and dance. Releasing simultaneously with the Toronto debut of Chong’s dance-theatre production "Dancing with the Universe," this graphic novel is an inspirational tale and a powerful work of graphic medicine.