Carol Crawford Smith is the first changemaker representing the arts in this series that celebrates the work and lives of changemakers through the lens of our framework “Homegrown Solutions for a Patchwork World”.  You’ll remember that I interviewed her amazing son, Garland Smith, founder of the Omushana Company, a few weeks back.   When you read Carol’s story, you’ll fully understand where Garland got his ability to live his life to the fullest with purpose and grace.   Watch the video of our conversation, listen to the podcast, and read the summary below  to learn about Carol’s work as a dancer, a teacher and a writer who continues to inspire everyone she meets with her wisdom and resilience.


































Homegrown CarolCarol was born in Albany, New York, and raised in Poughkeepsie a couple of hours north of New York City.  Her maternal side of the family included the Jeffersons and Springsteins of New York while her father's family, the Bryants and Crawfords, hailed from Florida. She became a dance artist and performer at a young age. In 1978, she auditioned and was accepted to a  summer program with the Dance Theater of Harlem.  Her professional dance career began very soon  thereafter when she was invited to join the company by cofounder Arthur Mitchell himself.























As a professional ballet dancer with the Dance Theater of Harlem, Carol traveled and danced all over the world for more than 10 years. 




























Solution Focused CarolCarol began experiencing symptoms during her dance career that turned out to be early indications of multiple sclerosis (MS). 



































The solution that I had to deal with personally was how I could dance and continue to teach.
















She moved to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg Virginia and founded the Center of Dance in 1994.   Though she gradually lost the function of her legs and her own ability to dance, she never lost her passion or her mental capacity to teach. 
















I continued to teach on and operate the dance studio and teach the ballet classes that were very much a part of my curriculum.