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Dancing with My Father
Leif Anderson's Dancing with My Father is both a loving tribute to her unusual and famous father, Mississippi artist Walter Anderson, and an honest look at the effects he has had upon her personal life and her artistry. Due to Walter Anderson's erratic behavior and recurring absences, Leif Anderson experienced a difficult childhood. Never comfortable with home and fatherhood, Walter Anderson often affected family life as an alien and fearful force. Through her lyrical vignettes, Leif Anderson gradually comes to accept and, in the end, to cherish the artist's intense presence and his influence on her dance and her performance art. The slices of life in Dancing with My Father describe encounters both awkward and endearing, express a daughter's frustrated longing for a father's attention, and give insight into Walter Anderson's struggles. Leif Anderson reveals how her burdens-the urge to abandon the "normal" world and the tug of familial expectations-closely match those of Walter Anderson and how this realization helps her to comprehend him. In one vignette, she tells vividly of his solitary dancing. In another, she recounts her mother's story of Walter Anderson dancing with infant Leif in his arms. Leif Anderson reflects upon her father's love for birds and sees her talent as a way of representing those very birds. She begins to sympathize with his frequent escapes to Horn Island, knowing her own need for a haven that nurtures solitude and artistic expression. Many previously unrevealed glimpses of Walter Anderson as artist, naturalist, husband, and father are offered throughout the book. In his foreword Christopher Maurer, Walter Anderson's biographer, puts the relationship in context. Brush and ink drawings by both Walter Anderson and Leif Anderson draw the eye further into the author's vision of making peace with a paternal legacy of brilliance and pain. Dancing with My Father grapples wisely and firmly with two artists' lives and is a poignant portrayal of forgiveness, acceptance, and reconciliation for both daughter and father.
Leif Anderson's Dancing with My Father is both a loving tribute to her unusual and famous father, Mississippi artist Walter Anderson, and an honest look at the effects he has had upon her personal life and her artistry. Due to Walter Anderson's erratic behavior and recurring absences, Leif Anderson experienced a difficult childhood. Never comfortable with home and fatherhood, Walter Anderson often affected family life as an alien and fearful force. Through her lyrical vignettes, Leif Anderson gradually comes to accept and, in the end, to cherish the artist's intense presence and his influence on her dance and her performance art. The slices of life in Dancing with My Father describe encounters both awkward and endearing, express a daughter's frustrated longing for a father's attention, and give insight into Walter Anderson's struggles. Leif Anderson reveals how her burdens-the urge to abandon the "normal" world and the tug of familial expectations-closely match those of Walter Anderson and how this realization helps her to comprehend him. In one vignette, she tells vividly of his solitary dancing. In another, she recounts her mother's story of Walter Anderson dancing with infant Leif in his arms. Leif Anderson reflects upon her father's love for birds and sees her talent as a way of representing those very birds. She begins to sympathize with his frequent escapes to Horn Island, knowing her own need for a haven that nurtures solitude and artistic expression. Many previously unrevealed glimpses of Walter Anderson as artist, naturalist, husband, and father are offered throughout the book. In his foreword Christopher Maurer, Walter Anderson's biographer, puts the relationship in context. Brush and ink drawings by both Walter Anderson and Leif Anderson draw the eye further into the author's vision of making peace with a paternal legacy of brilliance and pain. Dancing with My Father grapples wisely and firmly with two artists' lives and is a poignant portrayal of forgiveness, acceptance, and reconciliation for both daughter and father.
Leif Anderson's Dancing with My Father is both a loving tribute to her unusual and famous father, Mississippi artist Walter Anderson, and an honest look at the effects he has had upon her personal life and her artistry. Due to Walter Anderson's erratic behavior and recurring absences, Leif Anderson experienced a difficult childhood. Never comfortable with home and fatherhood, Walter Anderson often affected family life as an alien and fearful force. Through her lyrical vignettes, Leif Anderson gradually comes to accept and, in the end, to cherish the artist's intense presence and his influence on her dance and her performance art. The slices of life in Dancing with My Father describe encounters both awkward and endearing, express a daughter's frustrated longing for a father's attention, and give insight into Walter Anderson's struggles. Leif Anderson reveals how her burdens-the urge to abandon the "normal" world and the tug of familial expectations-closely match those of Walter Anderson and how this realization helps her to comprehend him. In one vignette, she tells vividly of his solitary dancing. In another, she recounts her mother's story of Walter Anderson dancing with infant Leif in his arms. Leif Anderson reflects upon her father's love for birds and sees her talent as a way of representing those very birds. She begins to sympathize with his frequent escapes to Horn Island, knowing her own need for a haven that nurtures solitude and artistic expression. Many previously unrevealed glimpses of Walter Anderson as artist, naturalist, husband, and father are offered throughout the book. In his foreword Christopher Maurer, Walter Anderson's biographer, puts the relationship in context. Brush and ink drawings by both Walter Anderson and Leif Anderson draw the eye further into the author's vision of making peace with a paternal legacy of brilliance and pain. Dancing with My Father grapples wisely and firmly with two artists' lives and is a poignant portrayal of forgiveness, acceptance, and reconciliation for both daughter and father.
128 pages, Hardcover
First published March 31, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 4, 2023
Having recently revisited the museum dedicated to her father’s art, and participated in a tour with friends, I purchased Walter Anderson’s daughter Leif’s book in the gift shop. As a poet, I relate to her prose writing style, the kind you savor. Her images of longing to know her father on an artistic yet familial level, all dance within the text. My heart is deeply touched, from having had a complex father who could be both explosive and abusive, and at other times, warm and intellectual.
The drawings chosen to begin each short piece are extraordinary in their symbolism. I recommend both the museum tour and the documentary “Walter Anderson: Realizations of an Artist” before reading Leif’s memoir.
The drawings chosen to begin each short piece are extraordinary in their symbolism. I recommend both the museum tour and the documentary “Walter Anderson: Realizations of an Artist” before reading Leif’s memoir.
December 22, 2025
Snuck in one more read to round out 2025. after exploring a lot of Walter Anderson’s art in the past 8 months, reading his daughter’s perspective of his estranged life is eye opening. she has a unique way of sharing memories that are more in the form of poetry than stories. a light read, yet so warm and loving. she is longing for connection with her father, and it is evident. his art connects a lot of us, and i find it fascinating that she connects with the viewers by relating to their connection to the artist through his art, not a personal connection. we’re lucky to have his art in this world!!! recommend this to anyone looking to get a better idea of what’s behind the curtains :)
July 15, 2018
Both the author's story and the sketches included in the book give this book several viewpoints for considering artists and their lives, the toll mental health problems takes on individuals and their families and the effect of parents on all of us, for better or worse. The book adds more insight into the life of Walter Anderson and describes the author's path in trying to come to terms with the man her father was.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews