Dancing on Coals: A Memoir of an Overperformer

by Cynthia Moore

Overview

An award-winning playwright’s story of her madcap race to find fame or enlightenment—a unique angle on “the heroine’s journey”—that’s perfect for fans of Lori Gottleib’s Maybe You Should Talk to Someone.

In Dancing on Coals, Cynthia Moore describes a multi-decade, harebrained search for love in all the wrong places, starting when her narcissistic mother abandons her to a Swiss finishing school. Devastated by her mother’s betrayal, eleven-year-old Cynthia vows to become acceptable—but to whom?

Seeking approval first as a madcap performance artist and then an as over-functioning therapist, our narrator is finally forced to abandon her competitive, masculine compulsivity for a genuine quest for inner truth. Ultimately, she finds her voice, develops her gifts, and discovers love, but not where she expected to find it.

At times humorous and self-deprecating, at times poignant and heartbreaking, this is the story of one woman’s path from abandonment to wholeness and authenticity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781647428563
Publisher:	She Writes Press
Publication date:	03/25/2025
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Cynthia Moore is an award-winning playwright and performer who wrote and directed theater for over twenty years. A founding member of Otrabanda Company, she also worked in the Honolulu Theatre for Youth and the women’s collective Lilith before joining the Blake Street Hawkeyes. In 1990, she left the theater to earn a master’s degree in clinical psychology. She has now worked as a mental health counselor for twenty-three years, with a particular focus on the healing connection between spirituality and trauma. She has also taught numerous workshops in creativity, writing from the heart, and more. Cynthia lives in Berkeley, California, with her husband, David.

Editorial Reviews

I was lucky enough to get to work with Cynthia when I became part of the Blake Street Hawkeyes. I’m not sure that she understood how much she meant to me because we were the two women in the group and I was out of my element and without her I don’t think I could have given myself permission to fly, as only another woman could. Thank goodness she was there and actually saw me and our conversations fed the construction of my one-woman show. She was my good friend....”—Whoopi Goldberg

“Moore presents an account of quite a notable life spiked with sharp, often funny dialogue, whether she’s detailing the initial courting of her husband or her first sessions as a therapist-in-training later in life. Moore frequently recounts experiencing profound moments, seeming to come to grips with great revelations—only to carry on with her life as before. For readers, though, this habit is not frustrating but relatable, and those taking note will walk away with some wisdom. A wise, insightful, and always-entertaining recollection of a journey of self-discovery.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Cynthia Moore in her exquisitely written memoir plumbs the richness of an examined life. Moore demonstrates what good writing is—illuminating that which we often cannot see. I absolutely loved this book and couldn’t put it down.”—Denise Blanc, author of River Logic, Tools to Transform Resistance and Create Flow in all of our Relationships

“Dancing on Coals is, as you might expect from the title, a fast-paced whirlwind, a life story told like the hilarious, emotional, high-stakes adventure that it is. This book is the perfect cocktail of verve, honesty, and warmth. With Cynthia Moore, there is never a dull moment.”—Charlotte Shane, author of An Honest Woman, a Memoir of Love and Sex Work

“Cynthia Moore’s marvelous Dancing on Coals: A Memoir of an Overperfomer opens with a whammy. ...an absolutely marvelous piece of writing and memory; it hit me straight on and knocked me down. Confidently told in a lush, rich voice, the memoir is both deeply personal and an historical account of experimental theater. I highly recommend joining Moore on her unique and curious journey.”—Summer Brenner, author of Dust, A Memoir

From the Publisher