Physical therapist May Kesler dances on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in an image from Dance Across the USA, a photo book showcasing dancers in national parks and other well-known settings in every state. Kesler, 62, was chosen from among thousands of applicants to appear in the book. Photo by Jonathan Givens

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When May Kesler was a little girl, her mother, a pediatrician, noticed she walked with her toes turned inward and suggested she try ballet classes to help correct it.

“She gave me a book about a young girl who had weak legs, and her doctor told her to take ballet classes. She did, and turned out to be the star of the show,” she recalled.

Like the girl in the story, Kesler fell in love with dance — “the energy, the sense of my body moving in space, the challenge of learning, the music — and best of all, the sparkly costumes.”

Her beauty and passion for dance resulted in her being featured in the new book, Dance Across the USA, a coffee-table style photo book designed to raise funds for the National Park Foundation and American arts education.

Master photographer Jonathan Givens embarked on a journey to travel to all 50 states in just 90 days to photograph dancers in national parks and other local, well-known settings. It was his attempt to showcase “America’s beauty and diversity,” while also celebrating dance.

Kesler was selected from a pool of thousands of applicants who auditioned for a chance to be in the book. She was photographed as she danced in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., her teal leotard and pale chiffon skirt blowing freely in the breeze against the backdrop of a clear blue sky.

The images on the two-page spread devoted to her are striking, highlighting both her experience and graceful, muscular form.

Kesler said she is proud, at 62, to be the oldest dancer in the book. In fact, she cites dancing as being an integral part of her healthy aging.

“We must move to be alive. And the more access to movement we have, the healthier and younger we are,” she said.

A unique career

Ironically, her toes pointing inward never completely improved. “I have, like, the worst turnout in ballet history,” she joked. “I’m too short and curvy, and I cannot kiss my knees. But I still can dance.”

That can-do attitude served her well while growing up. At 20, Kesler tore her calf muscle at a summer dance intensive at American University and was offered little help from the hospital. Despite the severity of her injury and not being able to walk, the doctors sent her home without crutches.

The situation was very frustrating. “Because I had no idea how to heal this injury, I kept aggravating it, and it took years to heal,” she recalled.

Fortunately, what could have been a career-ending injury turned into something that would change Kesler’s life, inspiring her to think outside the box when it came time to choose a vocation.

“When I finally did get better, it was through a physiatrist’s help,” she explained. “I noticed what the PTs were doing in his office, and I was intrigued.”

Kesler’s parents were both scientifically gifted — her father is an MIT-trained chemical engineer — and that background helped inspire her to major in biology and psychology alongside dance during college.

Though she studied pre-med at Rutger’s University in New Jersey, she was “hesitant about being a doctor” after seeing the long hours her mother worked as a physician. “I wanted to be sure I could dance,” she said.

Her positive experience with physical therapy was enough to convince her to combine her interest in her three majors (biology, psychology and dance) to forge a new career in a unique form of physical therapy — one that helps others overcome their own injuries and limitations using the power of movement and dance.

After college, Kesler moved to New York City and “danced with every great teacher I could find.” Eventually, she enrolled in the school of physical therapy at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. She graduated in 1982.

She and her husband then moved to the Washington, D.C. area, where she opened Kesler Physical & Massage Therapy that year. The practice uses a combination of massage therapy and manual and movement therapy to help her patients ease musculoskeletal pain, treating headaches, concussions, neck pain, balance problems, pinched nerves, back pain, sciatica and more.

What makes the practice unique is its use of dance alongside more traditional methods of treatment and diagnosis. In fact, “I cannot separate PT and dance,” Kesler explained.

“I am an intuitive physical therapist. I can tell what a person’s physical and emotional history is within minutes by watching them move.”

Her practice is celebrating its 36th anniversary this year. “It is a perfect integration of who I am and what I want to do: Guide people to heal with movement,” she said.

A unique focus

Kesler is also deeply involved in the study of fascia, the sheet of connective tissue beneath the skin that attaches, stabilizes, encloses and separates muscles and organs.

Kesler describes fascia almost spiritually. “We are made of [a] four-dimensional spider web of fluid-filled, light-filled tubules of connective tissue. The spaces are filled with cells and gel and liquid-containing nutrients. The fourth dimension here is time — the web (that is, our bodies) is in constant motion.”

According to her, our health “is determined by the flexibility and fluidity of our web. Injury and disease, and even emotional stress, cause torques or twists in the web, and inflammation causes stickiness and restrictions in the web’s movement.”

This is why dance is particularly fulfilling and helpful for both her and her patients, she claimed. “When I dance, I am unwinding those restrictions.” She also utilizes myofascial release, a manual therapy method, and organic movements learned from dance for rehabilitation to help relieve patients’ pain.

Her work on fascia has not gone without notice. She’s been invited to hold a workshop called “Using Dance and Choreographic Devices to Enhance Learning of Fascial and Biotensegral Motion” at an international conference on Movement taking place at Harvard Medical School this summer.

Unwinding for health

Kesler lives with her husband in Chevy Chase, Md. In addition to her practice, she stays busy with other projects.

For example, a few years ago, she founded Keslerdances, a small contemporary company of six dancers that performs at local venues.

She’s also found time to complete an M.A. in dance from American University, and to became certified in floor-barre — a ballet training technique that “takes the work to the floor” to strengthen the body and lengthen the muscles.

Staying active is a way of life for her, and she feels dancing keeps her young in a variety of ways.

“Just cardio or walking isn’t enough, as we need to unwind tight areas. So moving all the parts of your body several times daily is essential to having a more youthful body and being as healthy as possible,” she said.

Kesler also thinks that traditional exercise can be overrated —and sometimes harmful. “Doing hard, painful movement is damaging. Movement should be enjoyable and make us feel good.”

With what little free time she does have, she and her husband and daughter like to watch the TV shows “Outlander” and “NCIS,” go to concerts, travel, and cuddle with their many pets — a cat (who even has his own Instagram account), dog and four birds.

For more information on Kesler’s practice and work, visit http://www.maykesler.com.