Hillary began dancing as a child in NYC despite degenerative blindness. She studied modern dance at the schools of Graham, Ailey, Interlochen, Perry-Mansfield, and Zina Romette. In 1970 she was introduced to Haitian and African dance, the perfect rhythmic platform she needed to express herself given blindness. She has studied with the greatest masters and traveled the world in pursuit of the African root of other dance forms like tango. Hillary graduated from Hamilton College with a BA in the Arts, trained as a chef at the CIA, Hyde Park, NY, and has certification in Nonprofit Management from Duke and Wake Tech. For 25 years, she owned and operated two restaurants and A Wandering Feast Catering. She is a proud mother of two plus her guide dog Nettles. Currently, Hillary has been working as a consumer advocate to eradicate stigma and promote inclusion for those with disability in the Durham community.
Hillary Honig Ensminger
“I was quick to embrace the opportunity to participate as a collaborator in the Envision project. I am a dancer who lives with genetic blindness. It is rare that those with disability are given a chance to share their stories, particularly in the world of dance. The enVISION project is still in its infancy and has the potential to take the dance experience to a new and different level of observation and participation. This project is more than a dance performance, it is a poetic exertion, a labor of love and commitment to gain insight into the complicated realm of vision loss . This work brings to the forefront much of what is swept aside, overlooked, ignored and misunderstood by most of the world. This is everything!!” — Hillary