What compels people to dance? What fuels the choreographer’s creative vision? Why do most dancers devote their entire lives to this art form? Many artists refer to a spirit within that defines and drives their need to move, to create, to dance.

It is this spirit that is explored in the evocative Smithsonian traveling exhibition “The Dancer Within.” Featuring 48 color and black-and-white photographs by dancer-turned-photojournalist Rose Eichenbaum, the exhibition will be on view at the Ypsilanti District Library in Ypsilanti, Mich., April 5, 2008 through June 1, 2008. “The Dancer Within,” from the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), will continue on a national tour through 2010.

“Visually, the exhibition captures a moment in the life of a dancer,” said Eichenbaum. “Viscerally, it reflects how dance speaks to the social and cultural issues of our times and has the power to express the deepest of human emotions.” In 1998, equipped with a camera and tape recorder, Eichenbaum set out to elicit the secrets of creativity from some of America’s greatest choreographers.

After publishing “Masters of Movement,” her highly acclaimed 2004 collection of photographs and interviews, Eichenbaum focused her lens on ballet icons, Broadway stars, Hollywood legends, hip-hop artists and modern-dance luminaries. The result, “The Dancer Within,” takes visitors on a backstage—and at times on-stage—tour of the multidimensional world of dance. The character and vitality of Mikhail Baryshnikov, Jacques d’Amboise, JosГ© Greco, Bill T.