Dancing Through The Dark: The Cherry Grove Ball 1983-1992 is a monograph by photographer Susan Kravitz that features her archival black and white photographs taken at the Cherry Grove Ball during the years 1983-1992. Quotes and audio clips that document the camp, glamour and vibrance of The Ball are also included in her book.

In the 1980s and early 1990s the Arts Project of Cherry Grove Ball was a safe space to be out, to love, to be passionate and joyous, to cross-dress, to be trans or even to be straight, but especially to celebrate life together. It was a party where same-sex couples would dance the night away and not attract attention; compete for prizes with campy on-stage performances by both individuals and Cherry Grove “houses” vying for “best” trophies; and dress in theme-based, flamboyant high drag or simply in formal dress.

During a time when it was dangerous to be labelled homosexual in the outside world, the Cherry Grove Ball provided a welcoming space to be together, to dance openly with LGBTQI+ partners, lovers and friends. Even more, the Cherry Grove Ball celebrated a community where one could find moments of joy during the devasting years of the “gay plague.” The Ball was a life-affirming event, a place to forget for the moment the tragedy of AIDS that had engulfed the entire Grove community. It was a place to celebrate life, painful though it was.