To her colleagues at Citibank, LeAnne Selman was a beloved employee who spent nine years with the company.But away from work, Selman had another community and another stage.She was a dancer, performer and longtime member of Tamp a Bays performing arts community, where friends and fellow performers say she shared her creativity, talent and friendship for more than a decade.Now, that community is grieving.We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of love, compassion, and support for LeAnne Selman and for the many people whose lives she touched, Hip Expressions said in a statement. LeAnne was an integral part of our team, performing in the community for over a decade, and many of us have become close to her.The organization said it had been an honor, joy, and inspiration to work alongside Selman.Her commitment to community and collaboration was just as great as the talent, joy, and creativity she shared with us, the statement continued. LeAnnes love and friendship is sorely missed and leaves a hole in many of our hearts.She was just a talent, a lightNatalia Vargas didn't know Selman personally, but the two performers crossed paths backstage during a Hip Expressions event last year.Vargas still remembers her.She was a really beautiful performer, Vargas said.Vargas, who performed flamenco at last year's event, recalled talking with Selman backstage as performers prepared for the show.I remember I spoke to her backstage last year, just kind of getting excited for the event, Vargas said. Our costumes are really fun and funky, so everybody had something different. And I remember connecting with her through that.It was Selman's fire dancing that especially stood out.She was an incredible entertainer, Vargas said. Just her fire dancing. I mean, that's the cool. I wish I could do that, but I have long hair. I'd be too afraid to set my hair on fire.But Vargas said the descriptions she has heard of Selman since her death go well beyond her abilities as a performer.She was just a talent, a light more than anything, she said. That's what I keep hearing. Everyone who was close to her just talked about how creative she was and how sweet she was.Dance is our second familyFor Vargas, Selman's death has also highlighted how closely connected Tampa Bay's performing arts community can become.I think it's because dance is our second family, Vargas said. For some of us, it's our chosen family.Dancing, she said, requires performers to be vulnerable with one another.We're using our body, our emotions, and this is like family, Vargas said. So losing someone in the dance community, it's like, it hits close to home because this is our home.Those relationships are built over countless rehearsals, performances and shared experiences.We spend so much, so much time practicing, so many hours a week practicing, Vargas said. It's like we bicker and fight and we laugh together and we cry together.Community gathers while asking for privacyThe community came together this weekend for Tribal Burn, Hip Expressions' annual fundraiser benefiting Sacred Lands.The organization said members would honor Selman through movement, music, and shared remembrance.But organizers made the decision to close this year's event to news media, saying protecting the intimate nature of the gathering was their priority.Out of respect for LeAnne, her loved ones, and our ticketed guests, and to preserve the personal and heartfelt nature of this event, this year it is closed to all news media, Hip Expressions said.The group thanked members of the media who want to share Selman's story but asked reporters to give the community the space to remember her privately.We sincerely appreciate the medias interest in sharing LeAnnes story and celebrating the beautiful life she lived, the statement said. We ask that members of the press respect this boundary and allow our communities the privacy to remember her in our own way.Organizers said they would be open to personal interviews after the show.Remembered as a bright light at CitibankThe grief stretches beyond the dance community.Selman, 41, of Palm Harbor, worked at Citibank for nine years. Citigroup executive Ed Skyler described her as a valued and beloved employee.She was described as a bright light, and her colleagues and all of us are grieving, Skyler said.He said Citigroup had been in contact with Selman's family and asked for privacy as they grieve.You could tell the impact she had, not just in her work, but the impact she had at our site, and how people enjoy being around her, Skyler said. And this is going to be a very hard loss for all of our colleagues here.Selman worked in human resources as a learning adviser.Company leaders said they also intend to find an appropriate way to honor her life and contributions.We've already started that process, Skyler said when asked about opportunities for the Citibank community to remember Selman. This is going to be a process that goes on not just today, but in the near future. And we will find, with some time and perspective, the appropriate way to honor her life and her contributions.Investigators say Selman had no connection to shooterHillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said investigators found no connection between Selman and the 35-year-old gunman, Jacob Pearson.Absolutely not. Zero connection, Chronister said when asked whether there was a connection between the two. Unfortunately, this is a circumstance of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.According to Chronister, Pearson had become angry over a delinquent $2,500 Citibank debt and a summons to appear in court. The sheriff said Pearson made a threat involving an AR-15 and body armor to an attorney's office contracted by Citibank for collections.The attorney's office alerted Citibank security, which contacted law enforcement.Investigators said Pearson later drove onto the Citibank campus armed with a rifle, handgun and 90 rounds of ammunition.Chronister said Selman was the first employee Pearson encountered after exiting his vehicle.She wasn't able to get away quick enough, and she paid with her life, Chronister said.Pearson then entered the cafeteria and moved farther into the building, according to the sheriff.Citibank security officer John Fraley, a Marine Corps veteran, confronted him. Chronister said Fraley exchanged gunfire with Pearson and shot him five times. Pearson later died at Tampa General Hospital.The sheriff credited Fraley with preventing significantly more deaths on a campus where approximately 3,200 employees were present that day.This hero, this member of the Citibank security team saved a lot of lives yesterday, Chronister said. He was intent on killing Citibank employees yesterday.Remembering how she livedFor the people who knew Selman through dance, however, this weekend is about something other than the violence that took her life.It's about the woman who performed.The woman who created.The woman who connected with people backstage.And the woman whose fellow performers say brought light to their community.Hip Expressions ended its message to the community with a line attributed to Rumi: The stars form a circle, and in the center, we dance.For Selman's dance community, those words now carry a deeper meaning. ...read more read less