The Art of Dashes

I love Dashes. I am not an English major--though I could have been--and I consider myself a defunct Historian (History being my minor.) That said I do not know the proper usage of the dash off the top of my head but being a voracious reader, I have seen the dash used, working hard, and getting results. The comma, I like, it is a symbol of breathing; it tells the reader that yes you can pause and take a breath and slightly collect your thoughts. But it does not compare to my love of the dash which stems back to my days when I was a theater major. (I was and still am dramatic.)
We learned in Theater that a dash mostly signifies a cutting off of someone‘s--usually abruptly-- speech either by another person, a prop (ex. Telephone), or a loud noise coming from the wings.
Ex.
ABI: I love Andrew, but he doesn’t know I use to be a les-
ANDREW: Abi who are you talking to?
ABI: No one honey.
It was here in the Theater classes, taught by the great Gail Johnson--who I regret losing contact with--that I learned more about life and how to function in any environment. (I learned a hell of a lot from Mrs. Emily Smith about history and European History and gained a love of history from her enthusiasm of the subject.) That is why Dr. Stone1 is my favorite teacher at Armstrong. She is tough but fair, she is also is a site to watch and can teach anyone on how to entertain students while challenging them and keeping their interest. I wish I had been a better student but she did teach me a lot.
But back to my love of dashes. Dashes are the true pauses in writing not commas. Again I feel that commas only tell the reader to breath, dashes tell the reader to think. I am going to write more about the Dash and my love of it but I do have to get to work.

# Oddly enough Dr. Stone abhors the Dash and said so in a lecture. She was concerned that many of the history students were using the Dash too frequently. I was too intimidated to tell her that I love the Dash.