“Raising Our Voices” is an innovative movement and storytelling project for individuals impacted by cancer, presented with critically acclaimed Stuart Pimsler Dance & Theater.Non-essential events on the UAB campus have been canceled due to public health concerns related to the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). For the latest updates on UAB’s response to COVID-19 and health information, visit www.uab.edu/coronavirus.
Stories from Alabamians impacted by cancer have shaped an original dance work that will be performed Saturday, March 14, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
UAB Institute for Arts in Medicine and critically acclaimed Stuart Pimsler Dance & Theater, a Minneapolis-based performing arts company, will present their National Endowment for the Arts project, “Raising Our Voices: Stories of Cancer told through Movement, Music and Voice.”
“Raising Our Voices” is an innovative movement and storytelling project for individuals impacted by cancer. For three days in late January, the company’s artistic directors met with more than 100 people locally to introduce the concept and generate interest in participation. The creation and rehearsal process will begin Feb. 29, with two rehearsals each day to accommodate participants’ schedules leading up to the performance March 14. Participants and SPDT company members will create the original performance piece based on their stories of how cancer has affected them. The work is created to honor individuals impacted by cancer and their willingness to share their journeys of healing, hope, longing and loss.
“We are touched by the positive response we have received from the Birmingham community about ‘Raising our Voices,’” said Suzanne Costello, co-artistic director of SPDT. “It seems that cancer impacts everyone at some point in their lives. We intend this project to embolden and express those experiences.”
The performance will be at 2 p.m. in UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center. Admission is a $5 donation to the UAB Institute for Arts in Medicine. To purchase tickets, call the ASC Box Office at 205-975-2787 or visit AlysStephens.org for more information. Representatives from local organizations, including Forge Breast Cancer Survivor Center and UAB Integrative Medicine, will be on hand to share information about their services for people impacted by cancer.
Stuart Pimsler Dance & Theater is recognized by The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as a “National Model” for community programs, and the National Endowment for the Arts for “Best Practices” in the field of arts and health. For more than 35 years, SPDT has garnered critical acclaim for its compelling and poignant performance work and commitment to community-inclusive programming.
This residency and performance are made possible with support from UAB’s Visual and Performing Arts, Institute for Arts in Medicine, UAB Medicine, SPDT, Our Community Foundation for a Greater Birmingham Women’s Breast Health Fund, Forge Breast Cancer Survivor Center, and the UAB College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Theatre.