Breast Cancer and Ballet: 4-week Dance Series

Welcome to our fall Ballet after Breast Cancer four-week dance series.

Join The Dance Foundation and Forge to learn how ballet can maximize quality of life after a breast cancer diagnosis. In this four-week series, participants will meet each Wednesday in a dance studio and be taught by a dance instructor about the basics of ballet and how those movements can improve your posture and how you feel in your body after breast cancer.

Dance is for everyone, and moving our bodies can make us feel good in them. This class is open to anyone who has been impacted by breast cancer and is interested in seeing how ballet can be part of their healing. This class is specifically designed for breast cancer patients, survivors and their caregivers or loved ones aged 14 and older.

Schedule: Breast Cancer and Ballet: Healing through Dance will meet in-person weekly on Wednesdays in September from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. at The Dance Foundation:

• Wednesday, September 2nd
• Wednesday, September 9th
• Wednesday, September 16th
• Wednesday, September 23rd

Participants are encouraged to attend all sessions. Once you register, that spot is yours for all four sessions. No previous experience with dance or ballet is required to participate.

Class size is limited to 25 participants so register today if you’d like to attend. For questions, call Summer at 205-838-6159 or email [email protected].

Materials: No special equipment is required, but you may want to purchase a pair of ballet shoes. Before the series begins, Forge will send out an email with reasonably priced ballet shoe recommendations and other clothing suggestions from the dance instructor. If you have questions about the series or materials before registering, please email Summer at [email protected].

About Our Expert: Melissa Turnage, BA, has over 40 years of experience in dance and arts education. She has directed dance programs in Georgia and Maryland. She is trained in both the Vaganova method and the Royal Academy of Dance syllabus. She has worked in numerous arts and educational institutions and has written dance curriculum for several programs. Her choreographic endeavors include over 30 original children’s ballets as well as various theatrical productions. She has received teacher training in integrated arts curriculum from the Lincoln Center and has done extensive training with teaching artists from the Kennedy Center. As a teaching artist herself, she creates integrated curriculum for the Birmingham Cultural Alliance and the Birmingham Board of Education’s Straight A’s federal grant program. She was an adjunct professor of dance at Birmingham Southern College where she taught and wrote ballet curriculum. She is a teaching artist with ArtCare at UAB Hospital. Melissa is a published short story writer and newspaper journalist.

***This event is free and requires registration***

If you are able to donate any amount to contribute to Forge’s continued efforts to support our local breast cancer community, we greatly appreciate it. Donations can be made on the Forge website: https://forgeon.org/donate

About Forge’s programs:

At Forge, our mission is to improve access to medical care, health outcomes, and quality of life for breast cancer patients, survivors, and their loved ones. If you have any questions or need help, please feel free to reach out to us on the Forge Facebook page (@forgebcsc), email us at [email protected], or call us at 205-838-6159. By registering to attend programs with Forge, you agree to receive emails from us, including event reminders.