Join The Dance Foundation and Forge to learn how ballet can maximize quality of life after a breast cancer diagnosis. In this five-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.

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 [email protected].

Schedule: Breast Cancer and Ballet: An Introduction to Healing will meet in-person weekly on Wednesdays from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. at The Dance Foundation from April 9th through May 7th. Participants are encouraged to attend all sessions. Once you register, that spot is yours for all five sessions. No previous experience with dance or ballet is required to participate. These are the session dates for this series:

• Wednesday, April 9th
• Wednesday, April 16th
• Wednesday, April 23rd
• Wednesday, April 30th
• Wednesday, May 7th

Class size is limited to 20 participants so register today if you’d like to attend. For questions, call Forge at 205-838-6159 or email [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, the core of our mission is to improve the quality of life of those impacted by breast cancer. If you have any questions, need resources or a listening ear, please feel free to reach out to us via the Forge Facebook page (@forgebcsc), by emailing [email protected], or by calling us at 205-838-6159. By registering to attend programs with Forge, you agree to receive further correspondence from us, such as program emails and event reminders.