[photo credit: Lineage Performing Arts Center]
“Healing Blue,” which Lineage has presented since 2005, features the true stories of women navigating life with and after cancer. This year’s production includes storytellers from the Living Beauty Cancer Foundation, a Pasadena-based nonprofit that serves women living with the disease through wellness programs and community support.
Choreographer and Lineage founder Hilary Thomas creates new movement each year drawn from the women’s words. The 70-minute performance combines dance with spoken word to render experiences that are, in the words of the production’s description, “touching, profound, and sometimes hilarious.”
Thomas, who grew up in Pasadena and trained with The Pasadena Dance Theatre, founded Lineage in 1999. The company opened its performing arts center in 2010 and has since presented more than 3,000 performances while raising more than $500,000 for charitable organizations, according to the organization.
Six dancers will perform on February 22: Nola Gibson, Caterina Mercante, Ericalynn Priolo, Thomas, Teya Wolvington, and Meghann Zenor. Mercante, the associate director of Lineage Dance Company, has been with the organization since 2000.
Living Beauty Cancer Foundation, headquartered in Pasadena, has provided holistic wellness programs and support services to thousands of women since its founding in 2005 — the same year “Healing Blue” debuted. The foundation’s clients will serve as storytellers in the production.
The performance begins at 4 p.m. at Lineage Performing Arts Center, 920 E. Mountain St., Pasadena. Tickets are $30 general admission, $20 for students and seniors. Free parking is available in the CVS lot outside the venue. Organizers recommend care when considering attendance with children due to the subject matter and images of breast cancer survivors.
“Healing Blue” has traveled to breast cancer centers and venues across the country over its 20-year run, according to Lineage. The production has raised funds for organizations including the Constance G. Zahorik Breast Center at Huntington Hospital.
For tickets and information, visit lineagepac.org or call 626-844-7008.
