Sat 1/21 @ 4PM
Sun 1/22 @ 2:30PM
Mary Verdi-Fletcher founded the Cleveland ensemble Dancing Wheels 42 years, based on the premise of addressing disability, combining “stand-up” and wheelchair dancers working together in their choreography.
Its latest presentation addresses a different sort of disability: Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. Dancing Wheels Company & School has worked with area hospitals, memory care facilities, facilities for aging adults, and caregivers to create Making Memories: A Journey through Dementia, which it describes as “a performance/presentation like no other.”
So don’t expect to come and just see dancers performing onstage. There will be dance, but the event will also include video installation featuring interviews with caregivers, patients, and medical staff; guest speakers; and dialogue with audience members following the presentation.
The seed of the presentation was planted when the Dancing Wheels Company commissioned a new work from company artistic advisor Mark Tomasic, who suggested a dance based on the impact of dementia on his family. He created “Proof” as a tribute to his parents’ love and the work of caregivers. It evolved into the idea of creating something that would bring families and caregivers together to share their experiences and emotions.
In addition to the presentation, many of Dancing Wheels’ partners in the project will have tables with information and interactive activities in the lobby of the Breen Center for the Arts where the event takes place during both performances.
“We want to learn the advancements in care and medical technology,” says Verdi-Fletcher of these partnerships. “We wanted to provide an opportunity to offer comfort and knowledge and to provide a haven in which caregivers and patients would not feel isolated as they go through the same journey.”
Tickets for the presentation are $15; groups of ten or more are $10 each. For tickets call 216-432-0306 or go to dancingwheels.org.