Buffalo Grove dancers make their moves against cancer
On Your Toes Academy of Dance of Buffalo Grove will host its first benefit performance for Dancers Against Cancer on Tuesday, June 14, 2011.
The performance will begin at 7 p.m. at the Stevenson High School Performing Arts Center. Doors open at 6 p.m. for a silent auction which will consist of many items donated by local merchants including a stay at the Hampton Inn, Lifetime Athletic Club membership, White Sox tickets with parking and Stadium Club, and many other prizes. The Dancers Against Cancer organization will receive 100 percent of the proceeds, and will forward the funds to Midwest Palliative and Hospice Care and the Colon Club in memory of Frayda Nechamkin, who was a dear friend of On Your Toes’ owner, Louise Taitz.
Louise Taitz decided to get involved with DAC as a way of giving back and fighting back, in honor of her friend Frayda who recently and tragically succumbed to colon cancer.
“I have known Frayda for eight years, when she first signed her two daughters up for dance classes,” Taitz said. “She was such an important part of our studio, always helpful and kind.”
Frayda, who was a Long Grove resident, was a single mom, and her illness put a huge financial strain on the family. Taitz compassionately gave her girls lifetime scholarships to the studio, so they wouldn’t have to give up their passion for dance.
Dancers Against Cancer is a national, nonprofit organization founded by Jody Isenhour, breast cancer survivor and ballet dancer/studio owner from Iowa. DAC travels around the country asking local dance studios to put on cancer awareness performances in their own communities. The hosts of each performance can choose which organization they would like the proceeds to be donated to.
“While undergoing chemotherapy, I lost most of my hair. Right away, I knew what I needed to do and decided I wanted to make a difference in the world, so I came up with the idea of starting Dancers Against Cancer,” Isenhour said. “Hair is a person’s crowning glory as well as an important part of a dancer’s costume, and I knew that dancers around the country would identify with how I feel.”
Isenhour will be the master of ceremonies for the event, which will include performances by On Your Toes Dance Company, Stevenson Dance Companies, Northwest Ballet Academy and professional dance companies including: Boom Crash Dance Crew, Design Dance Company, Dmitri Peskov and Inaside Dance Company. In addition to the dance performances, there will be a silent auction, door prizes, a cancer survivor celebration and an In Memoriam moment.
Tickets are now on sale, and can be purchased at On Your Toes, 1014 Weiland Road, Buffalo Grove, or by contacting Louise Taitz at dancecompany3@yahoo.com. Tickets are $22 for adults, $15 for children, and advance purchased tickets will include a Cancer Awareness Ribbon.