Julia Luther, a 12-year-old Westlake Middle School student who has been dancing since she was 3, is raising money to provide dance therapy to children with cancer and special needs
“I really like the story of this foundation and I like the message that it gives to dancers and the foundation’s purpose,” Luther said.
Luther on Saturday will be among 40 to 50 dancers ages 3 to 18 participating in a a dance-a-thon hosted by Live Love Dance, a Broomfield studio that has been holding this event for seven years in support of the Andréa Rizzo Foundation. The nonprofit provides dance therapy in pediatric hospitals across the country, including Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs.
“Dance Across America” is one of the fundraising efforts created by the Andréa Rizzo Foundation, which was created in memory of a dance therapy student and survivor of childhood cancer who was killed by a drunk driver when she was 24.
“The foundation aspires to bring dancers together to blend dance and compassion,” according to a Dance Across America news release. “Dancers of all ages in all parts of the country can make a difference in the lives of fragile children by doing what they love best — dancing.”
Saturday’s dance-a-thon will include classes tap, jazz, contemporary, musical theater, improvisation and choreography, said Valerie Gunnels-Meredith, director of Live Love Dance. Lessons will be broken up by time blocks for the different styles, with instructors who will teach choreography skills students wouldn’t normally experience in their typical dance classes.
“It’s going to be a lot of group choreography skills,” Gunnels-Meredith said. “We’re teaching them to create their own dances and work in small groups to create their own movements. That’s our emphasis this year.”
Some of the studio’s dancers, including Luther, have been recognized as the top pledge raisers among the more than 70 studios involved in Dance Across America, Gunnels-Meredith said.
In the past, the dance-a-thon has gone on for nine hours, Luther said, but this year it’s been shortened to five hours. So far she has raised $300, which in the past has been enough to earn her the spot as top-fundraiser. The top fundraiser will earn a special part in the last of Saturday’s dances.
Parents and caregivers can come to view the last 30 minutes of the day, when the students will showcase what they’ve learned throughout the day.
Footage will be recorded at the performance, Gunnels-Meredith said, and be edited into a video montage to be shown at next year’s dance-a-thon and featured on the studio’s website.
Dancers have been raising money by collecting pledges based on the number of hours they will dance on Saturday, she said.
Gunnels-Meredith said she and other instructors learned about the Andréa Rizzo Foundation from a speaker at a conference they attended years ago.
“We were just really impacted by her story,” she said.
Fifteen children danced in the first event in 2014, Gunnels-Meredith said, and were mostly company dancers. Now the event is open to anybody, whether or not they take classes at the studio. Typically the event raises between $3,000 and $5,000, she said. The first year 20 dancers raised $3,875; last year 40 dancers raised $2,500.
Three- to 5-year-olds pledge to dance for two hours, she said, while older students can dance the full five hours. Children can sign up to dance through Friday.
The Andréa Rizzo Foundation has been trying to find a hospital, or school with special needs programs, in Colorado to implement a dance therapy program, Gunnels-Meredith said, but the organizations it has reached out to either are not interested or have a program in place.
She encourages anybody in the community reach out to the foundation if they know an organization that could be interested.
Dance-a-thon details
What: Live Love Dance 7th Annual Dance-A-Thon
When: 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Live Love Dance & Art Center, 290 Nickel St., Unit 300
Info: Dancers can sign up through Friday. For more information call Valerie Gunnels-Meredith at 303-957-6239 or e-mail missvalerie@livelovedance.net. For more information on The Andréa Rizzo Foundation or the “Dance Across America” program, call 401-952-2423, email DreasDream@aol.com, or visit DreasDream.org.
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Broomfield Dance-a-thon to raise thousands for sick, special needs children - Broomfield Enterprise
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