LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. — More than 40,000 women will die from breast cancer this year, according to the American Cancer Society.
The disease is the most common cancer in women, aside from skin cancer.
A group of young women in Lee’s Summit is honoring the stories of people fighting and surviving this disease, with a special focus on one survivor.
“Hearing her story and having that personal connection makes it so much more special,” said dancer Katelyn Williams. “Each time that we perform this piece the meaning will become deeper and deeper, and it will really sink in.”
While Kansas City Dance Company’s owner and director Jennifer Balanga-Talley enjoyed a day out on the lake last year, she spoke to her friend Nina Noe about inspirational songs.
Noe joked she should choreograph a piece about breast cancer.
She forgot about the suggestion until Balanga-Talley called her this week and told her the dance company finished practicing their piece to honor her.
“I want it to be your best number. I want you to turn heads,” Noe said while speaking to the dancers Tuesday night. “I want people to go, 'This means something.'”
After undergoing treatment for a rare form of breast cancer, Noe has been in remission for seven years.
She shared her story with the dancers to inspire their movements on stage.
“I’m not glad I got cancer by any means, but I am glad what cancer taught me,” Noe said. “It taught me to live every day, every moment.”
While watching the group perform their number for the first time, Noe was flooded with tears.
“Girls, that was so amazing. I am so humbled and honored that you would do that,” she said. “And the looks on your faces was really, really amazing. I can’t tell you how much it meant to me.”
The dance company will perform the dance in a competition this weekend in St. Charles, Missouri.
Noe said she plans to be there.
—