In a recent blog post, we introduced you to an exciting project called LISTEN/Stories of Cancer told through Movement, Music, and Voice, which Firefly Sisterhood was thrilled to join. Participants in the project explored cancer’s impact on their lives through this unique collaboration between one of our partner organization’s, Gilda’s Club Twin Cities, and a local performance company, Stuart Pimsler Dance & Theater.
Participants in the LISTEN project comprised a wide range of people impacted by cancer, with the goal of exploring healing through sharing their stories and transforming them into movement, music, and vocal art. One of the participants, Cheryl, heard about the project through Gilda’s Club where she has been a volunteer for three years. She accepted the invitation last spring to join the initial storytelling sessions in hopes of processing the impact of her daughter, Tanya’s, recent breast cancer diagnosis, as well as exploring her own 10 years as a breast cancer survivor. It was in sharing the story from the perspective of being a mom that Cheryl realized how much healing this opportunity could provide her.
“It was just the most wonderful experience,” Cheryl says of the nearly 6 months of weekly storytelling and creative sessions, which culminated in an hour-long performance in October. “I went into it thinking about Tanya but found healing in both stories: mine and my daughter’s.” Hearing from the other parents of children who have faced cancer “made it really hit home,” Cheryl says. “What it reinforced for me was that you can’t stop. You can’t give up. The experience was truly unforgettable.”
Tanya sought healing through both Firefly Sisterhood and Gilda’s Club when she was diagnosed with breast cancer a year and a half ago. Still in treatment last spring, Tanya was not able to participate in the LISTEN project; however, she and other family members were in the audience for the final performance. Tanya was startled by its power and how it affected her.
Throughout the performance, Tanya found herself relating in myriad ways to the participants and their performance art. “I think the most empowering part was the chair scene when the people on stage couldn’t get up from their chairs. [When you have cancer] you have all this emotion around you and sometimes you just want to get up and scream, but you can’t. You want to take control, but you have no control over [cancer].”
Tanya also related closely to watching the performers move their arms in a swimming-like motion, over and over, “like they were stuck.” With cancer, “your body isn’t doing what you want it to do. Even now, I want to get up and run to Target or pick up a bag of groceries. But you don’t have the energy.” Watching others experience this frustration on stage reminded Tanya of the many shared emotions that come with cancer.
Talking about her mom’s participation in the LISTEN project, Tanya says, “I didn’t realize the effect it would have on my mom. It was very emotional. I could see how much this meant to her.” While Cheryl and Tanya experienced the LISTEN project in different ways, both women were profoundly affected by it and surprised by the healing it provided. Through this opportunity, mother and daughter were able to bring their shared experience of being breast cancer survivors to a heightened level of understanding and closeness.
Thank you, Cheryl and Tanya, for sharing your stories and perspectives with us!
This Is Living With Cancer