In Honor of Shepherd’s Center Caregivers.
Kansas City dance company to perform October 29, 2011 at The Folly in preparation of National Caregiver Month.
Artistic Director and Choreographer Mona Sterling-Enna has connected art to life in honoring all the Caregivers at The Shepherd’s Center in Kansas City. Her landmark dance event, Butterfly, takes on the issue of Alzheimer’s and caregiving with a finesse and depth rarely seen in dance. Critic Mickey Coalwell wrote of its premiere performance, “one of those rare occasions when an artistic gamble really paid off.” Included in the concert will be other works including Voices, Yearning, and a new piece choreographed by Tobin James and Marc Wayne, Jiggy.
This compelling, original story became that much more poignant when Mrs. Sterling-Enna’s mother contracted Alzheimer’s after she had begun choreographing the production. As the news spread of what subject matter Sterling Dance Theater was focused on, more and more people came forward with their own story of caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s, Dementia or a similar ailment. “This issue touches most people’s lives in the community and will continue to effect more and more as our national population ages. Valuing each human life at each stage of our existence is vital to nurturing a dignified culture,” says Mona Sterling-Enna.
Sterling Dance Theater has chosen Shepherd’s Center of Kansas City Central as the organization to honor through this concert. The Shepherd’s Center is not only equipping hundreds of Caregivers who are currently helping worthy seniors, they also have a vision to prepare for future needs which includes making Kansas City “the best place in the country to age”. Butterfly is performing October 29th as a launch to highlight November’s national theme of National Caregiver Month sanctioned by President Clinton in 1997. More information for the Shepherd’s Center can be found at www.sccentral.org.
