Pasadena Dance Show Honors 20 Years of Cancer Stories

Since 2005, Pasadena's Lineage Dance Company has given cancer survivors something many never expected: a stage to share their truth through dance and spoken word.

"Healing Blue" returns February 22 for its 20th anniversary performance at the Lineage Performing Arts Center. The 70-minute show weaves together the true stories of women navigating cancer with original choreography that brings their words to life.

This year's production features new storytellers from the Living Beauty Cancer Foundation, a nonprofit supporting women with cancer. Each woman shares her journey with honesty, from the hardest moments to unexpected humor found in the darkness.

Choreographer Hilary Thomas leads six dancers in movements inspired directly by survivor narratives. The stories explore resilience, fear, triumph, and the tender realities of living with life-threatening illness.

Lineage has partnered with Living Beauty Cancer Foundation since the show's beginning, creating a safe space for women to be seen and heard. Each year brings fresh stories to the stage, ensuring the performance stays current and connected to real experiences happening now.

Why This Inspires

"Healing Blue" proves that art can hold space for the hardest human experiences while creating community. The performance doesn't shy away from difficult truths, including tasteful post-surgery images of breast cancer survivors who choose to be fully seen.

For 20 years, this show has reminded audiences that cancer is more than a diagnosis. It's a chapter in lives filled with complexity, strength, and surprising moments of grace.

The production has raised awareness and support for breast cancer centers nationwide, turning individual stories into collective healing. Survivors become storytellers, audiences become witnesses, and movement becomes medicine.

Tickets remain affordable at $30 for general admission and $20 for students and seniors, keeping the performance accessible to the Pasadena community. The show is recommended for mature audiences due to its honest exploration of cancer's physical and emotional impact.

Twenty years of stories means hundreds of women have stood on that stage and declared their existence matters. That's a celebration worth dancing about.