DANCE SHOW VITALITY GIVES LIFE…AND BREASTS TO BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS 

Local performance to benefit My Hope Chest Foundation

Monday, April 27 at the Summerlin Library and Performing Arts Center

LAS VEGAS- This year alone, more than 250,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and of these women many will undergo mastectomies, in the hopes of ridding their bodies of the disease. A disturbing fact that is often overlooked is that approximately 15 percent of survivors are without insurance and therefore unable to cover the costs of reconstructive surgery. These women have had to live life after cancer without their breasts.

Recognizing the plight of these cancer survivors, a group of young performers in Las Vegas will come together to present VITALITY: an evening of dance, live music and aerial acts woven together to create a prolific show, to benefit My Hope Chest, the country’s only foundation dedicated to supporting uninsured breast cancer survivors and the cause of breast reconstruction.

VITALITY creator and dancer, Liana Blackburn felt that she and the group of amazing performers she already works with could make a difference for cancer survivors. “Many breast cancer survivors who lose their breasts, also lose their self worth and confidence,” Blackburn said. “Our breasts are a part of our physical vitality and no one should have to live life without their body parts,” she added.

VITALITY will perform one night only, Monday April 27, 2009 at 8 p.m. inside the Summerlin Library and Performing Arts Theater (1771 Inner Circle, Las Vegas, NV). Tickets are available for $18 in advance or $20 at the door. All proceeds will benefit My Hope Chest Foundation. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.vitalitydance.com.

ABOUT MY HOPE CHEST

My Hope Chest was founded by Alisa Savoretti in the fall of 2003. A breast cancer survivor and Las Vegas Showgirl, she was 38 and without insurance at the time of her diagnosis. Billing herself as the “Lop-sided Showgirl” she gained media attention to the cause through a story on the local CBS affiliate when she returned to the Las Vegas stage as a Dancer only 5 months after finishing her chemotherapy- this time however minus one breast. Having to wait for over 2 years, she at last acquired her own reconstruction through the group insurance policy at her job (which cannot deny pre-existing conditions) but realized the huge gap that existed for women suffering like herself. “I realized how my own self-esteem, confidence and self worth as a woman returned when I could look in the mirror and see my whole physical self once again – it was my healing, a rebirth and a godsend.” For more information on the My Hope Chest Foundation, visit www.myhopechest.org.