UAB Arts in Medicine Presents Raising Our Voices Documentary Premiere + Healing Harmonies

Join UAB Arts in Medicine for a celebration of life highlighting the experiences of people impacted by cancer.

We will hear from our dynamic Healing Harmonies choir, directed by Joycelyn Whatley, followed by the world premiere of  “Raising Our Voices: Stories of Cancer told through movement, music, and voice (ROV) – the DOCUMENTARY!”

About Healing Harmonies:

Made possible thanks to support from the Women’s Breast Health Fund of the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, AIM created a community choir for people affected by cancer. Named by the participants, Healing Harmonies is open to cancer survivors, those currently in treatment, members of the healthcare community, or those who have a loved one with cancer.

About Raising Our Voices: Stories of Cancer told through Movement, Music & Voice:

Raising Our Voices: Stories of Cancer told through Movement, Music & Voice” began in February, 2020 as a partnership with Stuart Pimsler Dance and Theater (SPDT). At that time, it was indeterminate how many community members would join the project and what stories they would bring with them. Even more unpredictable was that the world would experience the onset of a vicious pandemic, upending countries and their economies while claiming millions of lives. Due to the onset of Covid-19, the scheduled performance of this production was cancelled the day before it was to be premiered. We have had the very fortunate opportunity to return to Birmingham and reconstruct the performance with this amazing cast of community performers. The final piece is a testament to the people who took a chance, made a commitment and created this work.

Cancer is not a subject most people want to embrace. Its implications can be frightening and the outcomes are often unknown. Perhaps most impactful is that it separates those who have had an experience with cancer from those who have not.

The common thread for all in this project is cancer, yet each participant’s experience is unique to them. Some are living with it, others have survived it, and many have lost someone to it.

Our intention is to bring their stories out of the shadows to be shared, challenging both the stigma and the fear of this illness. Hopefully, this begins a new dialogue focused on the humanity, rather than the disease, that connects us. -Suzanne Costello, Co-Artistic Director of SPDT

This event is sponsored in part by 

UAB Arts in Medicine, The Women’s Breast Health Fund at the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, FORGE, National Endowment for the Arts, and the Stuart Pimsler Dance Theater.