The Dance of Her Life

Maureen Glennon, artistic director of moe-tion dance theater, will premiere two new works inspired by her recent "breast cancer adventure" this Saturday evening, Oct. 23, at 8 p.m., at Memorial Auditorium on the campus of Montclair State University. Glennon, a Caldwell resident, and breast cancer survivor, is co-sponsoring Project Support with MSU's Theatre & Dance Department.

A portion of the proceeds will go to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Tickets are: $25 general admission, $15 students and children under 12 are free.

The Caldwells Patch talked to Glennon about the event and how it came to fruition:

The inspiration for Project Support was your "adventure" with breast cancer. Tell me more about the project.

It's a bunch of vignettes detailing my breast cancer adventure … I joke that I never needed a therapist because I have my choreography. I don't ever keep things bottled in. I'm very outspoken about breast cancer and I'll tell my story to anyone who passes me. That's who I am and that's how I survived through it. I could never bottle something like this. And with this show, I'm hoping to bring awareness.

Do all the performances deal with breast cancer?

As co-founder of Freespace Dance, we did a piece, called "Portrait," that was about family. (The company will perform the work on Saturday night.) That was such a huge part of my experience—my family was so supportive. Though it doesn't have to do with cancer, it relates in my head as to what was going on at the time. So not every piece has to do with breast cancer, but there's some kind of emotional connection that people can take away from it.            

People will sometimes say, "You know, I don't know what this is really about, but I got this out of it." It's great to know you're touching somebody. I mean that's what art is all about—to express and to share. And that's why this concert is huge for me. In "Just a Couple Things," there's humor, but it's really just me coming out and telling my breast cancer story and spreading awareness.

It was the hardest thing that's ever happened to me, but it's amazing what's happened since. In a positive way—it really changed my life.

You were diagnosed last November?

I had just moved into my new apartment—it was my first time living by myself. I moved in on Nov. 1, and I think I found the indentation on Nov. 12 … and I had my surgery on Dec. 21. I had a double mastectomy—by choice—even though the cancer was only on the right side. Later on, the breast cancer surgeon told me I made the right choice, since there was something in the left breast that could've turned to cancer.

As a dancer, I'm still very limited—there are things I'll never be able to do. The doctor said to me, I just want to let you know that your dancing will probably never be the same and I said, "That's alright, I'm already 42, so it's not the same anyway!"

It's been a whirlwind year …

I started treatment in January and was done in April. We had a "Moe" hawk night. My nickname is Moe, so my siblings all came over and we gave each other Mohawks. I kept mine for an hour, my brother kept his for a week. And then my brother shaved his hair off, so I thought that was cool. That's why I call this Project Support—it's about all the amazing support I got.

And now, I want to give back. This concert is starting with Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but my goal for the project is to really support anything through my art … through dance … through movement. I'd like to teach kids who normally wouldn't be able to experience anything like this. Maybe we'll go into school systems that don't have dance, or have less access to it. Or teach kids that might be affected by domestic violence. I want to go beyond breast cancer.

Your brother's music will be featured in a few pieces this weekend. How did that come about? 

My brother Tommy Glennon, he lives in Montclair, is a self-taught guitar player. He's very talented and just started composing stuff. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I was in the MRI and started to choreograph the experience in my head. I later asked my brother how would you feel about composing music for a piece, and he said, "Oh my God, I'd love it." So he comes over with the CD and he told me the title. He called the song "She Says Hello to Strangers." I lost it. I just started crying. It was so beautiful.

Then I started creating a solo to another piece he composed. That's when I had lost my hair. At the same time, someone asked me to be in a show and I asked, "Are you taping it? If I could get the DVD, I'd like to include it in my new piece." And so, in my new piece, there is a flashback to when I danced when I was bald.

What is the process when you're creating a new piece?

The company collaborates with me so I'll go in and say, "Okay guys, come up with five gestures regarding whatever," some kind of emotion, and then we start developing. We develop the pieces together, which is really great.

I think about so many different things. For the new piece, "Cope," initially someone asked me to create a piece about domestic violence with the proceeds going to a center. So, I started to choreograph with my dance company and then I started chemo. I started to get really, really emotional. I was like, whoa. Tears were shed between dancers. It started to bring up all this breast cancer stuff—what I was going through. And that's when I said you know what, this isn't about domestic abuse, this is about coping with anything.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

I've always wanted to be a dancer. I started dancing at three or four. For my first recital, I was a chicken and I wore a little chicken hat and the hat fell off but I kept going … I was smack in the front. My dad said from that day on, "I knew you were going to be a professional dancer."

What's next for you and the company?

Think Pink. The project was originally called Start a Co*motion. A woman here at Somerset Vo-Tech High School in Bridgewater, where I teach, applied for an art grant to do a performance at a non-traditional venue. She wanted to do a flash mob at the Bridgewater Commons Mall. So she hired me and the moe-tion dancers to come and teach with her. Then I found out about my breast cancer so we changed the whole idea. We're now calling it Think Pink. All the songs—the "Pink Panther" theme, Aerosmith's "Pink," etc.— are cut together, and we also put in a service announcement with statistics and information on breast cancer. The 29th is the home show and fundraiser and on Saturday the 30th, shhh … there might be a "co*motion" at the mall at 12, 1, and 2 in front of Bloomingdales.

Five facts about the artist:

Age: 42

Medium: contemporary modern dance theater

Professional or Amateur: professional

Training: Associate's degree in recreation and leisure/dance from County College of Morris; and a bachelor of fine arts in dance from Montclair State University.

Influences: I'm influenced by so much—I'm influenced by music, I'm influenced by art, I'm influenced by stories … I'm influenced by meeting people! I really am. My mother is a huge influence on my life, because she's the one who put me in dance class when I was three! And she's still my biggest supporter.