www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=293431&src=76Dance to raise money for heart screeningsBy Melissa Jenco | Daily Herald
Area dancers will step into the spotlight tonight to raise money for heart screenings and to honor a friend.
The fourth annual Kathryn Bender Dance Showcase begins at 7:30 p.m. today at the College of DuPage Mainstage Theater at Fawell and Park boulevards in Glen Ellyn. Doors will open at 6 p.m. for music, concessions and a raffle preview. The showcase "is a memorable event where you can see how much volunteer work people do to help others around them and remember a special person," said Elizabeth Bender, Kathryn's sister who organizes the show.
Kathryn Bender, a dancer for most of her life, died unexpectedly in 2005 while backstage at a dance show. She was a senior a Naperville North High School at the time.
The Kathryn Bender Memorial Foundation has been holding a variety of fundraisers in her honor ever since.
This year's dance show includes a variety of styles from ballet to hip hop. Performers slated to appear are the DuPage Dance Team, Extensions Dance Company, Inside Out Dance Company, Naperville Central High School Orchesis, Naperville North High School Orchesis,
Neuqua Valley High School Orchesis, School of Performing Arts, Sole Dance Academy, Soul Unique, Steps Dance Center,
Waubonsie Valley High School Orchesis and the dance group from the Chicago Storm soccer team.
Elizabeth and her brother Nicholas will perform a special number for Kathryn. This year they will dance to "Sissy's Song" by Alan Jackson.
"The storyline of the song is very appropriate to the type of person Kathryn was so it touched both of us the first time we heard it," Elizabeth said.
Seniors from Neuqua Valley also are preparing a special piece because many of them once danced with Kathryn. The group will perform to "I Hope You Dance" from Lee Ann Womack.
Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students and seniors. To order, call the ticket office at (630) 942-4000 or visit cod.edu/ArtsCntr/index2.htm.
Last year's performance raised about $8,000 and the Bender family hopes to reach $10,000 and more than 400 attendees this year.
Roughly 80 percent of the proceeds will go to the Midwest Heart Foundation's Young Hearts for Life program that provides cardiac screenings to high school students. The Kathryn Bender Memorial Foundation already has purchased one portable EKG machine and is working toward a second in addition to funding research on sudden death.
Part of the proceeds also will go toward college scholarships for a Naperville North student and two area dancers.
For information about the Kathryn Bender Memorial Foundation visit kbmf.net.
If you go
What: Fourth annual Kathryn Bender Dance Showcase
When: Music, concessions and raffle preview at 6 p.m. today; performance begins at 7:30 p.m.
Where: College of DuPage Mainstage Theater, Fawell and Park boulevards, Glen Ellyn
Tickets: $15 for adults, $12 for students and seniors
Info: (630) 942-4000 or cod.edu/artscntr/index2.htm