A popular Plant High grad will mark a homecoming with a performance as a changed, but still vibrant, person.
By ELISABETH DYER
Published February 27, 2004
Joy Nabors can't wait till tonight. After 14 years, she's coming back to Plant High School, her alma mater, to perform in Breaking the Mold by Asher Dance Eclectic. Nabors will dance in her wheelchair as she portrays a cancer victim, a buffalo and a child.
Before graduating from Plant in 1990, Nabors sang in the chorus, performed musicals, ran track and played on the basketball team. She was homecoming queen her senior year and voted most humorous and most talented with the most school spirit.
Eight years later, multiple sclerosis struck, confining her to bed for a year. Nabors thought her days of performing were over. The disease, which attacks everyone differently, weakened her muscles to the point of paralysis from the waist down.
But Nabors, 31, didn't let it stop her. She learned to get around in a wheelchair and regained strength so she can walk short distances. Always the performer, she sings at friends' weddings and tells groups what it's like living with a disability.
"You meet the challenge and it's all for the good," Nabors said. "Life is not over because you're in a chair."
A researcher at Bank of America, Nabors volunteers at hospitals and advocates for people with disabilities. She especially likes talking with children so they will know her as a person, not just as disabled.
When Nabors heard about Asher Dance Eclectic from another dancer, she knew it was a perfect fit. After meeting Nabors, founder Elizabeth Edelson felt the same way.
Although Nabors had no professional experience, Edelson saw her potential and cast her as a buffalo in Breaking the Mold, a series of dances that touch on themes, such as animal cruelty, prejudice, cancer, death and sexual relationships.
"Sometimes I see something in somebody and I know they're going to look very good," Edelson said. "I saw it immediately in Joy. She's a beautiful dancer."
Edelson has worked as a therapist for people with disabilities for 15 years. She founded Asher Dance Eclectic five years ago after seeing a similar group, the Cleveland Ballet Dancing Wheels. Edelson has a master's degree in dance music therapy and teaches ballet and jazz classes on Wednesdays to students in wheelchairs.
Nabors said working with the dance group is uplifting. Of the 12 dancers in the performance, five use wheelchairs. All push each other to exceed their limitations.
For Nabors, the show provides a chance to expose serious issues through dance. She brings personal experience to her role as cancer victim; her father died of cancer when whe was 12. Dancing evokes a passion that allows her to transcend her limitations.
"I feel like a different person," she said. "If I can express that with all my heart and soul, then that brings me total joy."
Asher Dance Eclectic presents Breaking the Mold at 8 tonight and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at Plant High School, 2415 S Himes Ave.
Parental discretion is advised. Tickets are $15 at the door or $14 for seniors over 55, students with ID and children 12 and younger.
Tickets can also be purchased by calling 884-6500 or visiting www.madtheatre.com A portion of the proceeds will go to Freedom Playground, a planned playground in Tampa for children of all abilities.
