What do you get when you combine a circus performer and a singer/dancer, both with a history of breast cancer in their families and an interest in paying tribute to the people behind the cause?
In the case of friends Shayna Segal and Annie Graham, you get The Breast Darn Show Period, an event meant to honour the lives of women affected by breast cancer and the people touched by their battles. Their own mothers, both of whom were affected by the disease, inspired the fundraiser, which they first created in 2005 along with Shayna’s sisters, Joelle and Melanie Segal.
"[Annie’s] mother was diagnosed a while before mine, and then mine had it at the time,” says Shayna. “We were both performers — she’s a singer and dancer and I do circus arts, and we thought what’s one way that we can put a show on for our mothers and support breast cancer? When it started off, we thought it was going to be this tiny little backyard event with all our friends together. It just grew.”
Breast Friends Forever 2005
About 500 people came out for that first event, which they titled “Breast Friends Forever” and hosted at the Berkeley Church event space in Toronto. It featured a filmed performace by music group Shaye, and live performances , The Producers’ Sarah Cornell and circus performer Yurii Nadtotchii, former member of Cirque du Soleil and the Moscow Circus. A total of about $30,000 was raised for Gilda’s Club Barrie, a non-profit organization meant to create a place for people touched by cancer for emotional and social support. “It was huge. It was a tremendous success,” Shayna says. “It was more than we could have hoped for. Better than our dreams.”The event also gave Shayna and her sisters the opportunity to pay tribute to their own mother, who passed away in October 2004. A slide show during the night acknowledged her fight with the disease. “That really touched everyone,” Shayna says. “I think we’re going to keep that every time… just as a tribute to all women.”
The Breast Darn Show… Period
The girls behind Breast Friends Forever hope that their second event — currently scheduled for May 17, 2007 at The Fermenting Cellar in Toronto’s Distillery District — pays the same kind of tribute. Already, they have some exciting plans for the night, including a silent auction and a “pink carpet” entrance, complete with paparazzi. In addition to the entertainment itself, which will be continual throughout the night, there will also be a unique “Breastfast at Tiffany’s” treasure hunt, where party-goers will have the opportunity to search out a diamonds hidden in a pile of sand. Proceeds of the 2007 event will go to Willow Breast Cancer Support Canada, an organization dedicated to offering free information and emotional support to those impacted by breast cancer. “We thought, let’s support somebody else this time around,” Shayna says. Planning for the 2007 event is already well underway, and is proving much smoother than the first time, now that the friends have that initial event behind them. They now have non-profit status and hope to continue the fundraiser on a regular basis, though maybe not every year. “We took the two years this time just to sit back and think about it,” Shayna says. But hopefully, she adds, that time for consideration pays off. “I can see it getting better and better each year,” she says.
For information or to order tickets for The Breast Darn Show Period, visit www.breastdarnshowperiod.com.
