Only six days left!

Only six days remain in my campaign to raise funds for the LLS! 
I can't believe that the ten weeks are almost at an end. Although I have become a bit more competitive, and am hoping that I might have a chance of winning this fundraising competition, I know that the most important part of this campaign is the money we have raised for blood cancer research. I think I am about to reach my fundraising goal, which I honestly thought I had set too high when we started. It's amazing how generous people can be. I am honored and humbled by the depth of generosity shown by my friends and family, as well as people by who I have never even met who have donated to this campaign.


Last week my mother and I were greatly inspired by an event at the Cortona Park Residence, a residence for retired people in Brentwood, California. We were invited to speak about my campaign and to show a video of 54321WPT at Cortona Park by my mother's friend Cherly Ortiz. I didn't realize that she had already spoken to the residents about our campaign, and on arrival she presented me with a donation put together by the residents. This was a wonderful reminder of the power people have when working together, as their combined donations made the residents of Cortona Park one of the biggest donors to my campaign! 

With Cherly Ortiz and my mother, Zivile Rawson

Our presentation was really fun. The room was packed, and the audience seemed truly interested in the story of my treatment and recovery, my campaign for the LLS, the work of the LLS, and my ballet. They were possibly the most appreciative audience that we have had yet for this ballet, gasping at lifts and high leg extensions, clapping out loud at the end of each movement, and offering interesting and insightful commentary after the ballet had finished. Some of the residents also shared with me their personal experiences with the diseases that we are fighting to cure, and those of their families. This was truly moving, and I am more motivated than ever to do what I can in order to support this cause. 

With a resident of Cortona Park

Ballet San Jose has stepped up once again in support of my campaign, and the items that the company has come up with for the silent auction are really fantastic. Principal Dancer Maria Jacobs-Yu has volunteered to do a personal appearance at a "Ballerina Birthday Party." I am so grateful to Maria for her generosity. To have an artist of her caliber attend a little girl's party will be a dream come true, so hopefully this donation will raise a good deal of money for the LLS. 

Maria Jacobs-Yu in "Firebird," Photo by John Gerbetz

Shannon Bynum has donated Pilates lessons to be paired with Harriet McMeekin's GYROTONIC® sessions in a "Work Out with the Dancers" package. A "Ballerina Photo Shoot" is also being offered, in which the winning bidder will have a costume consultation with Ballet San Jose Costume Director and Resident Designer Maggie Heaman, will have hair and makeup done by Ballet San Jose Hair and Makeup Designer Robin Church, and then sit for a photo shoot with portrait artist Paul Tumason. Finally the Ballet San Jose School has donated a series of ten adult ballet classes, and Ballet San Jose has donated two season tickets to the 2010/2011 season. 


The LLS staff seemed pretty excited and impressed by these auction items, and they decided that each candidate's table should have a theme. Mine would obviously be themed to ballet. I'm sure by now this is not a huge surprise to anyone; as a good friend of mine once said when describing me, with me you get "all ballet, all the time!" 


BSJ's Maggie Heaman has agreed to attend the event, and to decorate the table displaying these items. She is going to bring a Tsarina tutu from the Nutcraker, which is pretty amazing to see up close, my Tsarina tiara which I wore onstage, and mountains of tulle to make this table stand out. I am excited to see the result, I know it will be beautiful.


It's been an exciting and inspiring run so far, and I think we really raised a respectable amount of money! I am tempted to give out what I think my total is right now, (although I don't know what exactly is going on with mailed in donations) but I think there's something a bit impolite about that, so I will wait and share only the combined totals of the San Jose candidates. I can't wait to know what that number will be, and I really feel like all of us have made a difference, and that together we are doing something worthwhile and important.

Aqui Fund Raiser

Last week we had a fund raiser at Aqui in downtown Campbell. It was a fun event. The food was good, the company was great,  and we raised some money for a great cause.

Smuin Ballet's Travis Walker and Ballet San Jose dancers Mallory Welsh and Jing Zhang

At this event, I was able to reconnect with a childhood friend who is about to go through a Bone Marrow Transplant as I did in order to treat multiple myeloma. She attended the event with her adorable child and fiancé, and we were all able to spend time with some other amazing friends of ours who are providing housing for this family throughout her treatment. It was inspiring to spend time with another patient such as myself who will be benefitting from the work of the LLS, and with this incredibly generous couple who has offered their home to friends in need.

It was wonderful to spend time with all of you, thank you for coming out to support this important cause! I feel so lucky to have friends like all of you in my life. Your open heartedness inspires me to continue in my effort to make a difference in the lives of those affected by Leukemia, Lymphoma, Myeloma and other blood cancers. 

Silvana and Michael Gold

With Zoë Weitzman

Maria Jacobs-Yu, Jay Jonekait, Pam Jonekait, and Gary Voss, 

behind Silvana and Michael Gold

Silvana Gold and Vanessa

Bettina Sarmiento, Maria Jacobs-Yu and Luke Jaffe

Thomas McKevitt and Mark Young

Bettina Sarmiento and Son

Possibly the most outgoing and friendly little boy I've ever met!

Gareth looks a bit tired, I think I've been wearing him out with

 these social events on top of working 7 days a week. 

Maria and Ben were not tired. They biked to and from the restaurant!

Aqui will send me an email in the next few days to let me know how much money we raised. Thank you so much to all who attended! 

Planning for a Silent Auction

My ten week campaign with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is in its seventh week! I have moved my focus to planning for the final event where I will be able to submit three items to a silent auction. 

People in all departments of Ballet San Jose are helping me put together silent auction items for the Grand Finale Event of the Man and Woman of the Year Campaign to be held on June 18th. 

For our first item, we have put together a work-out package to which the Ballet San Jose School is donating a series of ten adult ballet classes. This will be coupled with a certificate for GYROTONIC® sessions with Certified GYROTONIC® Trainer and Ballet San Jose dancer Harriet McMeekin. 

Harriet McMeekin, Ballet San Jose Dancer and GYROTONIC® Instructor 

As a second item, we are putting together a ballet themed portrait. The sitting and portrait has been donated by local portrait artist  Paul Tumason, makeup and hair styling donated by Robin Church, Ballet San Jose's Hair and Makeup Designer, and tiara/headpiece consultation donated by Maggie Heaman, Costume Director and Resident Designer for Ballet San Jose. This item was inspired by my experience trying on tiaras with the LLS's girl of the year Emily Pepper. She and I had such a great time in the costume shop trying on retired tiaras that I thought that we could create a popular auction package offering people a special experience with the professional wardrobe and makeup staff of Ballet San Jose. 

Our third auction item is to include tickets to future Ballet San Jose performances, and I hope that these three packages do well at the auction. Thank you to everyone at Ballet San Jose for their support in arranging and donating these auction items! 

I apologize if I have not personally thanked you for your mailed in donation. It sounds like things are a bit hectic at the Silicon Valley Chapter of the LLS right now, which is good, because it means that we are raising a good deal of money. But they do not have the staff to keep each candidate updated with a list of donors who mail in donations to the LLS directly, although I am assured that all donations are being accounted for and properly credited and deposited. After June 18th I will receive a list of all donors who have sent in their kind contributions by mail, so I apologize if I don't properly acknowledge your gift to the LLS until then. 

Don't forget to join us at Aqui in downtown Campbell for a fundraiser on May 31st from 4:00pm to 9:00pm! If you bring in this flyer or mention Dalia Rawson, the LLS, or the Man and Woman of the Year Campaign to your server or bartender, Aqui's will donate 20% of your bill to my campaign for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. They will also donate 20% of your takeout order, so if you have other plans, please consider picking up some food for dinner at home or to bring to a barbeque and you will get a great meal and support a great cause. This should be a lot of fun, so I hope to see many of you who live locally on Monday!

May 2nd Donor Appreciation Event

The reception and showing hosted by Ballet San Jose to honor those who have generously donated to my campaign was a resounding success. 


The epic battle I waged with my printer to produce programs (printed on two sides of a piece of paper and in color!) was ultimately successful. I will never again fold up and cram a program into my purse. The Studio E Theater had been straightened up looked wonderful. This work and the tedious labor of arranging chairs was done by Rob Sees; thank you so much Rob for your efforts. 


Guests were warmly greeted at the door and handed a precious program by my father, Eric Rawson, who was said by some observers to have leant an appropriate amount of gravitas to the occasion. 


After the nearly fifty guests had arrived and been seated in the Studio E Theater, School Administrative Director Kristin Bertrand began the program by thanking our sponsors. Ballet San Jose Artistic Director Dennis Nahat, who was in attendance with John Gerbetz and choreographer Donald Mahler, was recognized first, for the generous support offered to my campaign by Ballet San Jose.

John Gerbetz, Donald Mahler, Dennis Nahat and Keira Schwartz

Kristin thanked the Conway family and Margaret Handyside of the downtown Britannia Arms, who supplied the delicious food and wine for the event. Nadja Conway attended the reception with her two beautiful daughters, both of whom have taken lessons at the Ballet San Jose School.

Next Kristin introduced me, and I tried to remember to honor and recognize the many other people who helped so much to make the event successful. Luckily, I had listed them in the program, as I did a pretty poor job of remembering everyone during my speech. One person I forgot to publicly thank was Kristin herself, who has worked along side me each step of this campaign, and without whose organizational skills and support I would be utterly lost. So thank you Kristin!

Kristin Bertrand with 2009 LLS Man of the Year, 

American Music Theater's Michael Miller and his wife Melinda Miller

I went on to try to convey my appreciation to all of the donors present for their generous support of the important work done by the LLS. I gave some details about my own treatment, and the clinical trial in which I participated. This trial involved the use of my own stem cells, which were harvested and then transformed in a laboratory to become "cyto-induced killer cells." If all goes as planned, these cells will be part of my immune system forever, there to recognize and destroy and Hodgkin's Cells in case of recurrence. It is these types of treatments and cures, discovered by research funded by the LLS, that will make the curing of Leukemia, Hodgkin's Disease, Lymphoma and Myeloma so much easier in the future.

I also took the opportunity to recognize my mother, Zivile Rawson, to whom I dedicate my candidacy, and the performance of 54321WPT that was to follow our speeches. 

My husband Gareth Hughes, me, my brother Cliff Rawson, 
Zivile Rawson, Eric Rawson

I told stories about the strength of my mother throughout my time of treatment and recovery. I mentioned that we tried to learn Italian on the way to chemo sessions, that she decorated my hospital room for Christmas and visited me there each day wearing the required mask and gown, and that she stayed with me during each and every doctor visits and treatment session, giving me strength when I had none left, and keeping us both as high spirited as possible. I recounted the story of a terrible day waiting for surgery. We had been in the surgery prep room for five hours due to delays, and when we thought we couldn't last one more minute without losing our minds, my mother brought us to hysterical laughter by dancing for me the choreography of her friend Cherly Ortiz, who had created a dance for their exercise class to perform. I will never forget how my mother managed to turn one of the most difficult days of my treatment into a treasured memory. 

Florence Schwartz with Cheryl Ortiz

My mother was presented with a beautiful bouquet of protea and sunflowers, and went on to speak passionately, thanking those in attendance for donating, and honoring them as heros who are saving lives with their generous donations. 

Next on the program was a showing of my ballet 54321WPT. 

Keira Schwartz and Damir Emric in 54321WPT

Photo by Patrick Tower

My brother Cliff Rawson played the guitar and sang the five beautiful pieces he had composed for this work. Each section of the ballet was created to silence, then filmed and mailed to Cliff in Brooklyn, where he would compose music to the completed choreography. 

In my opinion, this was the best performance of this ballet to date. Ballet San Jose company dancers Lahna Vanderbush, Emily Bromberg, Mallory Welsh, and Jing Zhang were stunning in the sections entitled Five and Three.  

Lahna Vanderbush and Peter Hershey

Emily Bromberg and choreographer Amy Seiwert                                   

Mallory Welsh

Preston Dugger and Jing Zhang

Ballet San Jose School students Nika Jurich, Jessica Wu, Angela Ma and Kaitlyn Estepa were not only charming but also technically impressive (I'm only slightly biased as their teacher) in Four. 

Angela Ma, Kaitlyn Estepa, Nika Jurich, Jessica Wu, Dalia Rawson, Adrienne Bergh

Keira Schwartz and Damir Emric were gorgeous in Two, and Keira outdid herself in the difficult solo One which ended the ballet. 

Damir Emric with his parents

Keira Schwartz enjoying the party

The costumes were a hit, as many people complimented me on them. Thank you to Maggie Heaman for design input and construction, as well as for managing the dancers during this performance and the two previously presented as part of our new venture, The Rawson Project.

James Turk, Sue Howell and Maggie Heaman

After the performance, everyone enjoyed the food and wine donated by the Downtown Brit, and served by volunteers and donors Jamie Gennis and Kara Langer.  

Jamie Gennis and Kara Langer

All of the photos from this event were taken by my wonderful friend, Mark Young, who I can always count on to help out in any situation. Mark, I'm sorry I snapped at you before my speech, and thank you so much for all of your gorgeous photos!

Eric Werness, Maria Jacobs-Yu, Gareth Hughes, 

Elizabeth Svoboda Werness and Mark Young

I had a great time catching up with all of you who were there. I wish that all of you who have donated to this campaign could have been with us to celebrate and so that I could have honored and thanked you in person for your generosity.

Thank you all again for your contributions. Together, we are raising quite a respectable amount of money, and I am no longer totally convinced that we can't win this!

If you would like to see all the photos from the May 2nd campaign, you can view and download them at:

http://gallery.me.com/dalia3001#gallery

A few more photos from the Emily Pepper event:

Please don't be mad at me, Ballet San Jose! 

I know that these Tiaras aren't for general use, but I couldn't help myself. If it makes things any better, they are from the "not in current use" box of tiaras.

Emily Pepper Goes to the Ballet

I just love Emily Pepper. 


First of all, her name should be the name of a heroine of children's books. "Emily Pepper Goes to the Ballet" has best seller written all over it.But more importantly, she is an absolutely wonderful and inspiring girl, and I am thrilled that we at Ballet San Jose could do something special for her.


The Mercury News had a great blurb about the event in the Sal Pizarro column:

Pizarro: Ballet dream comes true for San Jose girl

By Sal Pizarro

spizarro@mercurynews.com

Posted: 04/30/2010 04:06:01 PM PDT

Updated: 04/30/2010 09:36:54 PM PDT

Emily Pepper, the 8-year-old San Jose girl who's the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Girl of the Year, got a special treat Friday.

Ballet San Jose's Dalia Rawson, one of this year's candidates to be the society's Woman of the Year, met fellow cancer survivor Emily last month and found out she's a big ballet fan.

So Rawson invited her to the ballet's downtown studio to see a dress rehearsal of next week's "Spring Repertory 2" show.

While there, Emily received a decorated basket with an invitation from Artistic Director Dennis Nahat to perform a walk-on role in "The Nutcracker" this year.

The basket also included an invitation to attend free classes at Ballet San Jose School, plus a leotard, tights, ballet slippers, a photo of the company dancers and tickets for her family to attend the show's children's matinee at the Center for the Performing Arts next Saturday.

(from the Mercury News, April 31, 2010)

Emily and her mother, Tracy Pepper, along with LLS staff members including Jill Popolizio  attended this event at the ballet San Jose studios. 

When we first walked into Studio E, the big upstairs studio that houses a small theater, everyone, especially Emily seemed a bit overwhelmed. The beauty and athleticism of the dancers, dancing full out at such close range, can be a lot to process. We walked in (making a bit too much noise, oops) during the last minute of a run through of Gaite Parisienne, while ballerina Karen Gabay was dancing a soaring pas de deux . When the dancers were given a ten minute break, we walked into the studio and I introduced Emily to Artistic Director Dennis Nahat and Ballet Master Raymond Rodriguez.

Emily Pepper, Dalia Rawson, Raymond Rodriguez and Dennis Nahat

Then ballerina Catharine Grow presented Emily with the basket that I had put together with the help of almost every department of the Ballet San Jose Staff.  

Ballet San Jose dancers Emily Bromberg, Willie Anderson, Kaleena Opdyke, Sarah Stein, 

Harriet McMeekin, Brieanna Olson, and Amy Briones with Emily Pepper and myself

She was delighted with the pointe shoes from Karen Gabay that had been worn onstage during a performance, was impressed with her new school uniform and excited about starting free classes at the school. She wanted to wear her new ballet slippers right away, so I was very happy that the size was correct.

Best of all was the certificate signed by Dennis Nahat offering her a chance to appear onstage next year in a walk on role in the Party Scene of the Nutcracker! She was thrilled by this, and kept telling people with a wide-eyed look of joy that she was going to be in the Party Scene. I thought this was fantastic, and showed great judgment on her part, as the Party Scene is certainly the very best scene to be in. 

After opening the basket, we watched an incredible run-through of Balanchine's Agon. The company looks fantastic in this ballet. Maria Jacobs-Yu and Hao Bo in the central pas de deux show stunning technique and artistry, and a strength and passion that I found unexpected and true delight to watch. The men of the company, especially Preston Dugger and Shimon Ito were crisp, athletic and truly impressive, and I was particularly pleased to see Mallory Welsh shine in a featured solo and trio. She has a unique way of moving simply that I find perfectly suited to Balanchine choreography, and it was a treat to see her featured in one of the biggest roles she has danced with the company to date.  

After Agon, we watched Anthony Tudor's Continuo, a beautiful ballet for three couples which showcases Cynthia Sheppard, Brieanna Olson and Emily Bromberg,  all of whom look lovely in the work. In this instance, I was glad that there was something a bit lighter to follow Agon, which might have been a bit heavy for an eight year old with its complex Stravinsky score and abstract somewhat confrontational choreography.

After Continuo, we took a quick tour of the ballet building, stopping on the stairs to play "find Dalia" in the hundreds of photos of past productions taken by John Gerbetz, company photographer, that are on the stairway walls.  We visited the beautiful dance studios that used to be basketball courts, ballrooms and a swimming pool in our historic building, formerly athletic club built in the 1920's. In each studio, Emily would wait until the adults weren't looking and then practice leaping and spinning as she had seen the dancers do upstairs.

We visited the school lobby where Emily met my friend Kristin Bertrand, the Administrative Director of our school who welcomed her officially to the Ballet San Jose School. Emily saw students around her age stretching, chatting, and getting ready for class.

The best stop of our tour  was in the Ballet Costume Shop. The ladies of the shop are the ones who decorated Emily's basket with tulle, for which she thanked them very politely, showing lovely manners.

We went downstairs to where they hide the tiaras that are currently not being used by the Tsarinas in the Nutcracker, including my own beloved Tsarina tiara. Seriously, they need to give me that tiara. I love it so much, and nobody's wearing it! I visit it often. Emily and I tried on the beautiful tiaras and looked at ourselves in the special makeup mirror used by our wig and makeup supervisor Robin Church. We had a wonderful time. 

This gave me a great idea for a silent auction item that I am going to try to arrange for the final event of the LLS campaign. Don't you think it would be a great package to purchase a ballerina makeover where official Ballet San Jose staff does your hair and makeup complete with Tiara and then you have portraits taken? I'm not sure this would be possible, but I think it would be cool.

I had a wonderful time with Emily on Friday. This was a truly special experience, and I am so thrilled to have been able to meet this inspiring young lady and to introduce her to the world of Ballet San Jose.

Tracy and Emily Pepper

What a long post this is, and I haven't even touched on yesterday's showing and reception! 

For now I will just say that I think the event was a complete success. The dancers and musician gave their best performance of 54321WPT to date, and the event was well attended by friends, family and many honored guests. I will post many more details about this event as soon as I get photos back from Mark Young, whom I conscripted to photograph the reception. Thank you so much to Kristin Bertrand, my brother Cliff Rawson, the dancers, Mark Young, Jamie Gennis and Kara Langer, the downtown Brit, Ballet San Jose and everyone else who made this event successful! Yikes I have a lot of people to thank!