The Enduring Passion for Flamenco
Preface
As my photo essays evolve, I typically focus on causes such as homelessness and multiple sclerosis, and on social commentary such as prejudice and diversity.
After reading one of my photo essays, I got a call from Rodolfo Leon-Paez, a former business colleague. He asked if I would consider doing a story on flamenco. I had known for years that he is a flamenco dancer, but had never seen him perform.
I was intrigued because I’ve been interested in doing a story on the arts. But as always, I’m not interested in telling the obvious story that is readily found elsewhere. My goal it to tell “the story within the story”! After researching flamenco it became clear that the heart of flamenco is passion. This speaks to me because of the passion I feel for doing photo essays. In the spirit of social commentary, I saw this as an opportunity to speak about the wonders, as well as the trials and tribulations of passion.
The source for this story is interviews with Rodolfo and with his teacher Victorio Korjhan, a famous flamenco dancer who graciously agreed to participate. They also gave me the opportunity to photograph a lesson. As has been the case with participants in many of my photo essays, they allowed me to capture who they are!
As you read this story, think about a passionate pursuit in your life: how does it drive you; does it bring you joy or frustration or maybe both; what would you like to do that you haven't yet done with your passionate pursuit? If you don’t have passion in your life, perhaps you might decide that it’s time if such a pursuit would fit your individual temperament and life circumstances.
As my photo essays evolve, I typically focus on causes such as homelessness and multiple sclerosis, and on social commentary such as prejudice and diversity.
After reading one of my photo essays, I got a call from Rodolfo Leon-Paez, a former business colleague. He asked if I would consider doing a story on flamenco. I had known for years that he is a flamenco dancer, but had never seen him perform.
I was intrigued because I’ve been interested in doing a story on the arts. But as always, I’m not interested in telling the obvious story that is readily found elsewhere. My goal it to tell “the story within the story”! After researching flamenco it became clear that the heart of flamenco is passion. This speaks to me because of the passion I feel for doing photo essays. In the spirit of social commentary, I saw this as an opportunity to speak about the wonders, as well as the trials and tribulations of passion.
The source for this story is interviews with Rodolfo and with his teacher Victorio Korjhan, a famous flamenco dancer who graciously agreed to participate. They also gave me the opportunity to photograph a lesson. As has been the case with participants in many of my photo essays, they allowed me to capture who they are!
As you read this story, think about a passionate pursuit in your life: how does it drive you; does it bring you joy or frustration or maybe both; what would you like to do that you haven't yet done with your passionate pursuit? If you don’t have passion in your life, perhaps you might decide that it’s time if such a pursuit would fit your individual temperament and life circumstances.
Introduction
Of the many pleasures one can have in life, passion must surely be high on the list. There are many ways to define passion. The definition found on Wikipedia ties passion to emotion:
- Passion (from the Greek verb πασχω meaning to suffer) is a very strong feeling about a person or thing. Passion is an intense emotion, a compelling enthusiasm or desire for something. Passion may be a friendly or eager interest in or admiration for a proposal, cause, discovery, or activity or love – to a feeling of unusual excitement, enthusiasm or compelling emotion, a positive affinity or love towards a subject….
Stated simply, it’s something a person wants to be involved with all the time! It’s a hobby on steroids!!
As wonderful as passion can be, the Greek word implies it can be accompanied by suffering because things rarely work as we might hope. Passion is often stalked by risk, failure, loss, not being good enough. The premise is that in most cases the good outweighs the bad and that passion experienced in a heathy way is a valued part of a life well lived.
The purpose of this photo essay is to offer an example of a passionate pursuit in the hope that readers will find ways to more fully explore their passion for something if it already exists, or perhaps to find something to be passionate about if that part of life is missing.
Passion can be about so many different things such as the arts, sports, causes, religion, professions, people, and even life itself. For this photo essay I have chosen the passion for a particular art form: flamenco! Many different pursuits could be used to exemplify passion, but few would rise to the level of flamenco because it was born from emotion and dedicated practitioners seem to have extraordinary passion for their art.
What is Flamenco?
From Wikipedia:
- Flamenco (Spanish pronunciation: flaˈmeŋko) is an art form native to the Spanish regions of Andalusia, Extremadura and Murcia. It includes cante (singing), toque (guitar playing), baile (dancing), jaleo (vocalizations), palmas (handclapping) and pitos (finger snapping).
- First mentioned in literature in 1774, the genre originates in Andalusian music and dance styles. Flamenco is strongly associated with the gitanos (Romani people of Spain). However unlike Romani music of eastern Europe, the style is distinctively Andalusian and the fusion of the various cultures of southern Spain is clearly perceptible in flamenco music.
- Although there are many theories on its influences and origins, the most widespread highlights a Morisco heritage, the cultural melting pot that was Andalusia at the time (Andalusians, Moors, Castilian settlers, Romanis and Jews) fostering its development over time.
- Flamenco music, as a theatrical representation of Andalusian musical tradition, was first recorded in the late 18th century but the genre underwent a dramatic development in the late 19th century.
- In recent years, flamenco has become popular all over the world and is taught in many non-Hispanic countries, especially United States and Japan. In Japan, there are more flamenco academies than there are in Spain. UNESCO declared flamenco one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
There are a number of videos that do an excellent job of telling the history and showing examples of flamenco. Here are two excellent videos- watch at least the first before proceeding so that that you will get a sense of the passion for flamenco:
- 10 minute overview from UNESCO/Intangible Cultural Heritage Section: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEJAQuEgGzQ
- 60 minute history from the BBC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FXmbqxT0IA
This photo essay focuses on two flamenco dancers (bailores)- a master and a student. They both share intense passion for their art and the need for excellence and perfection, but their specific challenges are so very different:
- For the master: "Can I resist the wounds of time to remain the true person that I am?"
- For the student: "Can I ever be good enough; can I give myself permission to break free of the constraints I feel?"
For both the master and the student, it’s “The Enduring Passion for Flamenco” that drives them on their unending quest for perfection in the face of many challenges.
The Master: Victorio Korjhan
Victorio was born in the Greenwich Village section of New York City. After a short lived career as a boxer where his agility and strength were assets, but his reluctance to hurt people was not, Victorio pursued a career in dance. Winning a scholarship at Juilliard, he built an extraordinary career as a performer (he was a soloist at the Metropolitan Opera), a choreographer, a coach for athletes, singers and dancers, a playwright, and a teacher. His professional biography can be seen on his website (flamencowithvictorio.com).
Dance has always been a passion for Victorio, but something was missing. He saw the movie "Sombrero" which he describes as a bad movie but with great dancing by José Greco, then the most famous Spanish dancer in the world: “I just wanted to learn this because it touched me; flamenco has a passion that I never found in other art forms; classical dance can actually be very cold!” In that moment the flame of Victorio’s passion for flamenco was lit. It burns just as brightly these many years later.
Victorio left the Metropolitan Opera and boarded a boat for Spain to live with a Gypsy who would give him his first flamenco dance lessons. He didn't feel this was a risky move and he didn't feel courageous: “As the boat pulled out of the harbor I felt free; I wasn't happy in New York and I didn't have a happy childhood so when I got on that boat I thought my life was just starting!”… Passion calls people to action!
Measuring Victorio’s passion for flamenco: Having reached a stage in life where he could justifiably retire, Victorio teaches flamenco, does choreography for films, and continues performing which evolves to suit his capabilities as he ages.
The Student: Rodolfo Leon-Paez
Born in Mexico, Rodolfo is a business executive in Connecticut.
His path to flamenco began as a child: “There were so many celebrations at my parent’s home in Mexico City; the traditional music and dancing caught my attention and I began listening to LPs as a young child.”
Years later after he came to the States, his wife, whose father was Andalusian, started to take flamenco classes: “She invited me to a recital; I cried when I saw her dance and I knew I wanted to try and that was ten years ago.” But his wife’s teacher wouldn't take him as a student: “Unlike in Spain where flamenco is very well accepted, very few men do flamenco in the U.S. because of the stigma that such men must be gay; that never bothered me because I know who I am!”
A year later he found a teacher: Alessandra Greco, the daughter José Greco who inspired Victorio- such an amazing coincidence!! That began his life long passion for flamenco.
Measuring Rodolfo’s passion for flamenco: He practices up to one hour everyday in his basement studio; once a week he travels ninety minutes each way for a three hour class in Connecticut, and bi-weekly he travels to upper Manhattan for a two hour private lesson with Victorio. All this is in addition to his business, family and church responsibilities. Rodolfo and his wife have already agreed that they will retire to Seville, Spain: “Then I can dance eight hours a day!”
The Core of Their Passion for Flamenco
An internet search of flamenco finds descriptions similar to that described above. There is the history and various artistic components like dance and guitar. A deeper look reveals the cultural and emotional foundations of flamenco.
Victorio and Rodolfo were interviewed separately, yet their input was very similar. Remarkably, their definitions do not relate directly to flamenco. They both focused on the personal value that flamenco offers- self expression and spirituality are at the core of their passion:
- Victorio: “It’s a form of expressing all of your emotions completely… That’s why Japanese people are drawn to flamenco because their culture suppresses anger and emotion!”
- Rodolfo: “An expression of art and reality; body in movement… Coming to equilibrium with myself; escaping to a spiritual realm.”
Both of these definitions of flamenco were unexpected, but it was particularly unexpected for Victorio. Here’s a man who has dedicated much of his life to dance with a major portion focused on the extreme rigors of flamenco, yet his definition had nothing to do with technique. It’s clear that flamenco takes these dancers to a place they can’t get to in any other way. Their passion for reaching these heights drives them to stretch themselves in their art as far as they can. It’s a deep desire to find their true selves. With that understood, their enormous efforts to excel as flamenco dancers become easy to understand. Passion takes huge commitment which is not to be wasted on small goals.
Duende is a term often used to describe the emotional state associated with flamenco. As different as Victorio and Rodolfo are, they described the essence of duende in very similar ways:
- Rodolfo: “It gets inside of you; it’s a state of mind- being yourself, it only lasts for seconds; it’s not why I dance but if it happens it’s a good thing… You get there accidentally when you get rid of ego and limitations as a person and you become vulnerable; you have to use your passion to liberate yourself from the technique of flamenco dancing.”
- Victorio: “Black people call it soul; it’s the absolute essence of a human being expressing the deepest part of themselves; I don't always feel it in a performance- duende decides when it’s going to come; Buddhism tell us to get to the point where the mind stops and you are living in a pure state of consciousness of who you really are.”
Readers: If you have a passionate pursuit, what is at the core? If you have a core need, is there a pursuit that might allow you to achieve it?…. Have you ever found duende; has duende ever found you?
The Student's Passion for Flamenco
Flamenco provides balance in all aspects of Rodolfo’s life including the pressures of work. At lunch his earphones go on for flamenco music. He’s been dancing for ten years with increased intensity as time goes on: “Flamenco allows me to communicate- it allows me to express feelings that I can’t in any other way; it helps me find my potential as a human being; when my body moves it pacifies me and my pride and stress come out of me.”
He has a deep desire to conquer his art, and not be conquered by it. He wants to be as good as his teachers, but he knows what it means to try too hard: “I did well in school, but it wasn’t easy- it cost me… In flamenco if I try too hard it disrupts my success and my teacher will tell me to cool down if I’m trying too hard for perfection; I will practice one specific move for hours that only lasts seven seconds in a performance; I’m both drained and invigorated when I’m done.
It’s obvious that developing his art is filled with challenges and he is hard on himself: “To be successful I have to break both the physical and mental paradigms in myself so that I can be transformed as a person; the teacher gives me a routine to do and I can do it a thousand times but it doesn't work the way they want, and that’s because I’m rigid and stubborn- I have to be more like a sponge.” But even with these challenges, he is very clear about what flamenco means to him: “It’s developing me as a person- it heals me… It’s my therapy!!”
In some ways Rodolfo feels that his development is stuck at a certain point: “I keep looking at videos but maybe I’m just copying others- I don’t feel innovative yet; I need to have a leap of faith and be willing to take the risk that I could be wounded if I try something new; if I were really liberated I wouldn't care, but I’m not there yet; I can’t yet put flamenco into my own image.”
One of his teachers told him that he is not ready for a solo performance: “That hit me very hard and hurt my pride, but it triggered me to go to a higher level and that’s why I chose Victorio for private lessons several months ago- I felt he could help me take the next step.”
Rodolfo knows that he will never be the best flamenco dancer, but at the same time he can’t accept that he will never get there: “I don't care that I will never get to the best stages in Spain, but I don’t accept my limitations and it’s not a deterrent…. Accepting my skills liberates me from my paradigms and artificial goals to be the best; it’s OK to do something that just enhances your life- it’s OK!!!
Listening to Rodolfo I got the feeling that he is conflicted on this issue: he knows he will never be the best and that is liberating, but at the same time he will not accept it and keeps pressing on as though there were a Lincoln Center performance on the horizon! For some people, the acceptance of not having the highest skills could cause a loss of passion, but not Rodolfo: “Passion overcomes everything- passion is the energy needed to overcome your weaknesses; it overcomes the reality that you can’t be the best at something- it keeps you going- passion is the driver”. It’s also liberating that he is not doing flamenco to make a living: ”I don’t need to be in that rat race- it’s just about developing myself to be the best that I can and to show my real self in any performance I give!” This is clearly the core of his passion for flamenco: being his very best and showing his real self.
Rodolfo has proven that his skills can result in great contributions: “I combined flamenco with my business skills to run two fund raisers for my church; I convinced so many people to get on board and even convinced a flamenco guitar player to support me for a very low charge; we raised more than $5000 for the poor at each of the events; everyone loved my performance and no one said my skills weren’t good enough; I performed well and we helped a good cause- it can’t get any better than that!!… Flamenco has boosted my confidence in many ways- it’s more easy for me to speak in front of groups and before flamenco it would have been unthinkable for me to organize such a fundraiser.”
Rodolfo frequently returns to the limitations he feels: “I know I won’t get invited to perform at Lincoln Center, but I want to keep the fantasy alive- the fantasy keeps me going- maybe I’m ridiculous! (To Rodolfo and everyone else who has passion about something they love- never give up the fantasy!!)
ln fact, Rodolfo revealed that he is considering entering an upcoming competition for amateur flamenco dancers. Ten finalist will perform at Lincoln Center: “I’m not sure I’m ready for that move, but I’m thinking about it!” Even if he is not selected, the performance he would develop could be used in other venues.
Readers: If you have your own “Lincoln Center” opportunity- take it!!
The Master’s Passion for Flamenco
Victorio is in the twilight of a long and very successful career as a dancer and choreographer. At his height he was a beautiful sight to see and his performances were amazing. His website offers several videos that show his greatness: http://www.flamencowithvictorio.com/#!videos/hddvc. Watch and listen to the percussion of his feet and hands, both in perfect unison with the guitar and singer.... Vintage images of Victorio:
Given the extreme technical skills required to perform at such a level, it’s surprising to hear Victorio say that emotion is more important: “Flamenco is unique in that emotions are more important than technique; in ballet you can be as cold as ice on stage where the technique can overwhelm the emotion; but in flamenco, emotion is the master of the technique which provides the framework or shape to express that emotion; some artists will get so obsessed with technique that they lose the essence of dance which is the expression of emotion; I feel fortunate when I can get the emotion and technique working together, but that doesn't always happen.”
Victorio’s distinction between emotion and technique provides insight into his passion for flamenco: “On stage you are expressing emotion about something you are struggling with, but the steps that are choreographed have to be done very precisely; if it’s not precise it will diminish the emotional impact; at some point the mind takes over and you are not aware of the technique; if you are aware of the technique, the mind hasn't fully taken over- that's why dancers practice so much to make the technique become secondary!”
How does Victorio teach this balance to his students: “The teacher only teaches technique; I only respond about emotion when students ask me; the student has to find it for themselves and some people never get there; most students come to learn to dance- they don’t say they are coming to learn how to express their emotions; some people don’t have the innate talent to get to their emotions through flamenco!”… And this may well be the distinction between a hobby and a passionate pursuit!
For Victorio, the passion for flamenco is about his identity, both real and portrayed: “It’s the best way of presenting one’s self for who you are; there are no barriers in terms what what you can express on stage- you can laugh or cry; dancers can create an impression of themselves on stage as confident but in reality they are an abomination; we present our ideal image- it’s an expression of the image I would like to portray to people, but in reality I don’t live up to that image because I have my weaknesses; unlike painting where the artist is unseen, the flamenco dancer is directly and physically connected to their work for everyone to see.”
As a non-professional, Rodolfo struggles with the limits of his skills- but what about a professional: “Even at my peak, 95% of the time I struggled with being only as good as I could be; I was always frustrated that I didn't come through to the audience because I was inhibited or that I failed technically; everyone experiences doubt in some way; the average dancer struggles with doubt- ‘I’m failing; I’m not coming across’.”
How did he deal with these feeling: “I got depressed and miserable and sometimes broke down back stage; there were many times that I was disappointed that I didn't get to that idealistic level when we are as good as we want to be- this is about life, not just about art… But the compensation was that when I did a great performance, I knew it!!”
Victorio shares a theme that is common for so many people- the feeling of being unworthy as a child: “That’s why people work so hard in order to overcome their sense of unworthiness; the tragedy for some people is that even when they get to the highest level, they can’t get rid of that feeling; but for some people it’s a great victory when in spite of their fear and doubt, they are able to get to a level that they didn't think they could achieve- that’s life sustaining!!!”
Victorio believes that he is at his best when his thoughts take a rest: “I’m better off when I don’t use my mind, except when I write; the negative thoughts can creep in when I dance because of insecurity- who’s out there watching me and am I going to do OK tonight; my former partner told me to forget about what people think, but it’s hard to get there; I was able to fool people into thinking that I was as confident as I appeared… The longest journey is passing the logic of the mind to the heart!!!”
This opens the door to Victorio’s greatest challenge- the impact of time: “In most cases there is no time limit unless you get dementia, but in the physical arts the abilities decline the fastest and it’s very sad!” He spoke of the great Fred Astaire who retired from dancing at fifty seven. For athletes it’s even worse- old age can set in at a very young age!
But Victorio keeps his flame for flamenco burning long after others would have let it cool. His solution is to evolve his performance to be more emotional and less physical- he is literally reinventing himself and creating new possibilities- even becoming a better artist! But that is not to say he easily accepts this reality: “I still dream of being the same person that I was, but I know it’s bad to want to go back to the past- but so many people do that!… So I keep the passion alive by performing as much as I can and by teaching; a student of mine recently performed a solo I choreographed for her, and the ovation she received in the theater made me feel very proud of her!!… In some ways my passion for flamenco is more intense today because it’s being threatened by time which wasn’t an issue when I was in my 30’s!”
Among his many artistic talents, Victorio is a poet. “Beyond the Barriers of Time” is his poignant expression of the wound he feels due to the passing of time: “It’s about me dealing with time and age; no one would speak about it but in a poem it’s safe; the poem asks if life and the beauty of a woman are still attainable to me; this is how we confront the problem- we do it through our art; Picasso addressed this with his death mask!”
Beyond the Barriers of Time
I am humbled by her presence.
By her ineffable beauty and mournful eyes.
And by her hands that move like threads of light
through the darkness of the night.
I am possessed by her radiance.
By the sensual contours of her body
that enclose me within the realm
of her ancient world.
And here I stand; an aging Zorro.
A lonely, hopeless fool
grasping at youth,
in remembrance
of a time gone by.
Do I dare approach her?
Do I dare humiliate time
by becoming the man I once was?
I am humbled by her presence.
By her ineffable beauty and mournful eyes.
And by her hands that move like threads of light
through the darkness of the night.
I am possessed by her radiance.
By the sensual contours of her body
that enclose me within the realm
of her ancient world.
And here I stand; an aging Zorro.
A lonely, hopeless fool
grasping at youth,
in remembrance
of a time gone by.
Do I dare approach her?
Do I dare humiliate time
by becoming the man I once was?
Because flamenco allows Victorio to express what he could not in other ways, he turned his poem into a performance: “People are often very touched by the poem because they realize it is a reflection of the human condition.”
Victorio’s advice for people when their capabilities diminish: “Create another area to express yourself; it can be teaching to pass on what you’ve learned and that can be very creative; teachers love teaching and seeing their students become good artists…. For people in different professions, find other avenues for your passion- for me it’s writing and photography.”
For people who don’t have a passion in their life: “They may be content as they are; it may be that they just have a passion for living… If someone said to me that we could take away all of your artistry but you would live every day of your life as the true self you are, I would take it in a minute; take it all away but let me walk through the streets feeling happy every day, that would be the greatest gift of all!!!… While such an offer could never exist, Victorio’s passion for flamenco has been the next best thing!!
The Lesson
Victorio teaches group classes at a studio in Midtown Manhattan. He offers private lessons at his home in Upper Manhattan. The studio is his living room equipped with the essentials: a mirror, plywood on the floor, and a boombox for music. Victorio and Rodolfo graciously invited me to photograph their two hour session.
The Master demonstrates as the Student follows. With Rodolfo's palmas (clapping) they release explosive energy to smack their nail-studded flamenco boots onto the wood. Luckily Victorio lives on the ground floor because it's loud!!
The Master demonstrates as the Student follows. With Rodolfo's palmas (clapping) they release explosive energy to smack their nail-studded flamenco boots onto the wood. Luckily Victorio lives on the ground floor because it's loud!!
Rodolfo takes center stage: "In the mirror I see myself both physically and emotionally; I not only see myself, I see into myself… It's therapy I can't get in any other way."
With steely-eyed intensity, he twists to the left.
With softening, he twists to the right.
He's no longer in Victorio's home…
He's on the top stage in Spain!
Victorio steps in at the exact moment: "That's perfect Rodolfo!!”
In an act of generosity and confidence, Victorio asks Rodolfo to try on one of his prized jackets for a future performance.... Rodolfo sees the dancer he dreams to be!!
What We Learn from These Passionate Bailores
Rodolfo and Victorio express feelings that most people have, but keep silent. They face nothing more than any of us face: insecurity about our skills and uncertainty about who we really are; loss of capabilities as we age or face illness. They teach us that it takes energy and courage to face these challenges. They teach us that passion is the energy that can keep us going and allows us to reach higher than we ever thought possible… But this begs the question about what is the highest level and what it means to be the best. Will our success be measured by others such as audiences and judges, or by ourselves? This is a very difficult question that each of us has to answer!
Each raised a question about themselves:
Having spent time with them I would have to say absolutely no! Saying yes would be giving in and that is not in their nature!… Most of us will ask such questions of ourselves at some point. If you are passionate in a healthy way, you can never be ridiculous or hopeless.
We spoke about a most extraordinary example of passion triumphing over adversity: theoretical physicist and cosmologist, Stephen Hawking. In spite of a body that has failed him due to ALS, Professor Hawking’s passion for figuring out how the universe works keeps him alive, vital and productive at a level that few could hope to achieve. For most of us, our challenges pale by comparison.
We also learn that passion doesn't come for free. While the highs are higher because of passion’s energy, the lows are also lower because of passion’s energy. Loss of some kind is always just around the corner. But for those lucky enough to have a passionate pursuit, the reward is worth it… This reminds me of Eugene Smith, the father of the photo essay who said: “Passion is in all great searches and is necessary to all creative endeavors.” His life was both driven and tortured by the passion for his work- but what a legacy he created!
Readers: Remember Victorio, Rodolfo, Stephen, Eugene, and others like them whenever you feel your passion is shaken by doubt… never let the flame go out!
Each raised a question about themselves:
- Rodolfo: “Is my fantasy of dancing on great stages ridiculous?”
- Victorio: “Is grasping at youth hopeless?”
Having spent time with them I would have to say absolutely no! Saying yes would be giving in and that is not in their nature!… Most of us will ask such questions of ourselves at some point. If you are passionate in a healthy way, you can never be ridiculous or hopeless.
We spoke about a most extraordinary example of passion triumphing over adversity: theoretical physicist and cosmologist, Stephen Hawking. In spite of a body that has failed him due to ALS, Professor Hawking’s passion for figuring out how the universe works keeps him alive, vital and productive at a level that few could hope to achieve. For most of us, our challenges pale by comparison.
We also learn that passion doesn't come for free. While the highs are higher because of passion’s energy, the lows are also lower because of passion’s energy. Loss of some kind is always just around the corner. But for those lucky enough to have a passionate pursuit, the reward is worth it… This reminds me of Eugene Smith, the father of the photo essay who said: “Passion is in all great searches and is necessary to all creative endeavors.” His life was both driven and tortured by the passion for his work- but what a legacy he created!
Readers: Remember Victorio, Rodolfo, Stephen, Eugene, and others like them whenever you feel your passion is shaken by doubt… never let the flame go out!
Final Thoughts
This photo essay caused me to reflect back on other stories where I profiled people. What I realized is that each of these people are totally passionate about what they’re doing:
- Living with MS: Multiple sclerosis patient Fred Schwartz is so passionate about helping find a cure that he skydived twice to raise money.
- Living Trans: Transgender man Jayden Hensley is so passionate about living his true self that he dedicates himself to helping others in transition as well as their families.
- Depaul House: The staff is so passionate about helping homeless men regain an independent life that they commit personally to each client’s success.
- Therapy Dog: Dee Quell is so passionate about giving back that she and her wonderful dog Barney dedicate themselves to helping people from second graders to seniors.
And I’m so passionate about telling their stories!!
End
Published June 19, 2016; Revised August 9, 2016