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Fitness Duo Stage 'Dance For The Cure'

Klint Lowry/SUNCOAST NEWS

Before the sweating begins at the Dance for the Cure, from left, organizer Anne Bromberg, with “platinum sponsors” Ellen Zellinger of Landon Plastic Surgery and Spa Boutique and Dr. Howard Kahen, co-organizer Michelle Dumovich and Victor Kasatshko, a major contributor to the fundraiser.

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By Klint  Lowry | The Suncoast News

Published: June 10, 2008

TRINITY -- The Deer Park Elementary School cafeteria was open on Saturday morning. Inside, Anne Bromberg and Michelle Dumovich were serving up sweat, with guests lined up at the door early to get their fill.

Bromberg and Dumovich, owners of Harmony Yoga & Pilates Studio, in Trinity, were presenting their inaugural Dancing for the Cure, a fundraiser in the fight against breast cancer.

Guests paid a minimum $20 donation to follow along as a tag team of instructors put them through their paces for 90 minutes. Many were introduced to Zumba, the Salsa-seasoned aerobic style.

Neither Bromberg nor Dumovich have had breast cancer, but it has touched their lives through family members and friends who have. Dumovich's mother, Anne Buccieri, is a two-time cancer survivor, as is one of their students, Lisa Henke. Since her recovery, Henke has won local Race for the Cure events. Spinning teacher Tara Buananno's mother Deborah Dube is a recent survivor who walked the Susan G. Komen 3-day last year.

Another of their students and good friends has been undergoing treatment since having been diagnosed early last year. Bromberg tears welled up as she recalled when this student came in and said she was sorry that she wouldn't be coming to class for a while.

"That was the first time that I had encountered it," Bromberg said Friday at the studio, inside Fusion Fit Club, in the Trinity Village Center on S.R. 54. "It can be a helpless feeling watching someone you care for battle cancer."

Personal stories

With so many personal stories in their lives, Bromberg and Dumovich began putting together the fundraiser in February.

"It's overwhelming all the great things that have happened since we started to do it," Bromberg said.

They quickly picked up 36 corporate sponsors, including three – Landon Plastic Surgery and Spa Boutique, Radiology Associates and MacKinnon Jewelers – that donated at the "platinum" level, $1,000 each. Several sponsors contributed with goods and services, as well.

When they announced the event to the public, they got 50 people saying they would attend within the first week. Dumovich and Bromberg realized their event had already outgrown their original vision. Their studio can only hold about 20 people the most, which prompted them to get permission to use the school cafeteria.

Ellen Zellinger of Landon Plastic Surgery and Spa Boutique came up with another suggestion. As a participant in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day, she knew how difficult it is for many to come up with the $2,500 entry fee for that event. Instead of giving the proceeds directly to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, try to raise $10,000 then select 10 people who plan on participating in the three-day walking event and contribute $1,000 apiece toward their entry fees, Zellinger suggested to Dumovich and Bromberg.

Dancing for the Cure got another turn of good luck when a business associate put them in touch with Victor Kasatchko, who, Bromberg said, became something of an unofficial platinum-level sponsor.

"Victor contacted me and said, 'Hey, Anne, I have these great hats I want to donate to your cause,' " Bromberg said. "I said: "Great. Awesome. Can you drop them off?' "

To her surprise, 150 hats soon arrived. The baseball style caps bear a logo Kasatchko designed and is marketing through his Tarpon Springs-based company, VMK Innovations. The logo consists of the word "Life," with the "L" being the now-familiar looped ribbon symbolizing concern for an issue, turned on its side.

As the event grew in size its format changed, as well. At first, Bromberg said she and Dumovich imagined 90 solid minutes of hard-core exercise.

"The more we talked about it the more we wanted something everybody would be comfortable doing," Bromberg said. Zumba seemed like the best choice – it's popular, anyone can jump right in and it's something that can be adjusted in terms of intensity.

Fitness fun

The event was paced to be as much about fun as about fitness. Dr. Howard Kahem of Radiology Associates led off the event with a brief discussion of breast cancer.

"Sadly, they expect 180,000 new cases this year," he said. "There's going to be approximately 41,000 deaths this year."

If there is something positive to take from that, he said, it's that a large majority of women survive breast cancer today. In fact, he added, for those who catch it in it early stage, there is a five-year survival rate of 98 percent.

Some risk factors are unavoidable, he said. The main two are gender and age. On the other hand, proper diet and exercise can reduce the cancer risk. Above all, he said, be diligent about detection. He recommended monthly self-exams and medical exams at regular intervals.

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