Previews: THE VETERANS CREATIVE ARTS SHOWCASE At Straz Center

Coming to the beautiful Straz Center Riverwalk is The Veterans Creative Arts Showcase on Saturday, March 4, 5-730 PM. A social hour will be for the first hour under the Riverwalk Tent, followed by performances on the Riverwalk Stage.

In collaboration with the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital and Bay Pines VA Healthcare Systems, the free public annual event showcases local veterans' fine art, music, writing, dance, and theatre talents. The event highlights the therapeutic use of the arts in healing the mind, body, and soul.

Among the participants are Wendy Major-Condacure, Victor Perez, and Theo Rooding.

Wendy is a 1st place national winner in the category of mixed media that used storytelling through movement, dance, and videos of her recovery journey from post-amputation below the knee.

She will show a video from working with a dance/movement therapist. It depicts her going overseas and the dancing she did, the dance therapy she taught to other soldiers, what her leg looked like before amputation and after the surgery, putting on a prosthetic for the first time, walking again, and even playing sled hockey, and definitely returning to her first love - dancing.

"I was in rehab when I had my leg amputation done on September 30, 2021. During my stay at James A. Haley Hospital, they brought in dance movement therapy. The biggest thing I wanted to do was to get back to dancing."

She was invited to create a video of her progression.

"I created a short film of about three and a half minutes and submitted it to the creative arts festival for a multimedia presentation. I think I wanted to make a statement. I want to show people that just because you have certain circumstances in your life doesn't mean you can do the things you love. I had no idea this would go to nationals or place at nationals."

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Victor combines visual storytelling, original music, script writing, and voiceover narration to share his recovery story after a stroke in 2022. He created his short film, "Why The Stroke," in music therapy during his hospital rehabilitation and won first place at nationals in the special recognition category. This film will show his journey as he re-learns how to walk independently.

"It's like a music video or small movie," said Victor. "There's a lot of talent in this group that seems to be growing every year. I've never done this before. I love the whole creative process. I think music therapy is probably one of the best therapies because you are not only doing something you like, but you can keep playing with it until you think it is good. I hope somebody hears my story and it helps him to think, 'wow, this guy went through a lot. Maybe it will inspire them to think I might get there' because, with a stroke, you never know. Music takes your mind away from the problems that you are having. You can look at things differently when you put it to music."

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Theo is a third-place national winner in the category of instrumental rock with his rendition of "Piano Man" by Billy Joel. He will perform an original song and his award-winning cover on guitar.

"I have a mindful meditative piece that helps me recenter and find some calm, and the other piece I'm performing is the acoustic guitar cover," Theo explained. "Being able to confront difficult feelings and thoughts while playing some sort of music to either express the difficult feeling or to comfort myself while I'm working through it - just being able to sit with it and process it instead of shoving it back down to build further has been huge."

Theo said that he was looking forward to sharing something positive and kind.

When asked what he wanted the audience to take away from his performance, Theo paused briefly before answering - "Hope."

For more information, visit www.strazcenter.org

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