I don’t remember the specific day my grandfather forgot my name, but I remember the light in his big brown eyes fading, and I remember him no longer being able to prepare his famous Cream of Wheat for breakfast. I remember grieving him while he was still alive – my grandfather suffered from early onset dementia. I was in middle school when he passed away, but I can still recall struggling to explain his death to my younger family members.
How do you have those uncomfortable conversations with younger ones? Akron choreographer Dominic Moore-Dunson is taking on these difficult and uncomfortable conversations with a new children’s production, “The Remember Balloons.”
The production takes its title from a picture book written by Jessie Oliveros and illustrated by Dana Wulfekotte. The book follows a young boy named James whose grandfather is losing his memories, which are represented by different balloons. The grandfather eventually lets go of all his balloons, including a silver one that represents a special memory with James, who runs to collect the balloons. Grandpa’s memories then become James’ to share and cherish.
Moore-Dunson first encountered “The Remember Balloons” while visiting the Northwest Akron Branch Library with his family. Drawn to a shelf labeled “Children’s stories about difficult topics,” he was intrigued by the cover, which shows a grandfather, grandson and dog, all drawn in black and white, holding balloons in bright colors. Grandpa is sitting in his rocking chair with the little boy standing beside him.
Intrigued, Moore-Dunson began reading. “I quickly realized the book was about Alzheimer’s, and by the end of the book I’m bawling in the middle of the children’s section in the library.” He shared the book with his wife, Ashley Moore-Dunson, who had the same reaction, and told him about her own memory of the day her grandmother forgot Ashley’s name.
“We are high school sweethearts and have been together for 16 years, married for five, and I had never heard that story,” Moore-Dunson said. He was so inspired by the book and his conversation with his wife that, later that day, he reached out to the author and pitched the idea of bringing the book to the stage. Soon after, Moore-Dunson secured exclusive North American rights to make “The Remember Balloons” into a stage production.
Moore-Dunson is an award-winning choreographer, professional dancer, producer and teaching artist. He is listed among Dance Magazine’s 2023 “25 To Watch” and received the 2019 Cleveland Arts Prize Emerging Artist Award for Theatre and Dance.
After securing the rights to the book, Moore-Dunson enlisted jazz musician and University of Akron Assistant Professor of Practice Theron Brown to compose the music for the production. The two have embarked on the difficult task of shedding light on the topic of Alzheimer’s while maintaining the integrity and dignity of the characters in the book.
“One of the things we realize is that the conversation about Alzheimer’s is so complex, there’s, like, so many layers in every portion of it,” Moore-Dunson said. “Like, what does it mean to be a caregiver, what does it mean to be the person who’s cared for, how do we make sure the grandfather still has a sense of dignity, how do you validate the feeling that the young boy has when he gets frustrated?”
Through music and choreography, Moore-Dunson sees the show bringing “some of the complexities of Alzheimer’s” to the story. “We are really focusing on making sure caregivers and the cared-for’s lived experiences are seen throughout the piece,” he said. “For example, we understand the mood swings of people who have Alzheimer’s disease, and we will allow Grandpa to have those full experiences in a way the book doesn’t describe.”
Moore-Dunson is hoping to start touring the show nationally in the fall of 2024 and plans on including Akron as one of the stops. The show will take on a dance theater form — the work is still at an early stage in both the choreography and music composition parts of the production.
For more information about Dominic Moore-Dunson and “The Remember Balloons” project, check out his website, Dommooredun.com.
