On a recent trip to Des Moines, Iowa, to workshop his new show “The Remember Balloons,” choreographer Dominic Moore-Dunson met a local videographer.
The two began talking about “The Remember Balloons,” a children’s book about Alzheimer’s that Moore-Dunson was in the process of adapting into a dance production. The videographer said his mom had the disease, but he and his brother kept putting off telling her because they weren’t sure how to approach it. After seeing Moore-Dunson’s show, the videographer said he was going to call his brother and tell him they needed to talk to their mother that weekend.
“To me, that’s the win. That’s the whole point of all of this,” said Moore-Dunson. “Raising the money, doing the performing, all the rehearsals is to inspire people to change around this subject and allow themselves to work through the hard, and also start really being intentional about how we’re gathering stories and how we’re passing along stories.”
Nowadays, Moore-Dunson has a lot of stories like the one from Des Moines. Since he started developing “The Remember Balloons” — which kicks off a seven-city national tour Oct. 18 — he has discussed the book and the effects of dementia with dancers, caregivers, seniors at a memory care center and his own family. All of it was in service of creating a dance production for children that paints a picture of a disease that adults struggle to discuss.
“Any room I walk into since I’ve been doing this project, if I go into that room and I say, ‘How many people here have a direct connection to dementia or Alzheimer’s in their family or someone close to them?’ easily 80% of the room will raise their hand,” Moore-Dunson said. “It’s so prevalent; we just don’t talk about it openly as a society.”
Suggested Reading
A fateful trip to the library
Moore-Dunson discovered “The Remember Balloons” during a library visit with his wife and two kids in early 2023. The 2018 book by Jessie Oliveros was part of a display of children’s books about difficult topics.
“If you know anything about me and my work, difficult topics [are] where I live,” he said. “I love to get into, how do we talk about hard things in a way that feels accessible to all of us?”
“The Remember Balloons” follows a boy named James who loves hearing his grandpa’s stories. In the book, memories are represented by balloons, and in James’ world, Grandpa has more balloons than anyone. But soon, Grandpa’s memories start floating away. James learns that it’s up to him to carry on Grandpa’s stories.
“I think one of the things that I really love about the book is that even with people who can’t relate to having a loved one with Alzheimer’s or dementia, it’s just about the importance of memories, and sharing those memories with your loved ones and having them live on after you’re gone,” said Dana Wulfekotte, the book’s illustrator.
“The Remember Balloons” was inspired by interactions Oliveros’ children had with their great-grandfather, who had Alzheimer’s.
The book garnered high praise, with reviews commending Oliveros’ gentle but clear writing as well as the book’s overall theme.
“When it first was going to be published, I considered it a niche book,” Oliveros said. “I guess I underestimated quite how many people are impacted by Alzheimer’s and dementia.”
One of those people is Moore-Dunson’s wife, Ashley, who is also a co-producer of the show. After that library visit, Ashley told Moore-Dunson about her grandma, who had dementia. She told him she still remembered the day her grandma forgot her name.
The story stuck with Moore-Dunson, and he went to bed thinking about it. When he woke in the middle of the night, he decided to look up the author of “The Remember Balloons.” Then, he decided to send Oliveros a message letting her know how much the book meant to his family.
“It’s 2 in the morning, and this little voice in the back of my head is like, ‘Ask her if she’ll ever just consider letting you turn this into a show,’’’ Moore-Dunson recalled. So he asked, hit send and went back to bed.
The next morning he had a message from Oliveros’ agent asking if he was available to meet.
“I had never thought about my book being translated to dance,” Oliveros said. “But the more I thought about it, especially when it comes to children watching it, like how visual they are, and his idea about using lights and music — and jazz music. That was a big one for me. I was so excited about that.”
From the page to the stage
While the official premiere of “The Remember Balloons” is still several weeks away, a select group of school children got a sneak peek of the production at an informal showing Sept. 18. (Locals will get a chance to view a “cabaret style, low-tech version” of the show Oct. 12 at the Bath Church.)
Filling the front section of the Ohio Theater at Playhouse Square in Cleveland, the kids oohed and ahhed whenever the three dancers — Larry White, Anna Baugham and Matthew Roberts — did something impressive like a flip or a leap. They clapped loudly after a delightful scene featuring James (White) and Grandpa (Roberts) on a fishing trip.
The show features an original score from Theron Brown that moves seamlessly from jaunty and upbeat to slow and soft. The set design is minimal, giving the dancers plenty of space to shine. Throughout the show, Wulfekotte’s poignant illustrations are displayed on a large screen, filling the back of the stage. Although Moore-Dunson doesn’t dance in this production — his first time not dancing in a show he’s choreographed — he is still present in the show. A recording of him reading “The Remember Balloons” plays throughout.
After the showing, the kids asked lots of questions. What are the names of the dancers? Why are they barefoot? Why was the mom sad? How did they learn to dance?
Moore-Dunson said he loves these questions.
“Kids actually understand and want to understand difficult emotions too. They want to work through them. They want to talk about them. They want to ask questions,” he said. “I don’t see kids asking those questions as they don’t understand what’s happening. … It’s their empathy starting to come out.”
That’s the goal of “The Remember Balloons,” both the book and the stage version: to get people of all ages talking — about the difficult stuff, yes, but also the good stuff.
At the end of “The Remember Balloons,” James realizes he has more balloons. He is now the keeper of his memories and Grandpa’s. And he knows just what to do with them.
“So I climb into Grandpa’s lap,” the last page reads, “and begin telling him about my new balloons.”
