Central Valley Dance Festival to focus on hope and suicide awareness

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- This year, the Central Valley Dance Festival wants to radiance a airy connected the taxable of suicide.

The message: The Power of Hope.

It's an contented that hits adjacent to location for laminitis Cristina Mendoza-Howell.

"I cognize 4 radical who are adjacent to maine who passed distant done their ain hands. One was 16 years old, 1 was 14 years aged and 1 was 43 years old, and 1 was 75 years old. That truly wounded me," says Mendoza-Howell.

She has been organizing the creation festival for astir 2 decades.

Through dance, CVD wants radical to cognize they are not unsocial successful their struggles.

This year's show is scheduled for April 12th astatine the Fresno Veterans Memorial Auditorium.

It volition diagnostic astatine slightest 12 creation groups, each showcasing antithetic forms of the creation form.

Jesse Sanchez is the COO and has been progressive with the radical since helium was young.

"This event, for implicit 20 years, since I've been doing it erstwhile I was 7 oregon 8, we're focused connected the youth," Sanchez says. "This existent lawsuit is going to beryllium 12 and nether are coming successful for escaped due to the fact that this year, termination consciousness is the fig 1 extremity we have."

Because done dance, they privation to assistance radical retired of the darkness.

"Dance is simply a precise almighty tool. The powerfulness of creation is that it is all-encompassing and inclusive, bringing them that glimmer of light," says Mendoza-Howell.

People who privation to enactment CVD tin donate connected their GoFundMe, truthful they tin proceed to physique that abstraction of hope.

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