All the inspiration dancer Tyler Sperry of Auburn needed for his part in the latest production of the Portland Ballet came from his mother. Carlene Sperry was diagnosed with Ductal Invasive Carcinoma, stage III-A breast cancer, in January of 2003, and hers is one of 12 stories that will be told through dance.

The idea of producing and performing “Dance for a Cure” came from some of the dancers who’ve had experience with breast cancer or loved ones who have. Members of the ballet company spread the word that they wanted to hear from cancer survivors. Tyler encouraged his mother and father, Mitch Sperry, to submit their own stories.

From the stories received, contemporary dance pieces were choreographed with music carefully chosen to capture the emotional journeys, good and bad. It is hoped that all who see the performance will leave with a deeper understanding of the illness, treatment and its effects.

With the Portland Ballet since 1999, Tyler has never been involved in a show like this one. The nearly two-hour performance tells of diagnosis, of dealing with the reality of cancer and of experiencing the low points during treatments – with a more upbeat ending. This is done with the narration of stories interwoven between dance pieces.

Proceeds from “Dance for a Cure, ” to be staged Saturday, Oct. 20, will benefit The Woman’s Cancer Fund of the Maine Cancer Foundation.

Sperry recalled the moment she changed her outlook about her diagnosis. “I looked up in the mirror one day, in the midst of brushing my teeth and getting ready for work. I asked ‘Why, God, why me?’ Then something came over me, like a heat flash. I looked at myself in the mirror again and I said, ‘Why not you, Carlene? What makes you different than anybody else?'”

Fears about his mother’s mortality and what changes cancer would mean for their family overcame Tyler when his father called him with the news. Those fears slowly disappeared, he said, when his mother got on the phone and assured him that it was all right and that they would make it through. “She was the one who calmed me down. From the day she found out her thought process was like ‘OK, what am I going to do when this is gone?'”

Carlene and her family credit each other for getting through the tough times and for continuing to remain positive, open and able to joke about their ordeal.

Her husband and children Grant, Tyler and Marisa were the focus that kept Carlene going. “I had the breast cancer. I carried it in my body, but my family carried me.”

Carlene and a friend have started a support group called PiPs (Pretty in Pink) and a Web site for survivors and their families, www.mybuddiescorner.com. Using her skills as a hairdresser, she also participates in the Look Good Feel Better program, an organization that helps cancer patients with makeup and wigs.

Carlene recently saw a preview of the dance piece about her journey and said she was amazed. “What they’re doing, it’s not just for me. It’s for the woman who was diagnosed yesterday, the woman diagnosed today and for the woman diagnosed tomorrow.”

Go and Do

WHAT: “Dance for a Cure”

WHO: Portland Ballet

WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20

WHERE: Portland’s John Ford Theatre, Portland High School

TICKETS: $39 over the phone, 842-0800; $40 online at www.porttix.com

BENEFITING: Maine Cancer Foundation