New dance activity created in Madeira by a 3rd stage breast cancer survivor Verolina Kintop, who started to dance after finishing her treatments to regain strength and rebuild her life through sport and creativity.
“I was diagnosed at 37, lost my right breast, and doctors withdrew my lymph nodes as it was also affected by cancer as well. For more than a year I went through heavy chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and then hormone therapy and then one more surgery to reconstruct the breast. I was so weak, but doctors said that I have to do sport even during chemotherapy to feel better, so I bought a bike and was riding almost every day. Also, I kept working during treatments; it is very important to find the reason to stay… People don’t know but people suicide when they are diagnosed and also don’t fight to stay as they don’t have a reason.
But there is also after… what is after, once treatments are finished, you understand that it is impossible to live anymore as before…
You want to live a full life.
That’s what I wanted for myself. So I packed several suits in my car, took my daughter, we drove to Lisbon, put the car on the boat, and arrived in Madeira. I’ve never been to Madeira before, it was a spontaneous decision, which I never regret.
Here in Madeira, slowly I started to do pole dance. I practiced already a year back in France, but it was quite a while ago, so the restart was difficult. Also, I was thinking after my surgeries I wouldn’t be able to do pole dance, as it requires a lot of arm strength and my right side was affected quite a lot but treatments. Also, because of chemotherapy, I couldn’t keep my arms up for example for a long time, peripheral nerves were also damaged.
But I kept coming to the studio every morning, and the strength started to come back even more than it was before… I wanted to share my story with other women and people who go through difficult treatments, that life is full of surprises and we have to fight to make it as beautiful as we can…
First classes were held in Funchal,
My goal is to help women feel better in their bodies. I created dancing groups where everyone can feel safe, with no judgment about their bodies. We dance to feel more beautiful, exactly what I was searching for myself when I felt ‘ugly’ after heavy treatments.
Each performance I do is accompanied by text to raise breast cancer awareness and inspire women to feel more confident and live fully.
I am currently building an underwater pole and searching for hotel partners with swimming pools to collaborate. Additionally, I have partnered with Estalagem Hotel for morning classes directly in the hotel garden, offering a new activity in Ponta de Sol.
See more images and videos on Verolina’s Instagram below .
IG -> https://www.instagram.com/