Photo by Holly Ravazzolo
Joe Elvis Alway-Baker practices with Brittny Adams for Dancing with the St. Louis Stars.
For Brittny Adams, dancing in front of a live audience is just one sign that her life has turned around. On Saturday, she performed with dance partner Joe Elvis Alway-Baker, a director and choreographer with Three 5 Productions. The two were paired as part of Dancing with the St. Louis Stars, which benefits the Independence Center, a rehabilitation program that helps adults in the St. Louis–area who struggle with mental illnesses.
The Independence Center’s programming has been an invaluable resource to Adams. “When I first started coming to the Independence Center, I didn’t realize that I was in a funk, so to speak,” Adams says. “I was just eating and sleeping my life away.”
Adams was contacted by the Independence Center because the state-funded Disease Management 3700 program identified her as high-cost and high-risk because of medical problems exacerbated by untreated mental illness. She says, “I probably would have ended up trying to commit suicide if I hadn’t been to the Independence Center.”
Now, she says, things are different. The Independence Center changed the trajectory of Adams’ life. After nearly five years of involvement with the Independence Center, Adams now volunteers five days a week and sits on the board of directors. Adams became reacquainted with estranged relatives and went back to school; she’s now seven classes away from completing her bachelor’s degree.
Dancing with the St. Louis Stars throws a local version of the show’s TV namesake. Professional dancers are paired with members of the St. Louis community who sponsor or participate in the Independence Center’s work. This year, the benefit raised $836,000.
Adams’ decision to dance was sparked at a board of directors meeting. Other board members thought Adams would be great, but she was initially unsure. “I was kind of hesitant at first—I do have some physical issues,” says Adams, but her fiancé, Stanley, whom she met at the Independence Center, knew that she would be perfect. “Stanley kept chirping in my ear,” Adams says with a laugh. “I was fortunate enough to be picked.”
Adams and Alway-Baker worked together to create a routine that paid tribute to Adams’ experience managing mental illness. The duo began practicing twice a week in late November.
Photo by Holly Ravazzolo
“When I’m down there in the studio rehearsing, I feel empowered,” Adams says. “I feel like I’m doing something positive. It has a positive effect on me. I may be hurting a little bit afterwards, but it’s all worth it.” Adams was confident that Alway-Baker’s choreography allowed her story to shine, even though she says she “had no clue” about choreography herself.
Adams selected the music from the routine to reflect her feelings about some of the good things in her life—like the Independence Center and Stanley. Among the eight couples competing, Adams and Alway-Baker’s routine was voted the winner for both the Crowd’s Favorite and Judges’ Favorite awards.
Adams is one of 1,500 individuals helped by the Independence Center each year. Between the Clubhouse, psychiatric clinic and four housing facilities, the Independence Center sees between 150 and 200 people per day. When Adams finishes her degree, she hopes to use it to help others who struggle with mental illness, as the Independence Center helped her.
“[Staff at the Independence Center] empowered me to be able to speak in front of a group of people and tell them my life story because my story can help someone else,” she says. “I feel that they saved my life.”
