When asked to identify the highlight of her 30-year career as a dance instructor, without hesitation Jane Lopoten will say, the Susan G. Komen Philadelphia Race for the Cure: "To see my girls be a part of something so huge is the most thrilling achievement of my career."

For the past five Mother's Days, Jane, the Owner/Director of Jane Lopoten's School of Dance in Lansdale, has been prepping her dance students at 5 AM on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where they inspire a crowd of more than 100,000 Race for the Cure attendees. 

Their "celebrate life" performance has become a much cherished tradition at the Race. The dancers (ranging in age from 14-18 years) are particularly excited to perform this May 11, having just raised $13,000 in one month to support the Race for the Cure.

With one woman dying from breast cancer every 13 minutes in the U.S., sadly every girl in Jane's school has been touched by the disease in her young life.  More than just dancing on Race day, Jane embraces the Komen mission to end breast cancer by integrating it into her dance school-encouraging the girls to be aware, to be comfortable with the topic, and to teach their mothers, too. 

Some may ask, why start at such a young age?  The answer lies in the story of one of Jane's 16-year old students who had a lump in her breast.  For quite some time, she told no one, until the lessons learned at the School of Dance convinced her not to be embarrassed.  She then found the courage to talk to her parents, seek treatment and now lives to "dance again."