SALT LAKE CITY — While watching Ballet West dancers rehearse on stage for "Dracula," you'll find rehearsal director Pamela Robinson. After being with the company for over 40 years, some would say she's the heart and soul of Ballet West.
“I came out for the audition… Driving in to find the theater and the studios, I was like, 'I'm gonna retire here.' Just a feeling came over me," Robinson said, "It's my life's blood.”
However, Robinson's journey was almost cut short in 2021.
“Started with a pain in my side and a little bit of cough," she said. "They drew blood and they said, 'We're going to send you to an oncologist,' and I was like, 'Oh, this can't be good.'”
She found out she had leukemia.
“I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy," Robinson said. "It's hard. Cancer's hard.”
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Robinson waited to see if she could find a donor for a bone marrow transplant.
“The waiting game in cancer is the worst thing," she explained. "You're encouraged, hopeful that your blood levels look better, and they don’t.”
Despite finally undergoing the transplant, her fight wasn't over.
“My body didn't accept and make blood in the marrow," Robinson said.
However, one thing saved Robinson's life: blood donations.
"I had to have a second transplant," Robinson said. "During that time I had lots of red blood; I had platelets every day for 67 days.”
With the heart of Ballet West beating strong once again, the company saw an opportunity to hold its own blood drive. And while Dracula is always searching for blood, on Tuesday, it was for a better cause.
“She's been such an important part of my career," said Tyler Gum, who plays the lead character. "To take what I'm doing in the studio, but also [to] support her in that way means a lot."
Nanette Chertudi was one blood donor who has known Robinson since childhood.
“When I was really in the bottom level of the company, Pam was a principal artist… she just was so kind," Chertudi said. "Just knowing the fact that these blood donations saved her life, I just thought, okay, I'm feeling good today. Let's do this.”
Doing it for Robinson, her life's blood made possible once again by blood drives just like the one held Tuesday.
“When I received my diagnosis, they gave me two and a half years if I didn't have a bone marrow transplant," Robinson said. "That was 2021, and I'm still here.”