Onco-Ballet

News Features

In 2018, former professional ballerina Anna Wassman-Cox was diagnosed with breast cancer, which came back again in 2022. During her treatment, she returned to the ballet barre and discovered the healing power of dance.  

Wassman-Cox now helps cancer patients, survivors and thrivers connect with their bodies through her non-profit Onco-Ballet.

You don’t have to be an athlete or a dancer, Onco-Ballet is open to anyone in the cancer community. 

Onco-Ballet helps cancer patients and survivors heal through dance

Onco-Ballet Founder, Anna Wassman-Cox, and Onco-Ballet dancer, Karen Skirvin, featured on the Jennifer Hudson Show with fellow cancer survivors to show how they went from cancer to center stage. These survivors found healing through dance.

Onco-Ballet Featured on the Jennifer Hudson Show

CBS Los Angeles KCAL News

Learn about our Onco-Ballet Community Performance and all the incredible work that our Onco-Ballet Dancers have done on this CBS Los Angeles, KCAL News Feature. New ballet dancers to participate in performance honoring cancer survivors. Anna Wassman-Cox, Onco-Ballet Foundation founder, says her love for dance helped her through her cancer battle and she is sharing that experience with others.

Onco-Ballet featured on CBS Los Angeles KCAL News for Onco-Ballet Community Performance on October 19, 2025 at the Irvine Barclay Theatre

Onco-Ballet featured in the Los Angeles Times OC for inaugural teacher training

A newspaper article titled 'Onco-Ballet is on pointe with inaugural teacher training in Laguna Hills' from the Daily Pilot, part of the Los Angeles Times, Orange County section. The image shows a ballet class with people practicing at barres."

“This training is just one step in building a national network of instructors who will empower even more individuals affected by cancer through the joy of ballet.”

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Onco-Ballet Founder, Anna Wassman-Cox, on the Drew Barrymore Show.

Drew and Ross meet with Anna Wassman-Cox

Spreading Positivity

Two women embracing at an event with a large check for 'Healing with Dance' being held overhead. ABC7 story for the 100 Women Who Care with Onco-Ballet being presented the check.
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People participating in an onco-ballet dance class in a studio with mirrors, featuring an instructor leading the session. The text overlay mentions helping people with cancer through dance from ABC7.

ABC 7 Talks Onco-Ballet Foundation: OC 100 Women Who Care

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ABC 7’s Phillip Palmer: Helping People With Cancer Through Dance

Anna Wassman-Cox, Onco-Ballet Foundation founder and executive director, talks about her breast cancer journey.

The Transformative Role of Ballet In Cancer Treatment

In this podcast episode, Joseph interviews Anna Wassman, the founder and executive director of Onco Ballet. The mission of Onco Ballet is to provide free ballet classes to individuals facing cancer, as cancer treatment can be expensive and they do not want people to have to worry about paying for classes.

Sparking Joy Through Ballet

Meet Anna Wassman-Cox

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Photo Credit: BFA Images; Photographer: Hannah Turner Harts

  • Ballet and dance offer a chance for people to be creative and to express themselves

    Estee Fratzke

  • Here you can feel free to just do what you can do and everybody accepts that and you accept everybody else.

    Kerry Hedley

  • It's a wonderful mental distraction and physically it does make you feel good as well and it was just a little bit of something normal.

    Aimee Murcia

Three people holding a large pink check in front of AutoNation Toyota dealership building, flanked by two Toyota trucks.

Read our Press Release

AutoNation Gifts $25,000 to Onco-Ballet Foundation on “The Drew Barrymore Show”  

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