By SANDRA ANNONIO / Community Columnist

Join the Columbiana Middle School Theater group as they present “Dancing with Myself” on Oct. 23 and 24 at 7 p.m.

Tickets for the performances are available through cast members and online at Shelbycountyartscouncil.com.

“Dancing With Myself” is a one-act dramedy by Leanne Griffin and YouthPlays.

The playfeatures “Goth Girl. Moody Chick. Gamer. Cheerleader. New Kid. Jock. Nerd. Seven high school girls and the labels they’ve been forced to wear. But in this innovative, award-winning dramedy, whether it’s sports or a sleepover or the classroom or a school dance or the ups and downs of daily life, they’ll use music as their inspiration to break free of the stereotypes and discover the unique identity they each possess.”

Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and short reception will follow the show.

Richard Scott and Brooke Brock are the CMS theater sponsors.

Tickets are limited to 99 seats per showing.

The play is a fundraiser for the Writing Our Stories Teaching Author program at CMS.

The Shelby County Arts Council is proud to partner with Columbiana Middle School and the Alabama Writers Forum to provide students with supplemental Arts Education.

This award winning program is designed as an anti-violence program to teach juvenile offenders to write about their lives as a way of enriching their theraputic experience.

The program has been adapted as an anti-bullying program in the Shelby County Schools.

At Columbiana Middle School and Montevallo Middle School, seventh-grade students work with a professional writer to tell their story.

The program culminates with a bound-printed anthology of the students’ work.

The Writing Our Stories program is sponsored in part by Alabama State Council on the Arts, the Daniel Foundation and other generous supporters.

To donate directly to the Writing our Stories Teaching Author program, visit Shelbycountyartscouncil.com and click on donations and enter “Writing our Stories” in the additional notes section.