A Pasadena nonprofit wants to help neighbors plan their final chapter, and they're doing it with live dance, lunch, and a happy hour.

Lineage Performing Arts Center will host "Staging Your Grand Exit: A Day of Death, Art, and Legacy" on Saturday, August 22, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at its 6,200-square-foot space at 920 East Mountain Street in Northwest Pasadena. The eight-hour workshop pairs practical end-of-life planning tools with original dance performances, creative exercises, and group conversations about grief and mortality.

Artistic Director Hilary Thomas, who grew up in Pasadena and founded Lineage Dance in 1999, produces the event as part of an ongoing death-education series at the center. Thomas has built Lineage's programming around collaborations with nonprofits on subjects including breast cancer, mental health, and reproductive rights. The end-of-life series is the latest.

What the day covers

Participants will work through advance directives, the Five Wishes document, ethical decision-making, and organizing personal affairs. Five Wishes, created by the nonprofit Aging with Dignity, is a legally valid advance care planning tool used by more than 44 million Americans and available in 32 languages plus Braille, according to the organization's website.

Between planning sessions, attendees will watch performances drawn from Lineage's original works and community programs. Lunch, snacks, and a closing happy hour are included in the ticket price.

The organization describes the workshop as focused on "preparation, compassion, meaning, and inspired living" rather than fear.

Tickets and access

General admission costs $80.22 (including processing fees), and senior or student tickets run $69.82 (including processing fees), according to the event's ticketing page. All sales are final.

Lineage also offers a compassion program with a limited number of free tickets for those who cannot afford the cost. Executive Director Cynthia Crass handles those requests by email.

The venue is wheelchair accessible. Free parking is available in the CVS lot adjacent to the building, and the center is reachable by Metro — about a 20-minute walk from the Lake station or a few minutes from the Lake/Mountain bus stop.

Registration is open at lineagepac.org. For more information, call 626-844-7008.

About Lineage

Lineage Performing Arts Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has operated in Pasadena for more than 25 years. The organization moved to its current location in 2018 after completing a $650,000 capital campaign to transform a long-abandoned property into a community arts hub. It served more than 3,200 individuals through arts education programs in 2024 and partners with more than 80 local organizations, according to its website.

Upcoming at Lineage

  • Sunday, August 16: "A Chorus Lineage: Muppet Edition," an intergenerational performance in music, dance, and story. All proceeds support Lineage's Dance for Joy program, which offers free weekly classes for people with Parkinson's, MS, TBI, and stroke.
  • Saturday, August 22: "Staging Your Grand Exit: A Day of Death, Art, and Legacy." Tickets at lineagepac.org.