This video is from an adapted dance group in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is now called CRiPSiE. I was a part of this group in its early years, when I was still on my feet using nothing but a cane. I had a wheelchair that didn’t work very well because it was borrowed, but I got a bit of a taste of what was possible with adapted dance.
The next year, as the program enlarged, I brought a young man I was supporting to participate and “sneaked” my place in the gathering. This time the leader knew me and my limitations better and utilized me in ways where I could hold on to a chair or do movements where I could make sure I could maintain my balance. For the first time in my life, I felt GRACEFUL. I loved it so much. I wasn’t ever able to perform for the public, but I never needed to. I never used a wheelchair during that time period, and I still envied the grace and freedom of the dancers who were able-bodied and in wheelchairs.
I’ve moved since then. I have a wheelchair that I’d love to use in an adapted dance program, but I can’t find a group near me. I wish I could, because I loved the feeling of creating movement with my body, when it had always been so uncooperative before. If you live in a city where you can be part of something like this, I highly recommend it.
