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Dance Programs for the Handicapped

Wheelchairs are no longer a barrier to dance. Dancers with disabilities perform all over the world today. Modern dance pioneer Bill T. Jones' work with disabled dancers is well known throughout the dance community. Today disabled dancers can learn and even perform any form of dance. Wheelchair bound and physically challenged dancers all have a place in the dance world, some are even performing in companies with able-bodied dancers.

  1. Axis Dance Company

    • Pioneering modern dance for the disabled since 1987. Axis offers dance education and performing opportunities for disabled dancers young and old. Home base is Oakland Calif. Axis is one of the first professional dance companies to mix disabled and able-bodied dancers on the same stage. The works they perform are created by some of the world's leading choreographers including Bill T. Jones, Stephen Petronio and Victoria Marks.

      AXIS Dance Company
      1428 Alice St., Suite 200
      Oakland, CA 94612
      axisdance.org
      510-625-0110

    Danceability International

    • Improvisational dance is the focus of Danceability International. The group's mission is to "cultivate common ground for creative expression by encouraging mixed-ability dance." The dance troupe performs and teaches workshops for every age all over the world. Danceability also offers teacher certification in mixed-ability dance. Home base is Eugene, Ore., and the troupe performs in schools all over the state.

      Danceability International
      P.O. Box 51257
      Eugene, OR 97405
      541-342-3273
      danceability.com

    Dancing Wheels Company and School

    • The Dancing Wheels Company believes dance is essential to the human spirit and everyone can dance regardless of disability. Integrating able-bodied and disabled dancers, the company performs all over the world. Founder Mary Verdi-Fletcher is the first professional wheelchair dancer in the United States. Beginning the dance company in 1980, the Dancing Wheels School began teaching disabled students in 1990.

      Dancing Wheels Company and School
      3615 Euclid Ave.
      Cleveland, OH 44115
      dancingwheels.org

    American Dance Wheels Foundation, Inc.

    • The American Dance Wheels organization trains teachers, physical therapists and dancers. Ballroom and Latin dance for the disabled and their able-bodied partners is the focus. Partnering with local dance studios in Philadelphia and surrounding metro areas like Washington D.C., dancers can chose to learn for fun or competition. American Dance Wheels is responsible for creating the first American style syllabus for wheelchair dancing. Class locations and times are listed on the company's website.

      American Dance Wheels Foundation, Inc.
      P.O. Box 88
      Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004
      215.588.6671
      americandancewheels.org

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