American DanceWheels Foundation News Page
American DanceWheels has been busy this summer...
We had a wonderful and productive teacher training seminar in July at Moss Rehabilitation that yielded three new dance teachers and three new therapists to our roster. We now have three new dance instruction locations, two in New York and one in British Columbia.
The therapists at Moss added a tremendous amount to our training with their vast knowledge of stroke patients and general rehabilitation techniques. Everyone who attended had something special to add to our program.
We have made new contacts at Temple University and there are many exciting possibilities for collaboration. Stay tuned!
American DanceWheels is going to California in January to give a 4 week program for wounded veterans and their standing partners. The veterans will learn the ADF curriculum and they will compete at the end of the training.
Moss Rehabilitation has invited us to continue our dance classes at their hospital in Elkins Park. Two classes will begin Saturday, September 10th. We hope to fill both of the new classes with seated dancers and enlist many already interested Moss employees and the surrounding community as standing partners.
The Widener Memorial School classes will begin again at the end of September with many of our old students and a whole crop of new students. The video from the competition in the spring of 2010 is finally finished and can be seen here. The LipDub is also complete and can be seen here.
ADF Among First to Receive Award from Reeve Foundation
Military and Veterans Program!
American DanceWheels Foundation was recognized as one of the premier recipients of an award from the Military and Veterans Program of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.
Students from the Widener Memorial/Temple University Dance Class to Debut Music Video!!!
Students from the Widener Memorial/Temple University Dance Class to Debut Music Video!!! Middle and high school students from Widener have teamed up with their partners from Temple University to create a full-length dance video. Dozens of performers were featured as the video shoot took over the hallways, classrooms and grounds of the 100+ year-old school. Check back soon to catch the next YouTube sensation courtesy of American DanceWheels and our Widener/Temple dance class!
ADF Dancers to Appear in a Motion Picture
Aubree Marchione and Matthew Clark, both trained by American DanceWheels, were selected as dancers in an upcoming movie. You can see some of Matt's work here. Below is the press release for "Musical Chairs" which is planned for a 2012 release.
"Musical Chairs," a sexy, pulse-pounding romance directed by Susan Seidelman, set in the scintillating, competitive world of ballroom wheelchair dancing, is now in production shooting on locations throughout the New York City metropolitan area.
Janet Carrus and Joey Dedio produce the Active Fox Productions and JMC Independent Productions motion picture along with Brian Hershkowitz and Marty Madden. Screenplay is by Marty Madden from the story by Janet Carrus. Executive producers are Mario L. Baeza, Susan Seidelman and Jamin O’Brien. Starring in “Musical Chairs” are Leah Pipes, EJ Bonilla, Priscilla Lopez, Jaime Tirelli, Laverne Cox, Angelic Zambrana, Morgan Spector, Auti Angel, Jerome Bates, Nelson Landrieu and Joey Dedio.
Mia (Leah Pipes) is beautiful and vivacious with a promising career as a dancer. Armando (EJ Bonilla), sweeping floors at the Upper East Side dance studio in exchange for lessons, dreams of a time when he will dance with Mia, the love of his life. Dreams are shattered when one fateful evening a tragic accident forever confines Mia to a wheelchair never to dance again. True to his heart, Armando dedicates himself, along with a colorful collection of characters, in helping Mia overcome her painful challenges and dance once more through the incredible world of wheelchair ballroom dancing. “Musical Chairs” is a story of impossible dreams made true through the strength of the human spirit and the power of compassion and love.
“Mia and Armando’s worlds are as far apart as you can imagine: she’s from the Upper East Side hailing from a well-to-do family; Armando works at his family’s restaurant in the Puerto Rican section of Bushwick, Brooklyn,” says producer/actor Joey Dedio. “But dance, music and the power love unite, and through them, something that seems unattainable, even impossible to achieve, can come true. It’s an story of inspiration for everyone who has ever had a dream.”
“We’re exited to have Susan Seidelman to direct ‘Musical Chairs,’” says producer Janet Carrus, who also had the story idea for the feature film. “Susan has just the right sensibility and remarkable insights into character and the human condition to bring a richness to the story and performances from our terrific ensemble of actors.”
ADF receives $5,000 Grant
The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation has awarded American DanceWheels Foundation a $5,000 Quality of Life Grant. This grant will support a "So You Think You Can't Dance?", Veterans Wheelchair Ballroom and Latin Dance Program which offers dance training to veterans with spinal cord injuries and their able-bodied partners. For more information on the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation or the Quality of Life Grant, click here.
End of Year Awards for Widener Memorial/ Temple University Program
The competition at the end of the year Widener Memorial/ Temple University Monday and Wednesday dance program was fantastic!!! Every student danced their very best and the audience was amazed at the level of their expertise and their focus. The winning couples were:
Monday
Fox Trot
1st Place Joanne Henry/Kim Ross
2nd Place Maria Figueroa/Jackie Bokunwicz
Rumba
1st Place Maria Figueroa/Jackie Bokunwicz
2nd Place Barbie Sanchez/Azeb Beile
Wednesday
Fox Trot
1st Place Lestanya Martin/Sophia Olivieri
2nd Place Christopher Brown/Beth Wood
3rd Place Terrance Waites/Ornela Ustayev
Rumba
1st Place Barbie Sanchez/Brittany Clark
2nd Place Christopher Brown/Beth Wood
3rd Place Mark Mitchell/Sophia Olivieri
ADF received the 2010 Inglis Foundation Award for Continued Excellence!!!!!!!
All of the board members, dancers, teachers, and supporters of American DanceWheels Foundation (ADF) want to thank Inglis Foundation for the generous award they presented to our organization. ADF received the 2010 Inglis Foundation Award for Continued Excellence. We are extremely grateful and are excited at the new opportunities that this award will provide. The $20,000 award will be used for programs, advanced curriculum, and performance.
We were one of five organizations recognized for their service to the community of people with disabilities. Best wishes and congratulations to the other fantastic recipients, HMS School for Children with Cerebral Palsy, Magee Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation, Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation, and Quest Therapeutic Services.
Dancing for the cameras at How Philly Moves
Morgan Heino and Rob Hansberry competed last week for a place on the new How Philly Moves Mural. This Philadelphia Airport mural will show all kinds of dancing in our city and capture the joy behind the faces of the participants.
Morgan and Rob dressed to Tango and danced their hearts out for the photographer. How fabulous would it be to see a life size picture of wheelchair dancers on a giant mural at the Philadelphia International Airport? All of us wish Morgan and Rob the best!!!
American DanceWheels Applies for Inglis Foundation Awards
In February, Melinda Kremer conducted an outstanding site visit for Inglis Foundation's Awards Committee visitors at Widener Memorial School, where the young students were put through their paces! She was joined by Diane Murphy and Rob Hansberry who gave up their time to dance, teach and support our funding request.
It was a totally upbeat and uplifting experience to see how the dancing excites the students and benefits them physically. They learn to engage with a standing partner, learn a dance routine, sit up in their chairs and above all - have fun!!! Also, big thanks to Karen and John Russo who put together a fabulous DVD of video clips of various ADF dance routines for the site visitors to take home.
Keep your fingers crossed, everyone, that ADF gets one of the Inglis awards this spring.
Stephanie Corp Maguire
ADF Chairperson
American DanceWheels is Available for Performances
Our organization has danced for countless audiences with rave reviews coming from people with and without disabilities. Our performers employ the language of dance to break down the social barriers that exist between people with disabilities and the able bodied world.
Call or Contact Us for Details and to Schedule a Performance
Congratulations to the BBC
American DanceWheels Foundation wants to congratulate the BBC, Brian Fortuna, and Sandra Fortuna on the premier of the new series on wheelchair dancesport called Dancing on Wheels in the UK. Brian is a 2006 American DanceWheels graduate and a certified American DanceWheels teacher.
Sandra Fortuna and our own Melinda Kremer, Executive Director and First Time United States Wheelchair Ballroom and Latin Dance Champion, completed and co-wrote the American Style Wheelchair Ballroom and Latin Dance Wheel One™ Curriculum in 2004.
After years of experimentation and study, American DanceWheels Foundation was able to give wheelchair ballroom and Latin dancing a start in America. We are thrilled that Sandra and Brian are sharing the fruits of our labor with dancers across the pond!!!!!!
Melinda Kremer Interviewed on Ben-FM
Melinda Kremer, the co-founder of American DanceWheels Foundation was interviewed by Marilyn Russell on Philadelphia Radio Station Ben-FM (95.7 FM) as their Woman of the Week.
Click here to download it to your computer.
MOTTEP
See the HOT performance that ADF dance, Kenn Perry and his professional dance partner, Lisa Bentley, put together for the MOTTEP event!
Click on our Videos page to see this impressive performance.
ADF On Delaware Tonight
American DanceWheels was highlighted on Delaware Tonight on WHYY Channel 12 News.
Visit our Videos page to see the story.
