American DanceWheels Dancers... In Their Own Words
Diane Murphy
SO YOU THINK YOU CAN’T DANCE!
If someone were to ask me if I had a wish, what would it be? It would be to dance. Yes, that’s right. If I had a wish….it would be to dance. If anyone would have told me that I would someday take dance lessons from a professional ballroom dance instructor, I may have said to them, “In your dreams!” Or….maybe another response would have been, “What are you smoking?” ME? Dance? Preposterous!!! Dancing was never possible for me being paralyzed from the waist down as a result of contracting polio at the early age of four. Having a disability didn’t keep me from always wanting to do what everybody else did growing up. I learned to swim at a young age; I rode horses and competed nationally in the discipline of dressage for the Paralympic Equestrian Team; and I hand cycle during the summer; but always had to sit on the sidelines while watching everybody dance.
Growing up in Philadelphia during the American Bandstand era of the 50‘s & 60‘s, and watching TV programs that had anything to do with dancing always appealed to me. It wasn’t Sat. night at my grandmothers without watching the Lawrence Welk Show, or watching the weekly variety shows like the Jackie Gleason Show with the June Taylor dancers; or Gene Kelly in “Singing in the Rain“; or watching American Bandstand every day when I came home school…..and wishing that I could dance. It has always been my inner desire and wish to be able to dance.
Being a teenager during the 60’s was especially a difficult period of my life when my siblings and friends were all going off to social dances every Friday and Saturday night while I was left behind to spend the evenings alone; mostly in tears. I was not the girl who was asked to the proms, or out on a date to go to the neighborhood dances which is what every teenager did on weekends. I remember sitting in the living room of our Phila. row house watching my mother teach my brother how to dance. She taught him how to jitter bug and waltz to prepare him for the high school proms and dances he would be going to. I remember them doing the waltz to The Chipmunk Song while I operated the record player and played that record over and over again….it had the perfect waltz timing. Many times my brother would stand me up and take me in his arms to dance with him while I would hang on to him for dear life. It wasn’t really dancing, but we would sway back and forth while trying to keep my balance. He was the only one I ever trusted to do that with. To this day, my brother is a very good dancer who I absolutely love to watch whenever he is on the dance floor always wishing that I could dance the waltz with him just like our mother did with him.
Fast Forward now to 40+ years later. In 2007 I read an article in a small neighborhood syndicated publication about an organization that was teaching a wheelchair ballroom class at the Widener Memorial School in Philadelphia. Widener is a school for kids with disabilities. The artical caught my attention because I had attended the Widener school in my youth from first through twelfth grade, and thought to myself…..they never did that when I was a student there! The idea of dancing very much appealed to me. However, the idea of dancing in a wheelchair was somewhat intimidating at first. Would people think it was stupid? Would I feel stupid doing it? Would I look silly? Would people laugh or snicker when I disclosed what I was doing? Would it look ridiculous? I went on line to the American DanceWheels website to find out more information about this organization that is claiming that “anyone can dance”….and do it using a wheelchair. The idea of “Ballroom Dancing” was very appealing to me, but a part of me thought it was stupid as did certain friends and family members. Well, I wanted to prove them wrong. I was up for the challenge! I have to admit, I was intimidated.
So…without telling anybody where I was going, I ventured over to NJ one Sat. afternoon in July of 2008 to check out the class to see what it was all about it. It was now or never! I immediately enjoyed what I encountered. Melinda, the founder, creator and instructor, is all of 5’ tall and is a power house full of personality & energy who puts her whole heart and soul into teaching the disabled population to dance with standing, able-bodied partners. She believes that anyone CAN dance. I found myself traveling over to the dance studio in Pennsauken, NJ every Saturday, and eventually to a dance studio in New Castle, Delaware on Thursday evenings every week. I was hooked! I absolutely loved it; and seemed to pick it up quite naturally. I took to it like a duck takes to water. I discovered that wheelchair dancing not only takes a lot of coordination and skill in maneuvering the chair, but it definitely helps to have rhythm, and musicality. I actually get the true sense of what it feels like to dance while floating around the dance floor to the rhythm of the music with my standing partner, Randy.
Randy, who is a standing partner/volunteer for the wheelchair dance class, had already been taking private Ballroom social dance lessons for a few years when he got involved with American DanceWheels. Randy and I clicked as dance partners and entered our first competition in October winning first place in 3 out 4 classes.. …waltz, foxtrot, cha-cha. I had only been dancing for 3 months. Since then, we have been performing together, helping to teach the wheelchair dance syllabus with Melinda at clinics and seminars. Randy and I continue to improve our skills by taking weekly dance lessons with a professional dance teacher at a dance studio in Delaware. Yes, it’s a little far to go, but it’s well worth it. I love it! I get so much enjoyment out of it. Together we have choreographed our signature waltz piece and continue to work on adding new elements and stylizing to our performance piece. We also do the foxtrot, cha- cha-cha, Rumba, and have added the swing to our performances.
Last year in April of 2009, I fell and broke my arm. The first thing that crossed my mind as I was sitting on the floor in excruciating pain was how this was going to interfere with the upcoming performances that we were scheduled to do. I was so angry that I wasn’t going to be able to participate and the thought that I would never be able to dance again was upsetting to say the least. I was devastated. The fall was going to interfere big time with something I finally found that I got so much enjoyment out of. How could this be happening?!!! My broken arm required surgery to put Humpty-Dumpty back together again followed by months of rehab. It had been a rough period in my life and missed dancing so much. I had set a goal for myself and was determined to participate in a Teacher’s Training Seminar Clinic which was scheduled for July to help teach the wheelchair/seated elements of the syllabus. Although I was not cleared by my surgeon to weight bear or walk with my crutches until September, I achieved my goal and was back dancing by mid July before I was back up walking! It was great to be dancing once again!
Yes, REAL Ballroom dancing does exist for individuals who use a wheelchair and are partnered with able-bodied “standing” partners. I didn’t know this even existed until I researched it more online and on You Tube. Apparently, wheelchair ballroom & Latin dancing has been very popular in Europe for years where the International Style of dance is used in competition and is a Paralympic Sport. Well, who knew?!! Dancing has given me a new purpose in life and something to look forward to. I enjoy performing and being put to the challenge of learning new dance elements. I am fortunate to have such a good dance partner and leader. He leads; I follow….just like two standing partners. He makes me look good! It is REAL partner Ballroom dancing using traditional lead and follow.! It is expressive, creative, elegant, fun, artistic, & innovative. Yes, Melinda has put dancing in my heart and has made my dream/wish a reality. Melinda has proved that anyone CAN dance!
Now that I can dance, I have one other wish…… that I had found out about it years ago! Well, as they say, better late than never!
