Dancing Wheels Company
Encyclopedia
The Dancing Wheels Company is a professional dance company based in Cleveland, Ohio
. Founded in 1980, it was the first in America to stage performances involving dancers with and without disabilities
. The School of Dancing Wheels was opened in 1990, which was also the start of a ten-year partnership with Cleveland Ballet
.
The company was founded by Mary Verdi-Fletcher, the first professional wheelchair dancer in the United States "and one of the first in the world." Born with spina bifida
, with her mother a dancer and her father a musician she had nevertheless always wanted to be a dancer.
In her analysis of the company's communication methods, Margaret M. Quinlan says that it works "to challenge dominant representations of a 'normal' body and the opportunities and privileges that accompany it. Dancing Wheels is committed to changing the negativity and fear that surround the education, employment, and inclusion of persons with disabilities in the arts and broader communities". The company uses its performances to enhance public awareness of disability issues and promote social change. The dance technique of translation involves drawing parallels between the movements and gestures of "sit-down" and "stand-up" dancers.
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
. Founded in 1980, it was the first in America to stage performances involving dancers with and without disabilities
Physically integrated dance
The physically integrated dance movement is part of the disability culture movement, which recognizes and celebrates the first-person experience of disability, not as a medical model construct but as a social phenomenon, through artistic, literary, and other creative means.Examples of dance...
. The School of Dancing Wheels was opened in 1990, which was also the start of a ten-year partnership with Cleveland Ballet
Cleveland Ballet
The Cleveland Ballet was founded in 1972 by Dennis Nahat and Ian Horvath as a dance school, the School of Cleveland Ballet. They subsequently recruited professional dancers who by 1975 were previewing performances around Cleveland. The company first performed at the Hanna Theatre November 16, 1976...
.
The company was founded by Mary Verdi-Fletcher, the first professional wheelchair dancer in the United States "and one of the first in the world." Born with spina bifida
Spina bifida
Spina bifida is a developmental congenital disorder caused by the incomplete closing of the embryonic neural tube. Some vertebrae overlying the spinal cord are not fully formed and remain unfused and open. If the opening is large enough, this allows a portion of the spinal cord to protrude through...
, with her mother a dancer and her father a musician she had nevertheless always wanted to be a dancer.
In her analysis of the company's communication methods, Margaret M. Quinlan says that it works "to challenge dominant representations of a 'normal' body and the opportunities and privileges that accompany it. Dancing Wheels is committed to changing the negativity and fear that surround the education, employment, and inclusion of persons with disabilities in the arts and broader communities". The company uses its performances to enhance public awareness of disability issues and promote social change. The dance technique of translation involves drawing parallels between the movements and gestures of "sit-down" and "stand-up" dancers.