Ballet is for EveryBODY
At Tutu School Wilmington, we firmly believe that ballet is for everybody in every body. Dance brings together people from all different walks of life, and we celebrate the incredible dancers, choreographers, and Tutu Schoolers with different abilities – this month and every month!
Since July is Disability Pride Month, we wanted to highlight several amazing dancers who are working to change the dance landscape and how we look at movement. Spotlighting those that are breaking boundaries and showing the world that dance can come in many forms!
To begin, we have a very special feature Q&A with one of our very own Tutu School dancers in our Tutu Community:
Meet Aurelia!
Auri is a sweet and funny 7 year old who, like many Tutu members, loves all things girlie, glittery and pink (or purple!). Read along as she, and her parents, share her ballet journey thus far.
Q: When did you become interested in ballet”
A: She became interested when she was little and says she always wanted to dance! She joined Tutu School Cary 2 years ago.
Q: What had you choose Tutu School for your child’s ballet classes?
A: Tutu school was open to teaching Auri with her disability and allowing her dad to assist. That was the most inclusive and wonderful studio to be a part of.
Q: What does your dancer love about ballet?
A: Auri says she loves her teacher, Miss Madeline, and most of all, dancing!
Q: As a parent, what has been the highlight of watching your child explore dancing?
A: Our weekly highlight is watching Auri’s happiness dancing and being included with her peers.
Q: What color are your child’s butterfly wings?!
A: Rainbow
Q: What is your favorite ballet step, activity, or prop in class?
A: “I like pirouettes!”
Q: How have you enjoyed performing in Bravo Bash over the years?!
A: Although she finds herself a little nervous, she says that she loves performing in front of an audience.
Q: What are your/your dancer’s big dreams? (Whether ballet-related or not)
A: “I’d like to continue doing ballet and dancing.”
Q: Anything else you’d like to share about your ballet journey?
A: Thank you Tutu School for being such a wonderful space and for Miss Madeline 💖
Alice Sheppard
A dancer, choreographer, and wheelchair-user from Britain who also founded her own inter-abled dance company, Kinetic Light, in 2016!
Alice started dancing in 2004 after meeting the disabled dancer, Homer Avila, at a conference. She dared her to take her first dance class and after that, she fell in love with movement! After 2 years, she resigned from her position as a professor and became a full-time dancer.
Alice eventually joined Axis Dance Company 2006 as an apprentice and later became an official company member in 2007, touring internationally and nationally. During her time with the company, she learned ballet and modern dance while exploring how to apply different techniques to dancing in a wheelchair. Throughout her career, Alice has performed and collaborated with numerous companies around the world, and she continues to work to create movement that challenges conventional understandings of disabled and dancing bodies and make disabled dancers more visible with better accessibility in the arts.
Watch Alice Sheppard perform in the short film “Inclinations” which she also choreographed here!
Joe Powell Main
A freelance dancer, choreographer, and wheelchair and crutch user from Wales who works to open conversations and opportunities for differently-abled dancers!
Joe began dancing at the age of four, with a strong potential for ballet, which led him to join the Royal Ballet School Junior associate program and at the age of ten, he officially joined the school. In his fourth year of training, Joe needed surgery that, unfortunately, resulted in complications. That same year, he was in a serious car accident and both of which left him needing to use crutches and a wheelchair for mobility. After a break from dance, he began wheelchair latin and ballroom dancing and rediscovered his love for ballet.
Through the use of social media to connect, he was able to also connect with other dancers with disabilities and Ballet Cymru. He became a company member in 2020 and performed in the 2021 UK tour of Giselle. As a professional dancer, he has worked to make dance, specifically ballet, more inclusive for those with disabilities by speaking on various panels, performing with companies nationally and internationally.
Watch Joe Powell Main discuss the Royal Ballet’s piece Sleepwalker.
Bailey Vincent
A deaf dancer living with Atypical Cystic Fibrosis. She is a choreographer, teacher, and the Artistic Director for Company 360!
During her childhood, she often was sick with various illnesses and respiratory issues, which led to her eventual hearing loss as a teenager. She continued to dance throughout multiple surgeries and procedures, and was later diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. Though the condition affects how her body functions and breathes, Bailey never gave up dance.
She is now professional dancer and dance educator, working with children with disabilities and making dance classes accessible for Deaf and Hard of Hearing students. Bailey also founded Company 360 Dance Theatre in 2017 to give dancers of all shapes, sizes, and levels of ability a chance to shine. In 2018, she also collaborated with BalletNext for an ASL incorporated piece, which was performed at NY Live Arts. Her work incorporates experiences on what life is like living with an invisible disability, blending American Sign Language (ASL) with dance for Deaf culture/language awareness and advocating for Deaf and disability rights and inclusion in the arts.
July’s Ballet Book Club Read
This month, we’re proud to feature Ballerina on Wheels: Amazing Ava’s First Dance Recital as our Ballet Book Club pick in honor of Disability Pride Month. Like each month, we highlight our Book Club Books with a special Storytime for Members with snacks and crafts. Be sure to RSVP on our events page to enjoy!
Ava is pictured performing at the top of this post! To further celebrate this story, enjoy this conversation below with Ava, the star of the story her mom Lauren, and Cindy, the studio owner who welcomed Ava into the world of dance and author of the book. Their conversation is a moving reminder that ballet truly is for every body.
What do you do at your school to help dancers with disabilities shine?
Cindy: We do several things. I mean, for many years, this is like our 35th year, we have had students with special needs that have taken private lessons or some that we’ve been able to mainstream into other classes. And then really meeting Ava has taken it to a whole new level because Ava came to the studio and she would watch her sister dance. And then it was actually Ms. Sam who said, hey Ava, do you wanna dance?
She works with a lot of students with special needs during the day in her classroom setting. And we all talked and we said, yeah. I mean, we always believe the dance is for everybody. It just looks different no matter how you express yourself. Like with Ava, we’ve been able to see her improve her range of motion with her arms, her legs. We can see how she really uses her core muscles, and she’s working hard.
We have people that will come from different areas and really will just be totally amazed and what they see Ava as well as some of our other students doing because of their commitment, their family’s commitment, and the teachers’ commitment. It’s a really strong group, and we support each other. The nicest thing too is at the recital, the families go wild. I mean, like when they see Ava perform. People wait to see her perform. They’re like, “we want to be coming to the show where Ava’s going to perform. What’s she gonna dance to this year?”
Tell us a little bit more about what it was like for Ava, the school, and Ava’s sister, Paisley to perform in Ava’s first recital.
Lauren: Oh, Ava loved it. I know that that was when the Post Gazette was there. They were taking pictures of her. She was in a local newspaper, highlighted there. And at first, I think it kind of hit her a little during dress rehearsal with the lights and everything and all these people looking at me, but (her teacher) Sam was up there on the stage with her. Having the teacher there by her side kind of helped put her forth. It was exciting to watch her on stage.
Cindy: We had so many little students asking, you know, “how’s Ava gonna dance? How’s Ava gonna dance? You know, she’s in a wheelchair. How’s Ava gonna dance?” And that was really one of the things I remember saying to Lauren, like, we need a book about this. Like, because Ava can dance. It just looks different.
What are some other things that you think are important about Ava’s story?
Cindy: So many times, you know, young children will say, “oh, I can’t do that. I can’t do that.” Or parents will say, “well, she can’t do that. She can’t do that.” And, you know, Ava truly defines determination. Like, yes, you can do anything you want to! You just have to put your mind to it and you have to do it. People and teachers and your parents will support you. You will make it happen. You know, it’s not about shying away and saying, “oh, I don’t think I can do that.” It’s about, you know, building confidence and resilience to say, “we’re going to do it. We’re going to do it. It’s going to happen.” And it does.
other posts you might like
Newsletter