Principal of Train Withe Us, Catherine Withe, uses International Dance Day each year as a way to educate her students on an area of the dance world they haven’t been exposed to before.
This year she wanted to educate them on Para Dance. She teamed up with Dan at Express Coaching Services who runs wheelchair basketball sessions in schools around the UK. Dan brought their wheelchairs and taught the students about the wheelchairs and how to use them and then Catherine taught them dance skills in the wheelchairs and some dance routines.
Catherine did extensive research into Para Dance before running the event as she wanted this to be an educational experience for her students.
She reached out to Helen Mason, who runs Propel Dance Company in Birmingham and she was incredibly giving of her time and knowledge.
Propel Dance Company is the UK’s only Professional Wheelchair Dance company and their community outreach group is called FreeWheelin, which has been running for eight years. She invited Catherine to take part in one of her community group sessions and then sit in and watch a rehearsal for her competition team. Helen, the members of the groups and their families were all so welcoming and were more than happy to share with Catherine their knowledge and experience of Para Dance to pass on to the Train Withe Us students.
Catherine said ‘I am so grateful to Helen and the members of FreeWheelin and Propel for making me so welcome and for sharing their experience of Para Dance with me so I could better educate my students.
Our International Dance Day celebration was a huge success, the children not only enjoyed experiencing something new but they really took on board everything I discussed with them about Para Dance. It is something I have wanted to learn about for a while. My own dance career ended in injury with me spending a very short time in a wheelchair before starting rehabilitation with a physiotherapy team. This is when I started to wonder how wheelchair users access dance and if there are professional dance career opportunities for wheelchair users. My dance teacher training was based on teaching non-disabled standing dancers so it was a huge gap in my dance and teaching knowledge.
It hasn’t just been an educational experience for my students but for me as well and I am hoping to further spread awareness of Para Dance. There are lots of people who don’t know that Para Dance exists and there are people who might really benefit from community groups like Free Wheelin if they were aware these groups are out there. Spreading awareness also sparks conversations and conversations initiate change and although wheelchair users are still able to access dance and express themselves through dance there are limitations regarding facilities and accessibility which I hope will improve in order to create more Para Dance opportunities. I have a lot more to learn and I look forward to expanding my knowledge and furthering my understanding of Para Dance.’
International Dance Day is an annual celebration of how dancing positively impacts lives around the globe. We celebrate the way we move our body to interact with music to express ourselves. Everyone can access and enjoy dance.
