Wheelchair Dancing
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I finished this dance in 2010 in time for the Arnold, a fitness conference, competition and festival that included dancesport, in Columbus, Ohio. My long time friend in the business, Sam Sodano, set up the demonstration for wheelchair dancing. You can't believe how excited I was to know this activity and my work would be displayed to so many dancers and to fitness names like Arnold Schwartznegger.
The main idea was to develop a dance whose priority was the connection, mostly physical, between the performers. It needed to be recognizable as a cha cha, it needed to be a little exciting, and a lot rhythmic. The dancers needed to feel physically comfortable and display their terrific physical attributes, hence the sleeveless shirt and the stretchy pants with minimal stones. I am very proud of this dance and totally excited about wheelchair dancing moving towards more acceptance and recognition in the dance industry. Eventually, this couple went, as the first USA dancers in their division, to the IPC European Championships in Germany. They were sponsored through Universal Ballroom Center and the dancers here who supported the project to send them. |
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The show was Dancing On Wheels, on BBC, 2010 (I think). It was a 6 wk program based on the Strictly Come Dancing format (DWTS is based on this also). Auditions were conducted all over UK to get the six wheelchair users who were all paired with celebrities, most of whom had appeared with dancing pros on the SCD program.
This foxtrot is performed on the BBC show Dancing On Wheels which aired for the second time this past summer in UK. I was invited to go to UK the summer of the program to be involved with the dancers and to do some choreography. I did this choreography for the celebrity Caroline dancing with James, a young man who lost both legs in a train accident. This couple won the entire show and became the first couple to represent UK at the European WC Dance Championships. |
Some years ago I was asked to help a dance student and her partner who used a wheelchair for mobility to improve their dancing. It is quite a story. We couldn't at that time find ANY one in the country doing this except a small group at another dance studio in CO.
One thing led to another and my son Brian learned the technique of wheelchair dancing outlined in my teachers' manual, Wheelease. One thing led to bigger things and he convinced a production company to do a wheelchair dance show in UK based on the Strictly Come Dancing format. Dancing With the Stars is also based on that format.
I was there at the set when these pictures were taken. I would claim the fact that I set the poses, only I wish I had had more time and a mirror to do a better job. My friend, Monica, traveled with me to UK for the week to be involved, interviewed, busy with choreography with the celebrities and dancers at rehearsals. The practices were on the campus at Brunell University. We had the best seats at the recording of the first show. The set was dynamite with double ramps, contemporary design and an audience set up as though attending a dinner theater show.
Brian Fortuna told me at the beginning of February, that the show, Dancing On Wheels, is being re-televised by BBC. It might have been just a bit before its time, but it was a part of the thrust in interest that makes now the right time.
I am planning to build this page and add pictures. Please come back to visit and enjoy the beauty, excitement, enthusiasm that is part of wheelchair dancing. In the meantime, visit Marisa Hamamoto's website dedicated to wheelchair dancing in Los Angeles, CA:
One thing led to another and my son Brian learned the technique of wheelchair dancing outlined in my teachers' manual, Wheelease. One thing led to bigger things and he convinced a production company to do a wheelchair dance show in UK based on the Strictly Come Dancing format. Dancing With the Stars is also based on that format.
I was there at the set when these pictures were taken. I would claim the fact that I set the poses, only I wish I had had more time and a mirror to do a better job. My friend, Monica, traveled with me to UK for the week to be involved, interviewed, busy with choreography with the celebrities and dancers at rehearsals. The practices were on the campus at Brunell University. We had the best seats at the recording of the first show. The set was dynamite with double ramps, contemporary design and an audience set up as though attending a dinner theater show.
Brian Fortuna told me at the beginning of February, that the show, Dancing On Wheels, is being re-televised by BBC. It might have been just a bit before its time, but it was a part of the thrust in interest that makes now the right time.
I am planning to build this page and add pictures. Please come back to visit and enjoy the beauty, excitement, enthusiasm that is part of wheelchair dancing. In the meantime, visit Marisa Hamamoto's website dedicated to wheelchair dancing in Los Angeles, CA: