Get Your Dance On: US Wheelchair Dance Schools

Integrated sport dance companies pair people in wheelchairs with able-bodied dance partners. Those involved in wheelchair dance sport say they are inspired, feel more confident and some even report they need less physical therapy. After the jump are some of the most well-known integrated wheelchair dance sport organizations in the United States.

1. American Dance Wheels Foundation, Inc.
PO Box 88 

Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004 215-588-6671 American Dance Wheels trains people in the art of wheelchair ballroom and Latin dancing. The leaders of the organization, Melinda Kremer and Ray Leight, are wheelchair dance sport competition champions. “I really enjoyed the challenge of doing something that has only ever been offered to the able-bodied population,” said Diane Kirlin Murphy, an American Dance Wheels dancer and performer. 
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2. Dancing Wheels Company & School
3615 Euclid Ave

Cleveland, OH 44115 216-432-0306 Dancing Wheels Company & School is among the premier integrated wheelchair dance sport organizations in the U.S. Mary Verdi-Fletcher, the first professional wheelchair dancer in the U.S., founded the Company. Its dancers have appeared on the TV special “Christopher Reeve: A Celebration of Hope.” Reeve said that Dancing Wheels “is proof that the possibilities are endless.” 
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2. Full Radius Dance
P.O. Box 54453 Atlanta, GA 30308 404-724-9663 Douglas Scott, the founder of Full Radius Dance, says that his wheelchair dance sport integrated modern dance company “reveals the essence of our shared humanity. Through this process, it affects positive change for persons with disabilities, dance artists and the general community.” 
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4. AXIS Dance Company
1428 Alice Street, Suite 200 Oakland, CA 94612 510-625-0110 AXIS Dance Company is one of the most acclaimed ensembles for people with and without disabilities, and performs around the world. A donor of the organization, Tom Metz, said: “AXIS reminds us that within every restriction and every limitation, the number of positive artistic choices is limitless.”

1. Infinity Dance Theater
220 West 93rd Street New York, NY 10025 917-204-8294 Infinity Dance Theater performs integrated sports dance concerts all over the world. Its founder, Kitty Lunn, said wheelchair sports dance “changes the world’s perception of what a dancer is."