There’s never been a better time to take up Wheelchair Dancing. Whether people are taking part competitively or just for recreation Wheelchair Dancing is becoming incredibly popular. It’s fun, it’s a good way to socialise and meet new people and it helps keep you fit too.
There are a couple of national organisations that have been set up to promote and develop Wheelchair Dancing in the UK. The Wheelchair Dancing Sport Association was established in 2006 as the UK National Governing Body for Wheelchair Dance Sport and Wheelchair Dancing within the UK, for those who would otherwise be excluded from dancing. Then there’s also the Wheelchair Dance Association which promotes recreational facilities in the form of Wheelchair Dancing.
A Wheelchair Dancing session is one of the most inclusive activities you can possibly take part in. The range of people who take part is amazing and everyone is welcomed regardless of age or ability. Whether you’re in an electric or manual wheelchair and want to dance with another wheelchair user, with a non-wheelchair user or just by yourself, there are loads of different options.
Wheelchair Dancing started out as a strictly ballroom dancing format but has grown to include all manner of other styles. Hip-hop, country, tap and Bollywood are all covered. In fact, Development Director for the WDSA UK, Patrick McGeough says that “the only dance we can’t do is the Can-Can because we have not figured out how to do the splits in a wheelchair YET!”
One very popular form, that has taken off recently, is Wolk dancing. It’s a slightly strange concept when first described to you, essentially being folk dance meets street dance with dance routines especially choreographed for wheelchair users. Teams of four or more move, in unison, through a series of obstacles in time to folk songs. It’s actually a lot of fun.
The Folk In Motion organisation have taken this unique idea and run with it very successfully. They’ve been granted the London 2012 Inspire mark which recognises exceptional projects inspired by the Games. Folk In Motion’s message is simple and positive: “Wolk celebrates diversity, and teams are built on cooperation and working together and making allowances for each other rather than on uniformity.” Due to training requirements and their flexible approach it is easier to set up Wolk dance classes than other forms of Wheelchair Dancing, so it might well become more and more popular in the future.
Many people attend Wheelchair Dancing class just as a way of having fun and keeping fit, but if you want to take your Wheelchair Dancing a little more seriously, there is the option to take it on and try Wheelchair Dancing as a sport. Obviously the Wheelchair Dancing Sports Association try to promote this side of dance (the clue’s in the name really). Although Wheelchair Sport Dancing is still relatively new to this country it is growing quickly and last weekend Manchester hosted Grand Prix competitions featuring participants from 12 European countries.
You may remember that a couple of years ago Paula Moulton and Gary Lyness (AKA Strictly Wheels) made it to the Semi-Finals of Britain’s Got Talent with their Wheelchair Dancing routine. The judges all said nice things about them (we’ll leave it to you to decide if they were perhaps a little patronising). Their appearance helped to raise the profile of the sport and to get more people dancing.
Currently there are eighteen official Wheelchair Dance groups in the UK but it is an ever-increasing number. There may well be many many more unofficial groups at local leisure centres and church halls etc. The Wheelchair Dance Association has a list of clubs to join online. They also say that to find your nearest group or for information on setting up a group for fun and/or competitions you can contact their National Secretary, Sue Banks by email at SUXb@hotmail.com. Or if you want to find out more from the WDSA, contact their information team at info@wdsauk.co.uk.
Wheelchair Dancing is a lot of fun, a way t0 meet new people and a chance to try something new. Anyone who likes to dance would have a brilliant time doing it. What’s more, it’s good for you too but, from what we hear, you have so much fun that you barely even notice the workout you’re getting!