A dance studio in Rapid City hosts classes for people with different disabilities. Students involved in several genres of the art are preparing for their upcoming recital.
Four girls between 8 and 11 years old listen to instructions during their rehearsal. This class is called Down with Dance. It’s for students with Down syndrome. The girls sit in a circle and answer questions about their upcoming performance.
Lockett: “So what’s your favorite part of this dance class?”
Class: “Dancing.”
Lockett: “Dancing?”
Class: “Yeah.”
Lockett: “Do you guys like to dance in front of people?”
Class: “Yes.”
Lockett: “What Dance are you guys doing?”
Class: “Wonder Woman.”
Schaefer: “Wonder Woman. Yes? Do you guys know why you’re Wonder Woman?”
Class: “Yes, my favorite!”
Barefoot Dance Studio owner Andrea Schaefer teaches Down with Dance. She says she’s taught Rapid City classes to people with all different abilities for 10 years. Schaefer says Down with Dance classes have two sections. Level one focuses on creative movement, and the kids in this level two class learn tap and jazz.
“I get kidnapped in the recital and these girls come out and save me. So they’re dressed like Wonder Woman and they come out and do a Wonder Woman Dance and they save me from the bad guys, which is really darling and I think they’re kind of excited about that. So that’s why they’re Wonder Woman. And then they open up the show with their tap shoes on with the big kids and we have this big, huge opening number that they’re a part of.”
Schaefer says the students work on choreography from February to May. Two class helpers practice with the kids. Schaefer says the class is easy to teach because the students tune right into the music.
“There’s not a barrier of inhibition and they just kind of go for it. So they’re less concerned with ‘do I look silly’ or ‘does this look stupid’ or ‘what might someone think.’ And I work really hard to get that out of my other students. So when they hear this music especially now getting ready for recital I can count on them to always know their cues. They’re never going to forget when they hear that spot in the music. It’s a visceral reaction, they jump right to it.”
She says it’s rewarding to see students graduate from Down with Dance and move into other classes.
The girls glide across the studio in bright tops and blue skirts. They mimic wonder woman, putting their fists in the air as instructors lift them off the ground.
Roy Vanberkum observes through a large window. His daughter is one of the girls flying in the room.
“My daughter is Matilda. We call her Tilly.”
Vanberkum says this is Tilly’s fifth year of dance. He says she started in a class for people with different disabilities before Down with Dance.
“It’s really an important part, I think, if you want to say in that community of people with disabilities to give them an opportunity to be a part of a sporting event, a dance event that keeps them involved, keeps them growing, that keeps them moving forward in their lives. The exercise, the accolades that they get when they win medals or ribbons. It’s high energy and it’s always really, really exciting because everybody is a champion for those kids and those kids really eat it up.”
Vanberkum says the four girls in the class are friends, so they do other activates together. He says his daughter is passionate about everything she does – swimming, track and dancing.
“Of course my experience and my wife’s experience is that Tilly came into our lives and we’ve expanded our world view and had experiences with this part of our society that a lot of people have put off or sometimes been afraid of or not known how to treat them or not known how to react to them. It’s a blessing. And it would be a blessing for everyone to be a part of it.
Vanberkum says people who haven’t met others with Down syndrome can have great interactions if they treat them like everyone else. Because they’re just like…everyone else.
Barefoot Dance Studio’s Big 10 recital is scheduled for May 20th at the Rapid City Performing Arts Center.