Page 20 - Jo Dee C Jacob Girl Scouts CEO

Beverly Weurding of offering free, on-going ballroom and Latin wheelchair dance classes

throughout San Diego “Ten wheelchairs were donated by the Chris-
topher Reeve Foundation. The specialty wheelchairs are cambered
in such a way that we can turn more readily. If an individual cannot
Everyone Deserves to Dance transfer out of their wheelchair on their own the many volunteers who
work with us will help lift them out of their chairs and into the specialty
chairs.”
I asked Beverly, if she had the opportunity to
By Judith A. Habert
speak out to all of our readers, what would she
have to say. “I would encourage all of them,
They twirl across the dance if they have someone in their family who is in
floor - moving as if they had a wheelchair, or even if they use a walker, we
wings. They don’t, but they do can put them in one of our wheel chairs. That
have wheels. The event was they should definitely look into getting them
a performance by San Diego’s into one of our classes; it is a mindset at first, if
Wheelchair Dancers Organiza- you are in a wheel chair, that you are not going
tion (WDO). Not only was this a to be able to do anything ever again, not even
wonderful event, but it was at this dance. By coming to our classes they will not
function that WDO set a world only learn to dance with us, but they will meet
record when the grand finale the greatest group of people. It is a great
included a Flash Mob of 38 Roll- place to socialize and everyone loves everyone
ers and Walkers performing to and we just have fun.”
“Stand By Me.” Thank you Beverly for helping those who are
Until this show I had not known wheelchair bound to take back their life and
of the organization’s existence. walk their dream. Because as it states on their
After seeing this amazing website at www.wheelchairdancers.org, Every-
spectacle, I didn’t understand one Deserves to Dance!
how I could have not known
of them. I and could honestly
admit to myself that here I was By popular request, WDO is offering their first
with two perfectly good legs and evening dance class to accommodate volun-
there was no way I could have teers and wheelchair users who work full-time.
performed with the agility and This free 8-week dance class starts on Wed.,
grace that I witnessed from these July 3rd and runs to August 21st, 6:00 to 7:00
amazing dancers. PM, Grossmont Hospital Auditorium. No regis-
President and Founder Beverly tration required. Open enrollment. Join us any
Weurding was on hand to tell me Wednesday through August 21st.
a bit about this amazing orga-
nization and how it came to be. WDO is the first organization to offer wheel-
20 “Our organization is five years chair dancing in Southern California. Classes
old and it started with my dream are taught by a professionally certified dance instructor, Joe Torres,
and my desire to dance again. You see, I had been an able bodied owner of Angel Dance Studio. WDO promotes the growth and devel-
individual until my mid 50’s when muscular dystrophy restricted me opment of wheelchair dancing in San Diego which provides disabled
to a wheelchair. Up until then, one of my favorite things to do was to young people and adults of all ages the opportunity to learn the Fox
dance. The thought of never being able to do that again made me Trot, Rumba, Salsa and Cha-Cha dances with an able-bodied partner.
sad.” The Wheel Chair Dancing Organization meets every week for classes
When Beverly’s illness confined her to a wheelchair she suddenly and social events. Please contact Beverly Weurding at 619-905-
realized how cruel life can be for physically challenged, wheelchair 8488 or email Dance-whisperer@att.net for more information on this
confined individuals. As she notes, “It took me a full year of isolating dynamic group.
myself because I didn’t know how to be disabled. I had no friends
who were disabled. It was tough having people look over me as if I
didn’t exist, as if I was not even a person.”
It was at this point that Beverly dug deep and listened to her inner
voice, which told her she had to do something. She had heard about
wheelchair dancing but had no idea what it was. She decided to find
out everything she could. “I did a lot of research on the computer. I
found that there was only one dance studio in the country that offered
ballroom and Latin wheelchair dancing. I got in touch with them and
was able to find a dance instructor who was willing to walk my dream
with me.”
She knew from that day that she would dance again and no one could
stop her. As evident in the performance, they have come a long way
in just five short years. “We have so much more that we want to do.
We want to reach out to the young people, go into schools and work
with special needs children and disabled youth. We want to work with
veterans and wounded warriors. Encouraging anyone with a disability
to know they can achieve whatever they put their minds to.”
Beverly acknowledged those who have stepped up to help her make
her dream a reality. Wheelchair dancing requires specialty chairs
which allow more movement and freedom and makes it easier for the
dancers to give their best performance. The Sharp Grossmont Hospi-
tal Foundation, has secured several organizations to cover the costs