Shows like America’s Got Talent have long been my guilty pleasures–so, combine that search history with the many interabled couple and disability channels I follow, and the YouTube algorithms brought me the gift of wheelchair dancing.
Marisa Hamamoto & Piotr Iwanicki
Two of these dances come from Infinite Flow, an inclusive dance company in California. When I went to their main page, I also saw that they have a virtual Film Premier of Scoops of Inclusion this Saturday that you can register for on their website, which spurred me to write this post. I hope I can watch it after the allotted time (12 p.m. EST). I’ve loved all of their videos, and thought I’d share a few here (as well as some other wheelchair dancers).
Probably my favorite video, so far, has been of a dance called “Pliancy,” danced by Marisa Hamamoto and Piotr Iwanicki, and choreographed by Phillip Chbeeb. Marisa Hamamaoto founded Infinite Flow after having been temporarily paralyzed by a stroke, and Piotr Iwanicki has Spina Bifida. And I also had the added bonus of discovering Bishop Briggs for the first time, whose music I’ve also been binge listening to since. You can watch it here:
Florent & Justin
This dance originally appeared on France’s Got Talent, but I quite like the extended edition. From what I read on a Talent Recap, the story begins with a young man trying to befriend a man in a wheelchair, but the man is resistant. While that may well be the case, I thought this summary didn’t really do justice to the complexity of choreography and atmosphere, and had the potentially negative effect of stereotyping the disabled man as being generally curmudgeonly. I thought, rather, that the “young man” was quite accurately portrayed as being somewhat infantalizing and somewhat disrespectful in his initial attempts at initiating a friendship, and that the disabled man’s reticence was rather fair. But I also love seeing the friendship unfold throughout the dance.
Gabe Adams, Mia Schaikewitz & Marisa Hamamoto
This one (also from Infinite Flow) is a wheelchair dance, but it is also a Tetra-Amelia dance–Gabe Adams has no arms or legs. All three dancers have such good synchronicity and chemistry, and the levels work so beautifully. I thought it was rather delightful.
Julius jun obero & Rhea Marquez
I’m not sure which “Got Talent” this show is from, but the act is gorgeous, and you can find them on Facebook.
Infinite Flow Ensemble Collaboration
For this one, I’m not entirely sure who all is part of Infinite Flow and who all collaborated with them (or indeed if the dancers were the collaborators), but I rather love the ensemble.
Marc Lafleur & Dmitry Kim
Also from Infinite Flow, these two just have a really beautiful, moving chemistry, and this video also shows dancing in a wheelchair as well as dancing with a prosthetic.
Last, I thought I’d share the first wheelchair dance video I came across, which is a rather cute rendering of a Homecoming Dance proposal:
For now, that’s all. I hope you found them as gorgeous and fun and awesome as I did!
Alizabeth Worley 