ERIC PACELLA/THE LANTERNProfessor David Covey dances with participants in the ARC Dance Class in Sullivant Hall Friday January 23rd.Covey’s dancers are disabled adults with “a wide range of physical capabilities.” But one thing they have in common is their passion for dance. “They are so open and honest and in the moment,” Covey said, “it doesn’t matter what their ability or disability is, they love to move and they’re not afraid to do it.”
Dancers in Covey’s class come from ARC Industries North, which employs them and provides services, such as art classes.
Participation in the ARC dance class is a weekly highlight for the dancers. “It’s something that they really look forward to. It adds a different perspective on the quality of their life to be interacting within the community,” said Jackie Boyle, arts facilitator at ARC.
Benefits for ARC dancers extend beyond just a positive experience in the studio. “They feel so proud of themselves,” Covey said. “These guys love to dance.”
The class has also helped dancers improve their social skills. “It’s a great team-building experience for them,” Boyle said. “They have integrated as a group and are really helpful with each other.”
ERIC PACELLA/THE LANTERNStudent volunteer Kate Enright dances with a participant.“With [the dancers] moving with an able-bodied person, they follow really well,” Covey said, “if you move your arm into a place that they don’t normally move, because they’re dancing, they’ll go with you.”
Physical contact through dance is a powerful method of communication when working with dancers who are speech impaired.
“They’re very isolated physically from other people, so it’s been really great to see them respond to people touching them, and how that relates to music,” Covey said.
“Sharing weight” is an exercise that participants particularly enjoy. During this exercize, the dancers and volunteers push and pull on each others’ bodies, lean or lay hands on one another, and then freeze in one position.
Covey’s dancers enjoy listening to all types of music, from rap to show tunes, but they all share a favorite song: “They all will rock out to Tina Turner. I put Tina Turner on and they are who they are. They love ‘Proud Mary.’ That’s their theme song,” Covey said.
ARC dancers are not the only ones who benefit from participating in the class. Kate Enright, a third-year graduate student in dance, volunteers with the class each week. “For me it takes me to a place that … reminds me so much of what is fun about movement,” Enright said. “You can see the joy that comes from it … you just let your body go free.”
Covey said the class helps his students think about movement and what it means to dance. Teoma Naccarato, a first-year graduate student in dance, has gained a new perspective from working with the ARC dance class. “We’re looking to work through improvisation to find more authentic or uninhibited movement,” Naccarato said.
Students volunteer because many of them are familiar with at least one person with a disability. Covey describes the experience as captivating: Once a student volunteers, he or she is likely to be “sucked in” and will want to return.
ARC dance class sessions are structured, but the agenda is not set in stone. Covey makes suggestions, but if a dancer or a student volunteer has a different idea, he is open to change.
Although Covey leads the class, Enright feels comfortable starting movements. “It’s really a give and take environment,” Enright said. “The ARC dancers also start to lead things as well.”
Although the dance classes have been offered for five years, the same group has returned time and again, Covey said.
More information about the ARC Dance Class and volunteer opportunities can be obtained by e-mailing Covey at [email protected].
