Amy Wright, owner of the Wright Step Dance Studio, gives dancing her all, both as a professional performer and as an instructor.
"I've danced my whole life," she says, "and from the age of 16, I wanted my own studio."
Wright brought her love of dance to Winter Haven straight from New York City, where she performed in "Cats," other Broadway shows and commercials.
In 2000, she achieved her dream and opened her studio, the Wright Step. This past summer, her love of dance led her to create "Dance Class for Special Needs."
"When I lived in New York, a friend of mine was working with kids with Down syndrome and found it very rewarding," Wright says. "I always wanted to do something like that. I kept it in the back of my brain when I moved here, and when a parent asked about it for her son, I knew it was time to do it."
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Students at the Wright Step School of Dance demonstrate an exercise that is performed in the special-needs dance class.
Paul Crate / News Chief |
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On any given afternoon, the 5,000-square-foot Wright Step studio in downtown Winter Haven is buzzing with activity as students and Wright's six instructors come together to work on their ballet, tap, hip-hop, tumbling and jazz moves. Parents relax in the lobby, where they can observe classes through two-way mirrored windows and monitors. One of those parents is Beth Kingham, whose three children, Andrew, age 10; Jack, age 8; and Ellie, age 6, participate in dance at the Wright Step. Jack has Down syndrome and was among the first group of elementary-age students with special needs taught by Wright this summer.
Kingham says it's important to her family that Jack have exposure to the same learning experiences as his siblings.
"Jack's brother and sister have the chance to participate in all kinds of extracurricular activities," Kingham says. "It's very important that he has the same opportunities, like Cub Scouts and swimming. For years, we took Andrew and Ellie to Wright Step, and I'd sit in the lobby with Jack. He'd sneak into the studio! He wanted to dance."
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Children in a Wright Step School of Dance class demonstrate some of the exercises practiced in a special-needs dance class.
Paul Crate / News Chief |
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According to Kingham, the seed was planted when she sent Wright a YouTube video of children with special needs dancing in a class at the Boston Ballet. Wright recognized that many of the components were similar to Wright Step's beginning dance class. Later, she developed a class for the summer camp. Word spread, and four girls and two boys signed up for the six-week camp. Some of the children have Down syndrome and the others are living with autism.
At first, Wright says, she experimented because she wasn't sure what the children would be able to do. However, soon they were flying through the instruction.
"They learned beginning jazz and hip-hop," Wright says, "and they did just what other kids would do. They liked to watch themselves dance in front of the big mirrors. We'd take out mats and do tumbling, the basic stuff. But they loved the hip-hop part."
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Children in a Wright Step School of Dance class demonstate some of the exercises practiced in a special-needs dance class.
Paul Crate / News Chief |
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Kingham credits Wright's energy and openness as key to the success of the class.
"I just can't say enough about Amy," Kingham says. "For one thing, her enthusiasm is amazing. Most people, when they get around kids with special needs, don't know what to anticipate, in terms of behavior. What was beautiful about the summer camp was that because Amy was so open and willing to experiment. She found something that was perfectly appropriate for them. They are completely able and proved to be really good dancers!"
"They were so great," Wright says. "They have such positive
attitudes and try so hard."
Wright had a little help in the form of older dance students who partnered with the six children. Dani Watkins, 13, was happy to help.
"It was a chance for us to have a little one-on-one time with special needs kids," says Watkins, who's been dancing at Wright Step since 2007. "They got to do things that normal kids do. They weren't singled out; no one told them what they couldn't do. They actually got to dance, like the hokey-pokey and the bunny hop, and they learned a combination. It was like a normal dance class."
During the class, the students were not the only ones learning something new.
"They're not very different from us," Watkins says. "They laugh, they smile, they have fun, just like students in any other class."
Watkins says that Wright put a lot of thought and planning into the special-needs class.
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Children in a Wright Step School of Dance class demonstrate some of the exercises practiced in a special-needs dance class.
Paul Crate / News Chief |
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"She talked to the parents to find out what the kids liked to do," she says, "and what the parents were hoping to see. She did research about it and made sure everything would be appropriate and safe."
Another parent, Rhonda Futch, says she most appreciated the kindness and open-minded attitude shown by Wright and her older students.
"We all want our children to be able to participate in activities that typical children, and parents, get to do," says Futch, whose daughter, Taylor, is 7 years old. "We also want people to be tolerant and accepting. My biggest fear is that people aren't going to look past her differences and get to know her. That's what I loved most about this: Amy and her staff, and especially those young girls who helped, they were so compassionate. It just touched my heart. I loved the whole experience. And Taylor, she really loved it."
By the end of the camp, the students had learned a routine, set to a "Hannah Montana'" song, that they performed for their parents.
"I think people would be touched, and enlightened, if they'd seen how well the students mastered this dance routine in six classes, and with such enthusiasm," Kingham says.
Wright and Kingham agree that the best part of the camp was that the students were thrilled to be with kids like themselves, in a class where they could just be kids.
"There are other children with special needs that Amy includes in her regular dance classes," Kingham says, "But this was just them being kids. That, to me, was fun. Just to see Jack simply dancing for the sheer joy of it. His experience was just like my daughter's in her pre-dance class, and I'm sure that all the children felt a great sense of achievement at the the end, that they were all moving as a group to the music. And it was cool dance moves, too."
The prospect of participating in the class for a second time is exciting to all involved. In January, the Wright Step plans to offer a dance class for special-needs children rather than a camp.
"It was a wonderful opportunity that Amy provided," Kingham says, "and on top of that, she did it for free. Although not expected, it was certainly appreciated. I hope we can do it again. It only takes one person, you know? Some parents drove a great distance to do this because the opportunities for our children are so limited, and while others couldn't drive that far, they plan to ask studios in their area for similar programs because this one was such a success. It only takes one."
"I would absolutely love to do it again," Watkins says. "I had so much fun. They were so much fun to be around. They're good kids."
Rhonda Futch agrees.
"I so hope we get to do another class like that again," she says. "It was just awesome. They caught on so quickly and did a great job. But the thing that touched me the most was the acceptance. Everyone involved gave that."
Wright says she hopes to offer several classes in January for special-needs children in different age groups.
The Wright Step Dance Studio is at 316 Ave. C, S.W., Winter Haven. Call 863-294-5300.
