Just beyond a well worn lobby of neutral colors, beaten furniture and walls scattered with a few framed pictures sits a shiny wooden floor, mirrored walls, ballet bars and a small stereo system.
From the lobby soft music and intermittent loud voices can be heard. “I want you to stretch out your legs and try to kiss your toes!” instructs an enthusiastic voice.
Loud giggles immediately erupt from a student who can’t quite get past the idea of kissing her own toes.
Inside, only five students surround a teacher. Each has his or her own little square of carpet to designate individual spaces on the floor. At any given time, usually only one, maybe two, of the students are actually paying attention to instructor Ashley Graves-DeFabio Gearing.
| From the Author: One of the few programs in the Valley for people with disABILITIES, New Directions in Dance, LLC, is an original and unique program where people of all ability levels can create and express themselves through movement. Founded by Ashley Graves-DeFabio Gearing, the program is one that thrives on consideration, patience and, most of all, love. A middle school teacher of students with disabilities and also a dance instructor, Gearing has dedicated an enormous amount of time to giving her students hours of interaction, movement and fun through the creation of NDID. Although Gearing hopes that her program will continue to grow, she focuses more on the success of her students than on the success of the business, “If I can just help one person feel accepted, help one person accept another with a disability, I am happy,” she says. |