S. Fla. Troupe Giving Disabled The Gift Of Dance
MIAMI (CBS4) – John Beauregard suffered a spinal cord injury in a fall many years ago. Bonnie Malcolm has brittle bones. James Salter has Down Syndrome. Guillermo Acosta has intellectual disabilities while Adam Eckstat was born with Spina Bifida. What do they have in common?
All are dancers in The Karen Peterson Dance Troupe, a company created 23 years ago.
“I love the collaborative spirit. They enjoy it too. Show me how you can do this and they’ll say I can’t do that, But Karen, I can do this. So, I’m constantly pushing their boundaries,” said Artistic Director and Founder Karen Peterson.
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| A West Kendall studio is giving the gift of dance to people with disabilities. (CBS4) |
For the dancers, it’s life changing.
“I think of it as a transformation,” said Beauregard. “To get up and be paralyzed in bed and can’t move, and then to end up a few hours later thinking that I’m a dancer out on the dance floor, It’s amazing.”
“I always wanted to be a dancer, but being in a wheelchair it was like no way. Then, I discovered Karen’s dancers and I was like wow! It’s