The beat goes on -- Dancers follow dreams in Bass Hall performance
by Annette Germinario, feature editor

     Tammy Stevens and Michael Duran are dancers who have normal jitters about an upcoming performance in Bass Hall, but their jitters are intensified because she dances on crutches and he dances in a wheelchair.
     People who think of dance often think of ballet, MTV, Casa Mañaña or a prom. Few ever think of differently abled people dancing. However, people abled with canes, crutches, wheelchairs and other people’s support are more dependent on vibration or sense of touch.
     Follow the Dream II, a TCC performance featuring over 150 dancers, musicians and actors, is poised to challenge the paradigm of how our culture defines dance Monday, Nov. 6, at 8 p.m. in Bass Performance Hall.
     Linda Quinn, NW Campus dance teacher, defines dance as “the highest expression of emotions and truth.” As choreographer, she captures emotion into rhythmic patterns and weaves expressive visual sequences using each individual’s abilities against a backdrop of music and theatrical narration.
     Stevens, who has walked with crutches all of her life, performed with Follow the Dream dance company during the spring 2000 semester. She is working on her degree in child development at NW Campus and volunteers at her church nursery.
     Born with cerebral palsy (CP), Stevens has what she calls a “mixed case” that it is pretty mild. The right side of her body is more affected. She has no muscle strength in the bottom of her legs and cannot balance or walk without crutches. She is legally blind in her right eye due to excess oxygen administration at birth, but her left eye functions well with a corrective lens. Stevens believes she is so active because she had a good start with a lot of physical therapy as a child and teen.
     Her first meeting with Quinn was an office visit during which Quinn assessed her for balance, range of motion, flexibility and mobility.
     “Ms. Quinn was surprised at how flexible I was. She asked me ‘can you do this or that?’ and I would always try. I would say 99 percent of the time I could do what she asked,” Stevens recalled proudly.
     Before coming to TCC, Stevens attended Calvary Cathedral International Bible College. While there, a friend told Stevens that she had a dream about her dancing in a recital even with a disability.
     “I started to think about myself doing this, that it would be possible, that I wouldn’t have to wait until I get to heaven to dance,” Stevens said.
     When Evette Brazzile of NW Disability Support Services (who by the way will be dancing in this performance) mentioned the dance class to Stevens, she was surprised TCC offered a dance class where people like her could dance with able-bodied people. She recalled her friend’s dream and just considered it a miracle.
     When Stevens stepped on the stage last spring for her first performance with Follow the Dream, she faced a new experience.
     “At first I was extra nervous. I had never been on a stage and here I was dancing—dancing along side able bodied people. Plus, in the finale I danced without my crutches. Another dancer stood behind me and supported me at my waist. I had to get used to that kind of help in a new situation in order to dance,” she said.
     Duran’s life changed one September night in 1994. From that time, dancing, playing on softball leagues and working in road construction would never be the same. He learned a very difficult lesson about drinking, driving and falling asleep at the wheel. The result was hairline vertebral fractures on C-3, C-5 and C-6. The injuries meant three months in the hospital, six months in a nursing home and almost three months in rehab before Duran could go home. When he returned home, it was as a differently abled person. Duran is quadriplegic and has used a wheelchair ever since that night.
     Duran met Quinn when she taught his theatre appreciation class in fall 1998. Near the end of that semester, Quinn approached him about joining a dance class that she was starting that would include adaptive wheelchair dance. Duran was hesitant about the idea.
     “I didn’t give Linda an answer. I was clueless about how this would work. But she asked me again at the start of the spring semester. I wondered, ‘how do you do ballet or salsa in a wheel chair?’ She said that she made up patterns and rhythms to move arms and chair. She showed me some of the moves. That’s when I said ‘yes’ and signed up for the class,” he explained.
     Duran had always enjoyed dancing, especially Tejano and hip hop, but he never even thought about dancing again or about doing it in a different way. But in January 1999, there he was, with mixed feelings, in a dance class.
     “At first I was sad to not dance the way I used to, and it kind of hurt. There I was—only 20 years old and not able to do ‘normal’ things. But Linda taught me that I can still dance. She showed me how I could move to music again in my chair,” he said.
     Duran was nervous about performing in his first recital on NW Campus, but by his second performance at JFK Theatre, he was developing some self-assurance about his efforts to get there. He now had the confidence to think differently about himself.
     “Maybe now not everyone is looking down at me in my chair. Now they may even admire me for dancing,” he remembered thinking.
     Duran recalled his mother’s reaction to seeing him on stage for the first time.
“She saw how much fun I was having and was so happy for me that she cried. She knew I loved to dance, and she got to see me dance again even with my limitations,” he said.
     Duran’s accident changed his life physically, but also inspired him to become a champion of alcohol awareness. His message is about not taking life for granted and the seriousness of partaking in alcohol. He implores his audience to consider that life can change in an instant—that picking up a fork, grabbing something off of a table, feeding or dressing yourself can all of a sudden become optional. He wants people to know that they can still have fun and drink responsibly, but to get behind the wheel of a car should be out of the question. His next speech is scheduled Friday, Nov. 17, at 12:20 p.m. in the Optimum Room on NW Campus.
     An original member of the Follow the Dream company, he completed an art degree on NW Campus last spring and is finishing a dance degree before transferring to the University of North Texas.
     Next stop for Duran and Stevens—Bass Hall.
“No matter what your limitation or disabilities are, anyone can do what they want if they put their mind to it. Also, hard work, determination and the support of my parents, Linda, and Virginia Whitt, my Texas Rehabilitation counselor, help make this possible,” Duran explained.
     “I’m glad I’m dancing. I believe God put me in this situation to let me be more free and to meet good people like Ms. Quinn. There’s a unique spirit in this. I know I’m supposed to be here doing this,” she said.