NW dancers follow their dream despite physical challenge
By Ashley Clark, entertainment editor

     The dance room on NW Campus was filled with only a portion of the 110 dancers learning choreography from instructor Linda Quinn.
     Several dancers spilled out into the hallway while they rehearsed a piece they had learned only moments earlier.
     “I was so focused I didn't even realize anyone was standing there! Come in!” Quinn shouted from the front of the room.
     Her focus is totally honed in on rehearsals for the Follow the Dream II concert quickly approaching in November in Bass Hall in downtown Fort Worth’s historic Sundance Square.
     “It highlights dancers,” Quinn said. “Not only able-bodied dancers, but also dancers in wheelchairs and dancers with special needs and abilities.”
     There are also several levels of experience in the show.
     “A lot of them never danced until they came to college, “Quinn said.
     “Some of them have been dancing for years. And some have taken a break from dancing, and now they're back,” she said.
     “We have no restriction of age in our company. Our oldest dancer is in her 60s. We're happy to have anyone with us, and no one will be turned down,” the instructor said.
     Quinn's style of choreography reflects this statement.
     Her instructions include variations for the multi-leveled talent involved in the project although the quality of the production is never compromised.
     “Sometimes there will be a number that requires a triple pirouette, so I will use the more experienced dancers who can do that,” she said.
     “Then other times there will be a simpler number, where I will use the dancers who aren't as experienced, but can do beautiful single pirouettes,” she said.
     The dance number the students were working on opens with Valecia Harris doing an impressive solo dance.
     Harris is then joined by dancer Michael Duran, and their part ends with Harris being wheeled off in Duran's lap.
     “I try to group people who move and work well together,” Quinn said.
Harris and Duran are a good example.
     “We are highlighting dancers as a whole,” she said. “They are all following their dream of being dancers.”
     When Quinn called out a dance combination to the small group of dancers picked to perform it, all did it right on the first try; the entire company offered their support with applause and encouragement.
     The bond they shared was evident.
“The whole idea is that we are all part of one big family,” the instructor said.
     “We all work together; we all support each other; nobody's trying to be better than anybody else; nobody wants to be a star,” she said.
     Quinn came up with the idea of Follow the Dream when she was attending Texas Woman's University studying for her master's degree in dance. Adaptive dance has been her interest for ten years.
     “I was interested in working with both able-bodied dancers and dancers with special needs and creating one big group instead of separate groups,” she said.
Her interest became reality in 1999 when a few students in wheelchairs expressed an interest in her dance concert.
     “They were sort of apprehensive at first,” Quinn said, “so I said 'come try it and see if you enjoy it,' because we weren't going to do a wheelchair dance. We are a community integration company and we all dance together. So they tried it and liked it so much that this is their fourth semester with us.”
     Several guests and artists will choreograph the performances. Choreographers include three teachers from NW Campus, four professional dancers and several other      professional choreographers as well.
“People come into this program with so many different kinds of gifts and from so many different backgrounds, and we really enjoy that,” she said.
     Quinn believes that it is her students who set her program apart from the rest.
     “They're not only wonderful dancers, but they are wonderful people, as well,” she said.
     So how did a college dance program make its way from a campus theatre to the highly regarded Bass Hall with its magnificent stage and stellar acoustics?
     Well, the first time Quinn produced Follow the Dream was in the 200-seat theater on NW Campus.
     The second show was such an overwhelming sell-out that a bigger performance hall was needed. The group continued its appearances at JFK Theatre in the convention center in downtown Fort Worth.
     “They closed that down,” she said, “so we had nowhere to go. But Bass Hall had heard about our show through lots of people in the community and thought it was a good program. They offered us the space, and now we have Follow the Dream II,” she said.
     Follow the Dream II is different from its original version because not just NW Campus is involved.
     “There are dancers from every campus,” she said. “We also have faculty members from other campuses dancing. Three of the presidents are dancing; some of the administrators from the MOC are dancing. That was my hope—to do something that was with all of TCC.”
     Follow the Dream II will also feature musicians from the SE Campus and NW Passage, the NW Campus jazz choir, as well as a theatrical narration.
     The costuming is a big part of the presentation. Costumes range from elaborate to simple.
The message of Follow the Dream II, Quinn said, is “I truly believe anyone can dance. My job is to find out where I can put them so that their talent can shine.”
     The event is Monday, Nov. 6, at 8 p.m. Tickets go on sale Saturday, Sept. 23, through Star Tickets. Contact Quinn at 817-515-7190 for more information.