NEWBERRY, S.C. — A touring dance company that puts performers who use wheelchairs on stage alongside standing dancers is coming to Newberry. The show is set for 6 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 8, inside the historic Newberry Opera House.
The visit grew out of the opera house’s ongoing work to bring the 401-seat theater in line with the Americans with Disabilities Act, so that every patron can get in and enjoy a show. To make the date work, the Ohio troupe reworked its program to fit the modest stage of the 144-year-old building.
Mary Verdi Fletcher launched Dancing Wheels in 1980 in Cleveland. She was born with spina bifida and became the first professional wheelchair dancer in the country. A school followed in 1990, and the group spent a decade in partnership with the Cleveland Ballet.
Its repertoire now runs to more than ninety works, and the company says its shows, school assemblies and workshops have reached upward of 6.5 million people worldwide.
For some in the audience, the Nov. 8 show may be the first time they see performers with disabilities on a professional stage.
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