On this week's Good Start.
Hi, guys, and welcome to Good Start, I'm
Sally Turner.
The New York City Ballet is one of the
most renowned dance institutions
in the world.
For the past few years, the dance company
has been offering free workshops
aimed to teach their incredible skills
to children with disabilities.
How long have these workshops been going
for? They've been taking place since 2014.
And it was really from a mother.
So she wrote to us, she was familiar with
some of our work.
She had a daughter with a disability.
And she really just wanted to know, 'Would
you be open to having a workshop for
my daughter and other children like her?'
Really, what we're offering is an
experience for the family, just like any
other family would experience.
So getting to interact with our daners.
Getting to come to our beautiful studios.
Getting to hear live music and have
the experience of moving to that is
pretty special. Pose number 2!
Dance is so important.
It's a way that these children can express
themselves without using language.
Maybe there's this child who's not even
able to move their legs or their arms,
but they can move their eyes.
You can connect with someone by looking in
their eyes. And so being able to
see that child have the opportunity to do
that is very powerful.
For a family like the Kertesz's,
Olivia has a special
disorder called spinal muscular atrophy.
And so she has severe
weakness of her muscles.
So she has very limited movement in her
legs. It was our first time here.
It was such an amazing experience.
We haven't had the opportunity to really
get into programs that allow
children with physical needs to
participate.
And it was lovely that we were able to
have her sister participate too.
Dancing brings us together.
It creates community.
It aligns our breathing— It's a natural
thing to do.
It's completely natural.
And so there's some, some
inexplicable energy that's created when
you're sharing space,
feeling a rhythm, creating a rhythm.
And so for us, dancing is this
physical expression of music.
And so to be able to share that, I think
it cracks open new
creativity for all of us.
We're so lucky that we feel that all day
long.
We've explored many versions of
ourselves, different characters, different
sides to our personalities.
And these kids, you know, maybe they
didn't feel that personality yet.
Maybe they didn't get a chance to feel
what it felt like—felt like to be a bird
or a monster, whatever it is.
And you—you can't—that's
the thing that can't be explained, or
described, or forced. We really you guys
to feel like you are the bird.
So it doesn't matter if you run
into the circle, but your
energy goes forward. And back.
Looking out there into this type of
really professional atmosphere
was, you know, it was exciting to
see. And as Michelle said, it was nice
for us for the first time to be able to
see both girls being able to
actually dance together
with, you know, real ballet dancers
and being, you know, doing what all
ballerinas do.
I'd make sure she was safe and I also
make sure she's having fun.
Each child is partnered with
I think particularly for these children
who might have physical
disabilities or cognitive disabilities,
they might not normally get to express
themselves in this way.
And so I think having the freedom and
being in a safe space to do whatever they
feel like doing to the music, I think is
pretty transformative for them.
The New York City Ballet
You might have a child who might come
in with their fists like this,
but then by the end of the workshop, it
might open just like this.
Which isn't a lot to maybe you or me, but
it is a huge, huge
deal.
I don't know a person that wouldn't have
taken something beautiful away from today.
There's so much value in
reminding ourselves that when we
were kids and we felt this
overwhelming need to dance,
that it came from some really authentic
place deep inside of us.
And then we did all this training and we
learned all these positions and we learned
all these choreographies.
And there's something about returning to
that origin that,
like, deep-seeded
need to express yourself with your body.
And I can't help but feel that that's
universal.
The New York City Ballet holds over a
dozen of these very special workshops
throughout the year.
It was such a privilege to be able to
witness such a joyful and transformative
experience.
So that's it for this week's show.
Thanks so much for watching.
And we'll see you back here next week for
another Good Start.