Hip-hop class geared to those with disabilities

Faith Moore waved her hands in the air like she just didn’t care as pop music resonated around the room on a recent Friday night. The 14-year-old pivoted to the left and the right, and twisted her way to the floor, following the dance instructors’ movements.

At this time last year, Moore was in a lot of pain. Dancing — or any kind of activity — seemed like a distant dream. While undergoing chemotherapy to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia, one of the vertebrae in her spine collapsed.

o What: Hip-hop dance lessons for people with developmental disabilities.

o Where: Sons of Norway lodge, 2400 Grant St.

o When: 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5.

o Cost: $5 per family.

When Christmas Eve rolled around, she was in the hospital.

“By the time we got home, the Christmas tree was brown,” said her dad, Dave Moore. The family opened presents in mid-January when Faith Moore was reliant upon a wheelchair and wearing a back brace 24/7.

As she slowly recovered, she started moving again and regaining her strength. She came home from school one day, showing off a “Thriller” dance routine that she learned in physical education. Her enthusiasm got her parents thinking about hip-hop dance lessons for others like Faith, who has Down syndrome.

“This is really good exercise for her,” said her mother, Mary Jane Moore. “We found that all the kids just love, love to dance.”

They contacted some families with children with special needs and sent out fliers.

“Some of them I just meet in the street and ask them to come,” Dave Moore said.

They rented the Sons of Norway hall down the street from their home in west Vancouver’s Hough neighborhood, and hired a pair of Skyview High School students to teach the class. Talia Salvadori and Carly White, both 16, dance at Groove Nation Dance Academy and go to Skyview High School. They’ve never taught a dance class before, which makes leading one for those with special needs a challenge.

But, it’s a good challenge, they said.

While teaching a routine to Michael Jackson’s “You Rock My World,” the teens jumped around the room and goofed off during breaks, which got the students giggling.

The instructors slowly built moves and repeated them until everybody learned the sequence. It doesn’t matter if it’s perfect or in sync with the music, just so long as the students are having a good time. In hip-hop dance, improvising and infusing moves with your own style is encouraged.

“It makes you feel good because you’re here with friends,” said Hadley Park. “It’s really fun.” The 29-year-old helped out her friend Andrew White, 33, when a new move left him turned around.

“You’ve got it,” she said.

In fact, “You’ve got it” and “I’ve got it” seemed to be the catchphrases of the night. Everybody said it.

“It’s a real good social outlet. It’s real difficult sometimes for kids with intellectual disabilities to make friends and to develop those friendships,” Mary Jane Moore said. “This is a good avenue for them to have that social interaction and practice, you know, being friends and having fun together.”

The informal class came about because the Moores had trouble finding affordable dance classes geared toward people with disabilities. While the dances at the Marshall Community Center are fun, they said, they were looking for a structured lesson for their daughter and her friends.

These parents aren’t the only ones trying to fill a void. For younger kids with disabilities, there’s DANA’s Dreamers, a performance team. Mary Casey, who came to the hip-hop class with her 27-year-old daughter, Erin, hosts an adaptive movement belly dancing class at her house.

“Any time we get a chance to get out and have fun with friends like this, it’s the best,” Mary Casey said. “I probably wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her, but I’m having a good time.”

There have only been two classes so far, and the group doesn’t have a name yet. Still, they hope to someday bring what they’ve learned into the spotlight, perhaps, with a performance at a group home or at the mall.

“How cool would it be if they could take pride in being in their own dance group?” Dave Moore said.

As the class wound down after two hours of practice, Faith Moore plopped down in a chair next to her dad.

“I’m tired,” she said.

The remaining students divided into groups and “You Rock My World” filled the room yet again for a final run-through of the routine.