Integrated dance company has no auditions and no barriers to performance

By Melissa Voss

What comes to mind when you think of a dancer? Do you think of the Rockettes? A prima ballerina? For Teri Wagner, a dancer exceeds the bounds of bodily expectations, and everybody is deserving of being a dancer. And in 2012, Wagner co-founded Spoke N Motion, a space for all bodies of all abilities to embrace the healing power of dance.

When she was young, Wagner started her journey with the Colorado Wheelers, an all-wheelchair dance company. She also was one of the founding members of Phamaly Theatre Company, where she got experience as a dance choreographer and choreography assistant.

While working with other dance companies across the country, Wagner came to realize a lot of coordinators would not give people with disabilities a chance on the big stage.

“I wasn’t able to race across the floor, tip a chair over and get back up in it without losing a beat,” Wagner shares. “I’ve just never been that strong and I’ve never been able to pop wheelies and all that trick stuff. So I felt I was never good enough. I hated that somebody had the right to tell me I wasn’t good enough. Because those simple words hurt.”

Throughout the course of many iterations and predecessors of Spoke N Motion, the mission has remained the same: to provide professional dance opportunities and artistic development for performers with and without disabilities, and to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities in the performing arts community.

“I don’t hold auditions because I think in this life – in the world that we live in – people are judged enough and you shouldn’t have to be judged just ‘cause you wanna dance,” Wagner says.

To Wagner, having a coordinated dance experience is similar to physical therapy. Dance moves are capable of activating different muscles that are outside the realm of regular day-to-day motion.

“I always encourage my dancers that when dancing, you can’t half-out the movements. We can play when we learn, but when it is all learned, you have to attack, and the audience will see it,” Wagner says.

Wagner has had a wide variety of participants come through to dance with the group – from a prima ballerina who had fought a degenerative disease to individuals with cerebral palsy. Each one brought a smile that Wagner will never forget.

It’s incredible “what they bring to the company – the energy they bring, the artistry they bring, the love of dance, the love of movement,” Wagner says. “So when they say how much Spoke N Motion means to them, I couldn’t possibly be any prouder of who we are.”

Spoke N Motion often takes the stage Sundays at the Littleton Ballet Academy, 1169 W. Littleton Blvd. If you’re curious, want to say hi or would like to join in, Wagner welcomes any and all.

The website includes contact information and details on programming and additional accessibility aid. Spoke N Motion also takes donations and is currently looking for individuals interested in joining their board of directors.