Dance inclusion as a wheelchair user

“I have made it my mission to create change within the ISTD and beyond to open teaching pathways for people with disabilities and additional needs.”

Roxanne Seymour is based in Bournemouth and owns Raindance School of Performing Arts. Here she shares her inspiring story of inclusion in the ballet studio.

My aim is to complete my DDE in all three disciplines and go on to take the Level 6 Diploma in Dance Pedagogy. Eventually I also plan to take my Licentiate qualification and progress to teaching in secondary schools and in dance education.

The most important thing I will take from the teacher training is the vital knowledge and experience of the tutors and their in-depth understanding of how to get the best out of students in the most effective way. As well as this, I believe that the teacher training will enable me to push through my own boundaries and barriers and achieve my dream of becoming a teacher in schools, something that felt impossible for many years.

I have made it my mission to create change within the ISTD and beyond to open teaching pathways for people with disabilities and additional needs. Being disabled does not mean you cannot deliver high-quality teaching, but there is a stigma around teaching with a disability, and a belief that you must be able to ‘do’ what you are teaching. I currently run a school in Bournemouth and the students have had to adapt to me teaching from a wheelchair. It has meant I have had the opportunity to focus on the smaller details of what they are doing, and they have had to use their brains to understand what I am asking them to do, rather than being physically shown. It is rather a new concept,

but they appear so much more independent and open minded as a result. Of course, it comes with its challenges, but they will learn skills and develop important qualities to take forward in their later life.

I am glad to see more workshops provided by the ISTD focusing on inclusion and diversity. Being accepted onto the DDE programme at Chichester College as a wheelchair user has given me the confidence and assurance that my limitations are not barriers, and I can believe in my own abilities as a teacher.

Being accepted onto the DDE programme at Chichester College as a wheelchair user has given me the confidence and assurance that my limitations are not barriers, and I can believe in my own abilities as a teacher.

Roxanne Seymour