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Top of the class

Inspired motion

REVolutions Dance troupe's graceful performances show the artful life beyond disabilities.

By MICHELE MILLER
Published October 19, 2005

	[Times photo: Zach Boyden-Holmes]
	Dwayne Scheuneman and Amie Fishinger of REVolutions Dance company put on a performance at Cypress Elementary School in New Port Richey on Thursday. The show was a part of the school's National Lunch Week celebration.

NEW PORT RICHEY - Jasmine Tillman was entranced for a time, but not so much that she didn't think to use her mom's cell phone to get a picture of the scene unfolding before her.

"This is so cool," said 6-year-old Jasmine, who was dressed in a kelly green "Care Bear" t-shirt, her hair pulled back in braids, as she tried to edge closer for a better picture.

This wasn't your typical dance performance.

In fact, this presentation was held not on a stage, but in the cafeteria at Cypress Elementary School, all while kids munched on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, pizza or fast-food kid meals brought by moms and dads who were visiting during National Lunch Week.

But that wasn't the half of it.

Dancer Dwayne Scheuneman was rolling across the floor, his arms moving gracefully from side to side, wheelchair spinning in time to Gary Wright's Dream Weaver, while his partner, 28-year-old Amie Fishinger danced around him. There was a lift or two and a couple of those cheek-to-cheek moments that had many of the kids emitting a collective "Ew!" and a bevy of giggles.

Scheuneman, the executive director of REVolutions Dance who also happens to work as a preschool teacher in Pinellas County, just smiled.

The fact that he broke his neck diving into a swimming pool in 1995 hasn't stopped him. In fact, it has made him delve into something he never thought of before.

And that was something he wanted the kids to see.

"Don't expect too little," was his basic message.

That message was not lost on Maria Monda, the Food and Nutrition Services director at Cypress who brought the dance company to her school as part of the National Lunch Week celebration.

"They are such an inspiration," Monda said, as the dancers, dressed in black, performed with blue-colored scarves. "We have bad days, put limitations on ourselves. But these people have no limitations."

"It's awesome," Kerri Deven said as her 7-year-old son Daniel took part in an improvisational part of the program. "All the kids have been so responsive. They're all saying things like "How cool is that, that they can do it in a wheelchair.' "

Deven, a director of nursing at Lifecare Center in New Port Richey, was so impressed by the performance that she approached Scheuneman about performing for her patients.

"They would be such an inspiration for them," Deven said.

That's the hope for Scheuneman, who soon after his accident got into wheelchair sports - specifically the track and field events. He only picked up dancing as a way to keep in shape during the off-season.

After performing with another dance company in Disney World and hearing some of that wild applause, said 36-year-old Scheuneman, "I was hooked. I never went back."

Five months ago he started REVolutions Dance, based in Clearwater, with Fishinger, who serves as creative director.

Now they are out and about, performing at schools and local fundraising events.

The emerging dance company is made up of about a dozen abled and disabled dancers - people like Edwina Anthony, 35, who used to dance with a company in Cleveland before moving here.

"I found these guys and saw the great work they do," said Anthony. "I'm happy to be a part of it."

Then there's Joy Nabors, who returned to dancing after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

"It's the most wonderful feeling to get back on the dance floor," 33-year-old Nabors said with a smile. "Life is not over just because you're in a wheelchair. My life has just begun."

[Last modified October 19, 2005, 00:30:20]