Wheelchair Ballroom Dancing - Paso Doble (Third Dance)

This weekend was amazing! I flew in Thursday, September 17th, and here I am Sunday heading back to Kansas. Over the weekend, I learned our third Wheelchair Ballroom Dance: the Paso Doble. Aubree Marchione and I need five dances to compete in competitions, and we’re currently also trying to get on popular dance shows.

Over in London, the BBC just recently started and filmed a new dancing program called, “Dancing on Wheels.” It is the first time in history that a show has been specifically geared towards the disabled community. I sent my application into the casting director and this is what he replied by email, “You look and sound fantastic, but the trouble is that you’re in the US. The winner of this competition will potentially go and compete at a European Competition later in the year, representing the UK, and in order to do that you need to be a UK resident. Correct me if I’m wrong of course!” Since I am not a UK citizen, I couldn’t be a dancer on the show—so Aubree and I decided to try for a special performance on “Dancing with the Stars” instead.

Aubree and I have three wheelchair ballroom dances done: Samba, Rhumba, and now the Paso Doble. The Samba is more of a high-energy dance, the Rhumba is the “Dance of Love,” and the Paso Doble is the Dance of the Matador and the Bull! The dances are amazing and the more we work on the routines, the better the dances keep getting. It is hard to believe that this was the third time I ever danced in my life. I owe it all to Aubree and Sandra; they are the unbelievable dancers and teachers! They have vision like no other when it comes to dancing, and we work phenomenally together. With only the few days we’ve had together, with learning and polishing the routines, it’s truly unbelievable how great the routines have turned out.

As a wheelchair bodybuilder I am proud to be a dancer. I am grateful I met both Aubree and Sandra. We plan to compete and take on the most advance wheelchair dancers, and I know we will end up competing internationally. What about the Paralympics? Hmm… Is it impossible? You tell me ;) When it comes to me, the sky is the limit! Because that is how I ROLL ;)