Monday, October 19, 2009
2009 Dance For A Cure
We were one of the showcases at the fundraiser and were given the chance to perform for the first time in front of that many people. This was my fifth weekend ever of wheelchair ballroom dancing, and here I was about to perform in front of hundreds of people. They announced me as the 2008 USA Wheelchair Heavy Weight Champion and 2009 Wheelchair National Heavy Weight Champion, but didn’t mention anything about bodybuilding, so everybody thought my titles were for wheelchair ballroom dancing. Instantly, they expected me to be great, and as I heard them introduce me, all I could think about was how not to screw this up!
Aubree and I put on an amazing performance. Our movements and connections were great and everything went as planned. We nailed our routine and the applause filled the air! At the end we even did our wheelchair lift, where Aubree runs towards me, grabs my legs, does a hand stand on my legs—and then I lift her in the air and let her down into the splits. People were shocked and didn’t know what to expect when I rolled out on the dance floor. Many people said they were memorized when they saw us dance and couldn’t believe what they had seen.
I couldn’t have done it without Aubree. She is a professional Latin dance champion and her dancing is breathtaking. I’m blessed to have such a great partner. Sandra Fortuna also plays a critical role in our routines. Sandra is the dance teachers' teacher. She is a registered judge with the NDCA and the WCD, and her dance articles and competition reports on major dance events have appeared in Dance Notes, Dance Beat, Top Line, Dance Week, and other national dance publications. She has been invited to staff dance workshops by the USISTD, Disco America, usadence, various dance schools, and many local, international, and national dance championships. Sandra is a former professional ballet dancer, and holds a BA in Dance and many top teacher awards and pro-am championship titles.
Aubree and I practice at her Universal Dance Studio in Collingswood, NJ.
Sandra and Aubree are amazing choreographers, and they come up with the routines. Their visions for wheelchair ballroom dancing are amazing, and I’m glad they believe in me and are willing to give me a chance. I meet Aubree back at the 2009 Arnold Classic Expo when I was working the Bodybuilding.com booth. Who would have guessed that this is where it would have lead, seven months later…
Something unexpected happened that morning of October 11, after I did my morning session of cardio. Two treadmills were the only equipment in the hotel’s fitness room, and using one of them, I just walked at my pace holding on for seventy minutes. After I was done and before I went to shower, I took off my shoe and brace and saw that my sock was tinted dark red. My brace had rubbed a bandage I had there (I had a blister in the same spot from walking the day before). The brace had rubbed the skin off my foot and the four-inch by four-inch bandage was a solid red from blood. For those who haven’t believed me in the past—there is your proof that I can’t feel my feet.
2009 Olympia Weekend
The Bodybuilding.com booth was visited by an endless line of people. From when the doors opened until the expo was closed, our line was always the same. BodySpace members, fans, athletes and many others waited almost two hours to make it through the line, and it was an amazing feeling having people recognize me and want a picture with me. It truly is a blessing and an honor to work, represent, and be part of such an amazing team. More importantly, I’ve made some amazing friends that support and believe in my vision of the sport of wheelchair bodybuilding.
That weekend meant the world to me, and I even became a sponsored athlete of SciVation! Before I knew anything about that company, I used their products to help me become the overall runner up at the 2008 USA Wheelchair Champion and 2009 Wheelchair Nationals—even winning the Heavy Weight Division! Now, I’m one of their athletes!
I’ve met so many people and the atmosphere is one of a kind. Just being at the Expo and around others that are in such amazing shape gives you a reality check and makes you want to get back in the gym and train that much harder. One of the guys I had looked forward to meeting was Brock Lesnar who is the UFC heavy weight champion. We talked for a few before taking a picture; he is a nice and down-to-earth guy. Mike O’Hearn from The American Gladiator was hilarious, and he even interviewed me. There were so many other great people there, such as Dorian Yates, Hulk Hogan—the list goes on.
I was invited to to the Bodybuilding.com VIP Suite at the Olympia on Saturday night. Being in the VIP Suite was indescribable; looking over the edge at everybody below, knowing I was one of the few people up there. It gave me have flashbacks to when I started wheelchair bodybuilding in March of 2006, and I would have never thought I would be where I am three and a half years later.
After the Expo was over, we waited outside for everybody, and I just happened to notice the IFBB President standing nearby. We had spoken a few times on the phone and emailed multiple times about wheelchair bodybuilding, but this was the first time I had ever seen him. As I rolled up to him, I introduced myself, and he said, “Yes, I know who you are. It is an honor to finally meet you.” I was shocked! He went on to tell me he thought highly of what I am doing and to tell me that he supports me one hundred percent. It was the best damn feeling in the world!
We soon left for XS at the Wynn. When we got there, we didn’t have to wait in line and this huge 350-pound security guard guided us through the crowded club. He literally pushed people out of the way for us, since I was rolling in front of everybody—he didn’t want people to bump into me! At times, he would walk backwards, plowing people over—it was such a pimp moment. After he got us to the VIP Lounge, Mick, Jo, and I took some pictures, because it was beautiful.
I was supposed to fly out Sunday afternoon, but that didn’t end up happening. Mick wanted me to represent Bodybuilding.com on the game show, Let’s Make a Deal. I ended up missing my flight and that night Michael and I ended up going to Zumanity by Cirque Du Soleil. That show was awesome! If you ever get a chance, I highly recommend it!
The 2009 Olympia weekend was unbelievable! Most of this just skims the surface of what all went down. It truly is a blessing to be part of the Bodybuilding.com team, and I am grateful that Mick believed in me and asked me to be part of the team last year. He is amazing, and it is a blessing to have him in my life.
Nick Scott & IFBB President
Nick Scott & Brock Lesnar
Nick Scott & Mick Skinner
Saturday, October 3, 2009
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 ;)
2009 NPC Europa Supershow and Expo – Guest Poser
2009 NPC Europa Supershow and Expo – Guest Poser
It was an honor to be the featured guest poser at the 2009 NPC Europa Supershow! The show took place during the Expo in Dallas, Texas, from August 14-15, 2009. I was also working the Bodybuilding.com booth as a Fitness Model. Our booth was located right beside the seats to the show, and we could check out the show if we looked over our shoulders. However, this show had more meaning to me because of what I’ve been working on for years.
Since wheelchair bodybuilding began in 1993, the highest level of competition was Wheelchair Nationals through the National Physique Committee (NPC). At the start, the number of disabled athletes increased annually, but as the years went by, the numbers stopped increasing and started to decline. This was because the Overall Winner, Runner up and First Place winners were never granted International Federation of Bodybuilding (IFBB) Professional Status like the able bodybuilders. So every year, the same competitors competed at the same show, which discouraged other wheelchair bodybuilders because they didn’t feel there was any point, so they stopped competing.
Some believe that IFBB Pro Wheelchair Bodybuilders exist, but this is a myth. According to the NPC President, “There are no pro cards awarded in the IFBB for wheelchair because there are no IFBB Pro Wheelchair events.”
I’ve been working for years to figure out what it would take to get a professional Wheelchair Division at an IFBB Show so that one day the Wheelchair Division will be on the Arnold Classic and Olympia Stages: to have the same bodybuilding status as the legends have. During my quest, I’ve gotten the run around and so many people have made it so complicated. It took me years to finally get my answers. Now I have them and know exactly what I need to do.
It still is not that simple to just add a Wheelchair Division to an IFBB Pro Show because of prize money, other costs, and stage time, among other factors. After months of hunting down companies and pitching my vision, the cause, exposure, return on their investment and more, I finally secured sponsorship and prize money. There was just one more thing: I needed an IFBB Pro Show promoter that would be willing to add the IFBB Pro Wheelchair Division. Putting on an IFBB Pro Wheelchair Bodybuilding Show by itself would cost too much and the exposure for competitors wouldn’t be the same as an established bodybuilding show.
So, after years in the making, here I am guest posing at a show that would be the perfect showcase for the first IFBB Pro Wheelchair Division. I felt that if I could win over the fans and show the promoters that wheelchair bodybuilding is truly amazing, I would have a better chance for them to add the IFBB Pro Wheelchair Division to their 2010 IFBB Pro event.
That night, I had to perform like no other. I felt in my heart that if I failed, I would have failed the sport of wheelchair bodybuilding. I’d waited for this moment; I couldn’t fail. Too much was at stake. This was my chance of a lifetime.
As they announced my introduction, time slowed down, and it was as if I was in a scene from the movie 300, Gladiator or Troy. Thoughts of the past echoed in my mind, and now it was up to me to prove myself, not just for me but for the entire sport of wheelchair bodybuilding. Then I heard, “Please welcome Nick ‘The Beast’ Scott!”
It was on and I did my thing on stage; my routine was amazing and the fans loved it. Cheers and applause filled the air as everybody stood to give me a standing ovation. I was at ease as I stared into the crowd, because I did it! I won over the fans at the NPC Europa Supershow. As I got off stage, I went over to the promoters to thank them for allowing me to guest pose at their show. They allowed me to guest pose without knowing me, only from a few emails—and they trusted me. Their big grins said it all before they even spoke. They loved my routine and they each told me what their favorite part of my performance was. It was incredible feeling to hear how they felt about my performance, and that was the moment I told them about the IFBB Pro Wheelchair Division—in a nutshell. I told them that I had sponsors, prize money and all I needed was stage time. I asked them if next year they would add the IFBB Pro Wheelchair Division. Without hesitation, they said, “YES.”
That’s it! Everything is in place for the birth of the IFBB Pro Wheelchair Division in 2010! For the first time in history, it will happen: international wheelchair bodybuilders will finally move up in rankings and compete within the IFBB organization. However, more importantly, it will be the first time in the world that a disabled sport will be recognized on the same level and stage as a professional sport. Wheelchair basketball is huge, but is nowhere close to the NBA. I am also one step closer to my dream of having disabled athletes compete on the stage at the Arnold Classic and Olympia.
I’ve been at this since March of 2006, and I finally feel that after all the years, it is finally coming together. After all the years of not giving up, I’m one step closer in my quest… My journey…
