Dress in white. Sparkles and sequins, a long lace train, all eyes on her as she waltzes down the long carpeted aisle. Married, they take to the dance floor for their first dance as a married couple. After that, she dances with her beaming father, while he seems to float above the floor with his proud mother.
From a young age, we dream about our wedding day, and all that comes with it. The elegance, all of our favorite people gathered together to celebrate, music playing our favorite tunes, the gracefulness of a first dance, the sheer enthusiasm of all our best friends shimmying on the parquet.
But a wedding day can be daunting, too, especially if you’re not prepared for that all-eyes-on-you dance. Many wedding couples and parents of the bride or groom take lessons for months before the wedding at our studios in Bloomfield Hills and West Bloomfield. And now, for the second year running, a deserving wedding couple will win a free choreographed wedding dance that accommodates one partner who has a disability.
Dance Mobility Wedding Packages
Beginning February 14, the RIM Foundation in partnership with Fred Astaire Dance Studio (FADS) is launching a contest to award a free, choreographed, wheelchair, wedding dance for a member of the immediate wedding party who has a disability. The contest is open to couples in which one partner uses a wheelchair or the father or mother of the bride/groom who uses a wheelchair.
The RIM Foundation and FADS have been changing lives through inclusive dance ever since they launched Dance Mobility in 2015. Dance Mobility, funded by the RIM Foundation, is Michigan’s only free inclusive ballroom dance program for persons with disabilities. Dance Mobility offers free group lessons once a month at FADS Bloomfield Hills for persons who use a wheelchair or a prosthetic limb.
“We are so pleased to once again provide this gift to a deserving couple about to celebrate one of the most special occasions of their life,” says Cheryl Angelelli, co-founder of Dance Mobility and an award-winning wheelchair-dance competitor herself. “There are truly no barriers to dance!”
FADS Michigan has dance instructors that have been specially trained to teach dance to individuals with disabilities. The contest winner will receive a free, customized wedding dance package, worth $575, compliments of the RIM Foundation. We are proud to partner with the RIM Foundation to make dance accessible to everyone, no matter how differently-abled partners may be.
Submission Details
To be considered, contestants must meet the following criteria:
- One partner must have a physical disability
- The person with the disability must be one of the soon-to-be spouses or a father of the bride or mother of the groom to qualify
- The couple must have a confirmed 2019 wedding date
- The couple must be able to provide their own transportation to attend lessons at the Bloomfield Hills FADS studio
- The winners must agree to share their story and include photos for promotion on TV, radio, social media and/or newspapers/magazines.
Submissions are due before March 14th. The completed submission form (attached to this email) can be submitted via email to kspillane@RIMfoundation.org. For questions, call Katie Spillane, (313) 745-9877. Winners will be notified by phone by March 20, 2019. The package includes five free dance lessons at Fred Astaire.
This is the second year the RIM Foundation and FADS Michigan have offered this special giveaway. Last year, South Lyon resident Tom Hoatlin and his daughter Laney won the giveaway. Dancing together the father-daughter wedding dance at Laney’s May 19, 2018 wedding in Holland, Mich., was a dream come true for the pair. (Read the article here)