{"id":11175,"date":"2025-06-05T15:05:35","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T15:05:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artsmidwest.org\/?p=11175"},"modified":"2026-03-11T05:01:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T05:01:26","slug":"rodeo-reimagined-dancing-wheels-cleveland-ohio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artsmidwest.org\/stories\/rodeo-reimagined-dancing-wheels-cleveland-ohio\/","title":{"rendered":"Reimagining an Iconic American Ballet with Dancers of All Abilities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 1942, Agnes de Mille\u2014one of America\u2019s most influential choreographers\u2014premiered Rodeo<\/em> (pronounced row-DAY-oh). It\u2019s a ballet that explores love, identity, and the social norms of the 19th<\/sup> century American Southwest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rodeo <\/em>plays a pivotal part in ballet history<\/a>. It helped define \u201cAmerican ballet,\u201d setting it apart from predominant Russian influences of the time. And de Mille\u2019s choreography introduced what she called \u201cstorytelling dance<\/a>,\u201d which transformed everyday gestures like cowboys riding horses or ropers throwing lassos into dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now 80+ years on, Rodeo <\/em>is being reimagined by Dancing Wheels<\/a>, the nation\u2019s first physically integrated dance company. Founded in 1980 and based in Cleveland, Ohio, the international touring group consists of 10 full-time professional dancers, with and without disabilities, from diverse dance backgrounds.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\n \n\n\n\n<\/g>\n\n\n\n<\/clipPath>\n<\/defs>\n<\/svg> Photo Credit: Mark Horning \/ Dancing Wheels<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
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\n Mary Verdi-Fletcher (pictured second from the left), Dancing Wheels’ president and founding artistic director, says that she’s inspired by Agnes de Mille and is drawn to westerns with strong female leads. “In the field of dance, people with disabilities weren’t as accepted quite a while ago, but it’s becoming more and more prevalent that everyone’s included. But when I started, it just wasn’t the case. So I had to be strong, motivated, and determined to be able to bring us to where we are today,\u201d she said. Pictured: Dancing Wheels dancers performing in It Only Happens Once\u2026 Yesterday and Tomorrow<\/i> (2024) choreographed by Tiffany Mills.\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n \n \n <\/figure>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

Mary Verdi-Fletcher, Dancing Wheels\u2019 president and founding artistic director, says that she\u2019s loved Rodeo<\/em> ever since she first saw it staged by Cleveland Ballet in the \u201980s. The vibrant movement and storyline, and de Mille\u2019s approach to dance all resonated with her.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really wanted to do Rodeo<\/em> for years, but it wasn’t possible [for Dancing Wheels] to do the actual movement … the choreography at the time. So, I thought, \u201cWhy don’t we reimagine it, modernize it, put it in today’s mindset where inclusion is so important in dance,\u201d she elaborates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verdi-Fletcher says Dancing Wheel\u2019s version of Rodeo <\/em>represents a major milestone: It\u2019s the first time a major ballet \u201cmaster work\u201d has been recreated to be physically integrated. \u201cWe\u2019re pretty noted for taking on bigger projects,\u201d she shares. <\/p>\n\n\n

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\n New York-based choreographer Amy Hall Garner (center back) spent time getting to know the dancers and their expertise as they worked through choreographing Rodeo Reimagined<\/i> at Dancing Wheels in Cleveland, Ohio.\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n \n \n <\/figure>\n\n
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A Collaborative Transformation<\/span><\/h2>\n

Rodeo Reimagined<\/span><\/i> incorporates different genres of dance, all to meet the expertise and experience of sit-down dancers in wheelchairs and stand-up dancers. It\u2019s also being reenvisioned in other ways: a reworked score, a slightly different storyline, new costumes, and fewer cast members than the original.<\/span><\/p>\n

To pull it off, Dancing Wheels collaborated with Cleveland Jazz Orchestra\u2019s Paul Ferguson for the score and leading New York-based choreographer and director Amy Hall Garner.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been a different process for me because we are telling a story. So, I have to make sure that stays in the forefront of all the movement,\u201d says Garner, whose recent works lean non-narrative or abstract. \u201cIt’s really opening my creative voice in a different way and making sure that everything is clear and comfortable, and cohesive and precise.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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\n \n\n\n\n<\/g>\n\n\n\n<\/clipPath>\n<\/defs>\n<\/svg> Photo Credit: Sara Lawrence-Sucato \/ Dancing Wheels<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n Dancing Wheels has 10 full-time professional dancers, with and without disabilities, from diverse dance backgrounds. They perform and tour national and internationally throughout the year. The vibrancy of the movement, the storyline, and the score of de Mille’s Rodero<\/i> resonated with Garner and Verdi-Fletcher (left).\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n
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\n \n\n\n\n<\/g>\n\n\n\n<\/clipPath>\n<\/defs>\n<\/svg> Photo Credit: Al Fuchs \/ Dancing Wheels<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n Dancing Wheels has close to 100 pieces in their repertory; some of them choreographed and collaboratively produced by leading figures in the field. Pictured: Dancing Wheels Company dancers Meredith Aleigha Wells, Celina Naima Speck, and Matthew Robinson performing Od:yssey<\/i> (2019) choreographed by Marc Brew. \n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n
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\n \n\n\n\n<\/g>\n\n\n\n<\/clipPath>\n<\/defs>\n<\/svg> Photo Credit: Sara Lawrence-Sucato \/ Dancing Wheels<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n Members of the Dancing Wheels Company are working with Amy Hall Garner in a choreographic residency.\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n\n
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