Company d NDSC 2006

Company d has had many opportunities in the last five years to travel and perform for various audiences in the community and other cities. However attending the NDSC conference in Atlanta was an all encompassing experience for the dancers and families. The dancers spent the first part of their summer in very intense rehearsals to prepare for the performance opening night of the convention. Company d dancers brought the audience to their feet with several standing ovations and dancers were surrounded following their performance with other self-advocates asking for autographs and just wanting to have talk time with each dancer. Although that alone would have made for a great trip, the dancers spent their remaining time at the conference attending seminars and self-advocate sessions. KelseyWakley particularly liked the session on “….learning how to interview for a job”. Kenny Thielemier was the lead teacher in a self-advocate session where Company d was also selected to teach dance. During three sessions each dancer had the experience to take other self-advocates through a dance warm-up, and the basics of building a dance.

While dancers were busy attending self-advocate general sessions on topics such as “Life at College”, “How to get a date and a second date”, parents had multiple choices for expanding their knowledge base and hearing some excellent speakers. The evenings were a special time for the Company d dancers to eat with old and new friends and dance the night away. When the dancers are asked about their trip to Atlanta the responses are a mixture of smiles, “awesome”, and “can’t wait to go next summer”. The NDSCC was a wonderful time for the dancers to be in community, to learn, to be proud and to celebrate with other self-advocates.