Carla Chapman loves to dance with the All Abilities Dance Troupe

By Grace Baxter

“I like dancing because it is fun!”- Carla Chapman

Dance is a very important part of Carla Chapman’s life. Carla says, “Being in the All Abilities Dance Troupe is exciting, magical, and goofy and it’s fun performing with my friends!” Even if the AADT did not exist Carla says she would still dance, but she is happy that it does exist.

Anybody can be part of the All Abilities Dance Troupe (AADT). Carla and Tasha Bryant are with the AADT from Community Living Huntsville (CLH). Carla is a dancer and Tasha is her dance teacher. Tasha is also a dance teacher at Muskoka Dance Academy (MDA) and was a Deerhurst dancer in the Sing Show for many years. Known as Ms. Tasha at MDA, she teaches multiple types of dance to recreational and competitive dancers of all ages.

The AADT has been around for five years. Carla has been there since the start. Out of ten, Carla loves to dance so much she gives it a 20.

The AADT usually dances on the first Friday of the month, but sometimes does more practice if they have a big performance coming up.

Tasha says that her favorite dance move to teach the dancers is “kick ball change”. This is a semi- complicated dance move that involves kicking, stepping and ball changing (which involves some fancy footwork.)

Tasha usually sticks to one type of dance: jazz. She sometimes does different types of dance though, like disco, which they performed at the MDA competitive showcase. This year’s dance was choreographed to “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor. The audience loved their performance and clapped along in encouragement. It was obvious that the dancers loved performing. (You can see the Troupe in action in their videos on their Facebook page.)

There are about 20 to 30 people at each AADT practice. Since it is a ‘whenever you can make it’ kind of thing, attendance changes every time. It has grown to be a very popular program in Huntsville.

Performing in the AADT is exciting and fun and anybody can join. Carla loves performing at shows like the MDA Showcase and Huntsville’s Got Talent.

If you would like to come to the rehearsals, or volunteer to help, you can contact Tasha on Facebook at the All Abilities Dance Troupe page here.

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Grace Baxter just finished grade 7 at Tawingo College. She is 13 years old and wants to be a wildlife veterinarian when she is older. She loves horses. She is a hockey player, dancer, and horse back rider at Sugar Foot Farms. She loves to write stories.