It’s no secret that those who use wheelchairs have to face a few trials in life. Thanks to technology such as motorized wheelchairs, handicapped van conversions and more, tackling these tasks becomes a bit more easy to accomplish. We are thankfully entering an age where having a disability is not something that absolutely has to hold a person back.
It all about figuring out how to accomplish something differently rather than not doing it at all. Through a bit of hard work, young boys girls can work with their conditions to put a beautiful show.
And now thanks to a Russian ballet theater, we can see the fruit of hardworking dancers who use wheelchairs.
A Title That Speaks Volumes
The Bolshoi Theater in Russia recently unveiled their new ballet performance, “A Hero of Our Time” to audiences on July 22nd. Based on the the classic Russian novel by Mikhail Lermontov, the performance features a team of wheelchair using ballet dancers from the Russian National Wheelchair Dance Sport team (RNWDS).
This is the first time that dancers who use wheelchairs have graced the stage of the theater in its one-hundred-and-ninety-year history of putting on performances for people from all over the world.
The title of the show speaks to the three wheelchair using performers, Maksim Sedakov, Sergey Poiunov and Evgeny Gusev, who are certainly heroes in their own right. Their performances will hopefully be a driving influence for wheelchair-users who wish to express their creativity through forms of dance, proving to them that they can succeed at doing anything, so long as they have the determination and willingness to work towards their dreams.
“They are heroes, masters, people with unbelievable dedication,” director Kirill Serebrennikov said of his dancers after the show. “I can only take my hat off to them.”
Check out the some footage of the premiere.
Is There a Future for Wheelchair Performance Art?
Many people see art, in it’s many forms, as something that brings a new experience into their lives. It is also something that artists use to express themselves and grant others a glance into their struggles. Many people truly don’t understand what it is like to have a disability. Perhaps, through performance art featuring wheelchair users, society can finally understand what it is like to live life in a different way.
What do you think of the performers in the show? Let us know in the comments below.