The 2019 World Para Nordic Ski Championships get rolling tonight, and the opening ceremony promises to have a wheely unique dance.
When human bodies operate with alternative ambulation, they can be as artistic and expressive and athletic as bodies that use mainstream movement.
It's true of athletics, which is the foundation of the para-nordic ski spectacle about to happen in Prince George.
It is also the foundation of the creative choreography on stage at the opening ceremony tonight.
Judy Russell is the director of the dance that will launch the sports extravaganza. The veteran teacher and producer worked with a pair of Prince George wheelchair users who joined her cadre of performers from Enchainement Dance Centre to create an all-original number especially for this international sporting event.
"I have never worked with wheelchairs in choreography, no, and it has been a really emotional experience," Russell told The Citizen.
"Parents of young people in a wheelchair may often think they will never see their children on stage in a musical dance performance, so for me, more than anything, it was an emotional roller coaster watching these parents who were watching these youngsters participate in something so new to them, and I was not prepared for that."
The two rookie performers are Brett and Chloe, both of them with lifelong wheelchair experience.
Russell found them by reaching out to the city's Therapeutic Riding Association and also the family of one of her most successful protgs, national acting/dancing star Izaak Smith, whom she knew had someone in their lives with wheelchair experience.
Those inquiries led Russell to Chloe and Brett.
"It has been a fine line between helping them participate at their highest levels within the choreography, and not lose them in all the action," said Russell. "It is fast-paced music, plus they are performing with 23 other dancers.
But that's what choreography is. It is the movement of people in a balance of artistry, physical challenge, and practical movement so everyone flows from one moment to the next."
Chloe and Brett have two experienced Enchainement helpers, Anna Russell and Heather McGowan, as personal guides through the turns and dips of the number.
"We are very lucky to have Chloe and Brett working with us. We were presented with two very enthusiastic participants," Russell said.
"It has been wonderful, and I would jump at another opportunity like this one."
The opening ceremony happens at the Prince George Convention and Civic and Centre starting at 7 p.m. tonight.
