Who we are 
We are
Bust a Move Dance - a dance school for people with disabilities in Brisbane. We work with students of all ages across multiple dance genres and are proud to be working with students who have a wide range of disabilities including Autism, Down Syndrome,
Deafness, Intellectual Impairments and physical disabilities to name a few. We have recently been invited to perform at the World Special Olympics Games in July, our biggest achievement to date!
Dancing Our Way to LA is a project directed towards supporting young people with disabilities in achieving their goals, whatever they may be - in this case – to perform on the world stage.
Perceptions of people with a disability greatly affect their inclusion in their communities and their capacity to achieve basic goals. But people with disability have the same right to achieve their personal goals and ambitions as the rest of the community
and achieve the fullest possible quality of life.
Our Dream
Last year our team set our sights on taking Bust a Move Dance students, teachers, volunteers and parents to perform together at the World Special Olympics in LA this July in a bid to create an impact and change social perceptions of people with disabilities
in the arts and wider community and beyond.
Our Director, Teachers and Volunteers spent over 3 months, 500 emails, 150 phone calls and 200 hours trying to make contact with the Special Olympics organisers and also organised a special showcase event to raise awareness for this goal, purely in the HOPE
that it might happen. Serendipitously, the day after the event, we received the email from the Vice President of the Games telling us we were invited to perform.
A Brisbane artistic director will come on board to lead our team in creating a 30 minute performance piece involving disabled and non-disabled dancers, that will follow student’s journeys through dance, to gain independence, confidence, resilience, and social
skills. Encompassing different dance genres mixed with audiovisual elements we will bring a truly memorable performance to the international stage, giving our Brisbane dancers an opportunity to share their amazing talents with their international peers.
The project is open to anyone in our community - disabled, non-disabled, black, white or rainbow coloured. Our message with this project and our program in general, is that dance is for people of ALL abilities, and we aim to create an inclusive environment
by increasing contact between people with and without disability as acquaintances, friends and mentors. This increased contact has been shown to improve community attitudes towards people with a disability.
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"What we're doing for these students is cementing their belief that they're just as worthy of life's
incredible opportunities, and inspiring others in the community to support people of all abilities."
Ali Phillips, Director
"We can work hard and achieve our goals just like anyone else, and we're excited to show this in LA!"
Dave, Student
"I'm incredibly motivated by being a part of this journey, to see the growth of our dancers and watch them become more independent. Performing on such a large scale in LA will show to the rest of the world just how incredibly talented, strong-willed,
driven and committed these young people are"
Bonnie, Volunteer
We believe that this opportunity will improve community attitudes through awareness campaigns, media portrayals of people with disability and the benefit of participation in the arts.
Bec, Teacher
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Be a part of this experience!
By supporting this project, pledgers are directly affecting the lives of our students by giving them this once-in-lifetime opportunity, and are ultimately telling them ‘Yes I believe you can’, an important message for our young students and our community.
They’re also allowing our team to share and spread their message of improving social inclusion on an international level, and are ultimately contributing to changing the perception of people with disabilities on a larger scale.
* One return ticket from Brisbane to LA: $1190
* One night’s budget accommodation for a student: $80
* Team uniform & costume for a student: $100
* One student’s transport for the duration of the games: $150
* One student’s dance class pass to the Edge or Millenium Dance Studio (to dance with the best in the business): $40
* The smiles on our students faces performing at the World Special Olympics - PRICELESS!
This is such a special opportunity for everyone involved, in particular our students, who still come up against those negative attitudes, socially, in education or in employment. So often they are told that they can't and we want to help them see that they
can achieve anything they set their mind to. This invaluable experience will help develop their confidence, team building skills, social interaction and their overall sense of purpose.
Please share our campaign on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, via email, text, snail mail or pidgeon! Every bit of support is appreciated! The campaign details will also be live on our website http://bustamovedance.com.au/
We'd love to connect with you!
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/bustamovedance
Instagram:
http://instagram.com/bamdance
Twitter:
http://twitter.com/bamdanceaus
