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Florida Troupe's Performance Turns On Dancers' Wheels

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By KATHY STEELE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 22, 2008

TAMPA - Ray Carpenter and Bob Theisen glide across the stage - dancers in motion on two wheels.

That would be "two left wheels" to Theisen, who jokingly says he is not really a dancer.

"I just give it my all," he said.

They are part of the Asher Dance Eclectic, a troupe that blends able-bodied dancers with dancers in wheelchairs. On Sunday, about 50 people watched the troupe perform "A Committed Vision" at the Carrollwood Cultural Center, 4537 Lowell Road.

Guest troupe Song and Dance and band The Cruz also performed.

Dance therapist Elizabeth Edelson, inspired by a performance of Dancing Wheels in Atlanta, formed Asher Dance Eclectic nine years ago.

She saw magical possibilities. "This can make some great choreography," she said. "I see them all as dancers."

The wheelchairs give dancers a different means of transport but "they can glide," Edelson said. That's not something able-bodied dancers can do.

Theisen, 49, has multiple sclerosis but that doesn't hold him back from tandem hang-gliding, scuba diving or horseback riding. He joined the dance troupe in 2001 after Edelson spoke at a self-help group.

"This is a form of expression," he said of dancing. And so, he said, is hang-gliding.

He hopes his passion inspires others.

"You don't have to do what I do," Theisen said. "Some of it is extreme. But try something you are interested in."

Whatever he has tried, Theisen said he has found people willing to lend a hand to make it happen.

Carpenter is a quadriplegic, the result of an automobile accident at age 17. He began dancing in 2003 when he took a mixed-mobility dance class from Edelson. He joined Asher Dance Troupe the next year.

"You try to find out what you can do," he said. "It's a learning process."

For information about the troupe or to schedule an audition, call artistic director Marlo Chambers at (813) 997-6169.

Reporter Kathy Steele can be reached at (813) 259-7652 or ksteele@tampatrib.com.

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