Wyckoff Y Dance Instructor Teaches Students With Special Needs

WYCKOFF, NJ — Shannon Johnston saw the excitement in one of her dancers who finished a piece with her.

The student, Cindy, has special needs and had never finished a routine all the way through until Johnston worked with her.

Johnston is a dance instructor at the Wyckoff YMCA. She works with children and adults with special needs.

"She was so excited when she completed one of the training pieces, and so was I," Johnston said of working with Cindy. "She was the artist to start and finish a piece with me, and that was really special."

Johnston works to bring instructors and dancers together at the Y. She has a master's degree in dance education and a bachelor's degree in dance from Rutgers University. She also works with the Mattheny Medical and Educational Center's Arts Access Program, which works with people with disabilities to create artwork.

Johnston said she works with students, and trains instructors, to work on arm movements and how they move their shoulders, elbows, wrists, and fingers.

"They select the starting position of the arm, the ending position, and how the arm will travel there," Johnston said. "There are a lot of options to look at, which requires the facilitator to keep the line of questioning clear."

Email daniel.hubbard@patch.com. Get Patch breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our new app. Download here.

Photo: Shannon Johnston and her student, Cindy, who just finished a dance routine. Courtesy of Heather Williams