Unique Dance Team Is Fun For All

Dr. Linda Succi, of Cranston, is the ebullient founder of a unique Rhode Island dance team.

When I walked into the Trudeau Center in Warwick, to watch the team practice, she strode up to me with a big smile, a bright pink shirt and a close-cropped cut of auburn hair.

She was excited to tell me all about the team, which had just been awarded chapter of the year by USA Dance, competed in front of Paula Abdul in New York City and was featured as part of a with some of New England's best dance teams.

The team is composed of 17 volunteers and 17 athletes. What makes this team unique is that the athletes suffer from disabilities that include autism, mild to moderate brain disabilities and down syndrome.

But despite their challenges the team seems to be one of the happiest around. Under the instruction of Dee and John Soares, choreographers from Studio One in Lincoln, the team has come up with a 3-minute dance to a Latin Song, which they use at competitions. 

Succi came up with the idea to start the team when she met the instructor of an Indiana dance team at a national convention. She said they talked about having a cause for their team. Succi, who has a 19-year-old daughter who lives with brain damage, said that Special Olympics was near and dear to her heart and decided to find volunteers in the area to participate on a team with local people who have disabilities.

She contacted the Special Olympics and the Trudeau Center in Warwick. Both were receptive. She said the Trudeau Center has given financial support, the use of a large indoor recreation area to hold practice and has partially paid for the dance instructors.

Succi said the team was formed with five volunteers and five athletes in March of 2010, but has grown to 17 and 17, mostly through word of mouth. The team's youngest athlete, Adam, is 21, and their oldest, Roslyn, is 69.

Dee Soares, an energetic choreographer from Studio One, was tapped to instruct the team after they lost their original instructor.

In a Southern drawl that gave away her North Carolina roots, Soares said that she worried at first that her energy would be too much for the athletes, but it turned out not to be the case.

"Needless to say, I have a lot of energy," said Soares, who directed the team as if they were her 18-year-old dancers who had been dancing most of their lives, "But their energy matches mine."

She said that none of the athletes lack self-confidence and this opportunity just gives them a chance to show they're no different than any dancer. They just want to dance, she said.

Soares and Succi told the story of David, a mentally disabled athlete who was so nervous when he came to his first practice that he literally wouldn't let go of the wall. At the practice I attended on Thursday evening, David could be seen in the middle of the circle, spinning his partner.

"I love it," said Kim Jutunji, an athlete, "I make friends all the time and I'm a good dance student."

While it was clear the athletes were all having a great time, it seemed the volunteers were even happier.

"Every time you walk in and Suzy says, 'you're so gorgeous,' it just makes you feel good," said Jennifer DeThomas a volunteer who is also a teacher at Bain Middle School in Cranston.

"It's so great to work with people that are so honest, sweet and heartfelt," said DeThomas.

"You know when a light goes off in your heart," said Dee Soares, "You get around these people and you get that every time we get together."

Succi later informed me that I hadn't stopped smiling since I entered their practice an hour ago. She was right, the energy in the room was infectious.

About halfway through the practice the dancing stopped and some of the volunteers brought a cookie-cake with a candle burning on top. The team instantly broke out into a stirring rendition of "Happy Birthday." It was Soares' birthday and they were celebrating together.

"She's the best teacher in the whole world," said Suzy Perler, one of the team's athletes.

Download the movie