Dancers hope this adapted ballroom competition is the first of many in the U.S.

Last Saturday, Dance Mobility’s Adapted Ballroom Dance Competition brought together more than a dozen people from across the country to compete in the first ballroom dance competition in the U.S. for those who use a wheelchair or prosthetic limbs.

Cheryl Angelelli, a Paralympic medalist and quadriplegic, and Evan Mountain, the co-owner of Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., are the co-founders of Dance Mobility. Created in 2015, the program is supported by the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan’s foundation and offers free monthly wheelchair ballroom group lessons that are taught by professional ballroom dancers.

“Representation matters, to be seen matters, to go into a room and see people that look like you is important,” Angelelli said.