In the late 1970s, photographer Jane Scherr caught an unidentified group of people enjoying movement together. A wheelchair user with shoulder length hair and paisley ruffled blouse is in the center of the frame.
Published in the glossy pages of Design for Independent Living, the scene puts wheelchair dancing in the front and center, right in the middle of the action. Scherr captures the excitement of the moment. The CIL in Berkeley frequently hosted large dances for the community during special events, and folks like Mary Ann Hiserman would also host friends small groups of friends for “motor play” over in her apartment.
Because the book’s intended audience was an amalgamation of planners, sociologists, architects, and health care workers, this image serves another important purpose. It reveals that exuberant movement is in no way restricted to able-bodied individuals: given the right social framework, people with disabilities can experience the thrills of ecstatic dance too.
