When 15-year-old Dima Sumchenko was asked if he would consider dancing with someone in a wheelchair, he had few reservations.
The New Westminster teen has been ballroom dancing since the age of seven, but had zero experience dancing with someone physically challenged until his mother, Yelena Yermolenko, got introduced to 38-year-old Olesia Kornienko, a fellow dancer and Vancouverite, originally from Novomoskovsk, Russia.
Olesia is wheelchair bound and suffers from cerebral palsy.
Kornienko was looking for a dance partner, and Dima was up for the challenge.
“Olesia needed a partner,” says Dima. “My mom asked me if I wanted to dance with her, and I said, why not?”
They started their partnership last June.
Sumchenko says working with someone who is wheelchair bound has its challenges.
“The hard part is not to get your feet run over. It is a lot of movement for her. The steps are all the same, but it is just how you work with a girl in a wheelchair,” says Sumchenko.
The couple practises several times as week and takes lessons from a professional teacher.
WATCH: Olesia and Dima performing a demo
They have fundraised over $1,600 to be able to go to a competition in Calgary at the end of the month, but their sights are set on Rio 2016.
Wheelchair DanceSport is not currently part of the Paralympic programme, but that is something both Dima and Olesia want to see change.
Yermolenko says they are applying with Paralympics Canada to have the sport recognized on that level.
“We need to have a governing body to do it,” she says.
So Yermolenko is spearheading efforts to set rules and regulations for the sport on the federal level.
“We will need to look for some support and sponsorship,” says Yelena. “This is absolutely undeveloped yet.”
But Dima and Olesia are not giving up.
That makes Yermolenko a very proud mom and an even bigger fan of Olesia.
“It is very commendable what she does,” says Yelena. “If she can come out and do it, there is no excuse for anybody else.”
Sumchenko says whenever they perform in front of an audience, the reaction is always the same.
“Everybody gets blown away, because when they see a person in the wheelchair, they kind of assume, she is here to watch the show. But once they realize she is the show, everybody comes out to congratulate us.”
He says they would love to have more competition on the dance floor.
“I am sure we have competitors, but we have never heard of them. There might be people who have been doing shows, but never actually competitions. But if we go to the Worlds, we will be the first Canadian couple to compete in wheelchair ballroom.”
Pinky Wong with DanceSport BC, an organization that oversees ballroom dancing in British Columbia, says Wheelchair DanceSport was first introduced in British Columbia in 2003 when Ray Leight (a US wheelchair DanceSport competitor) and Dianne Gingerich (a US Judge) were invited to perform at the SnowBall Classic event.
After their inspiring performance in 2003, the SnowBall Committee proposed to offer a Wheelchair DanceSport Competition at the 2004 SnowBall Classic.
A representative from the SnowBall Committee was sent to the European Wheelchair DanceSport Championships held in Belarus in November, 2003 to promote and learn the organization aspect of Wheelchair DanceSport.
Wheelchair ballroom dancing dancing started in Sweden in 1968 with the first competition held in 1975. The first World Championship was held in Japan in 1998.
The sport is widely practiced in 29 countries and the last World Championships in 2010 in Germany was a sell-out event months before the competition even took place.
Wheelchair DanceSport is immensely popular in Europe and Asia, says Wong.
“However, it is non-existent in Canada,” she adds.
And that is exactly what Dima and Olesia hope to change. One step at a time.
WATCH: The story of the partnership
Comments