Growing up my family would watch Strictly Come Dancing every autumn and dance around the living room. Since then, my love of dance has never wavered. However, as a disabled women who is a wheelchair user, I didn’t think dancing was an option for me. That was until I discovered In Cahoots, an inclusive dance company, founded and run by the extraordinary Abby Page.

During my early teens, my evenings were consumed by watching contemporary dance videos of people like Sean Lew, Kaycee Rice and The Millennium Class on YouTube. I was mesmerised with the way in which these people where able to contort their bodies and with such speed. I would sit in bed trying to follow along using just my arms. Being a wheelchair user with spastic Cerebral Palsy means I struggle to move my body with the ease and elegance abled-bodied dancers seem to have. This can be very frustrating but it has also meant that I had to learn how to adapt any anything, including dance, to fit my needs.

2017 was the year I discovered that I wasn’t alone. There were other disabled people who wanted to dance. Of course there was. I found, Chelsea Hill, a wheelchair dancer with a spinal cord injury who had danced all her life but after a car accident in her senior year of high school left her paralysed she said, ‘I may not be able to walk again but I want to dance again.’ I watched every single dance she put on YouTube and it planted that thought in my head of, maybe I can do this somewhere other then my bedroom. I expressed this to my mum and, as if through serendipity, The Garage, in Norwich had started an inclusive dance company led by Abby Page.

Just like that I started dancing in a very professional-looking studio. I was very excited but I did come with a few reservations. Sadly, because I am a wheelchair user, I’m used to strangers underestimating me but it turned out that I had nothing to worry about. Of course, there was a period of adjustment. I had to be respectful of the health and safety regulations but in return, Abby believed me when I told her that I could take risks without killing myself. Abby has never looked at me as if I was fragile, she has always trusted that I know my own limits and body which is arguably one of the best things about her as a dance teacher and person.

Over the next year, The Garage, we were able to add dancers to the team, perform at their showcase and even be part of a collaborative program called Dance.In where we travelled to Spain and Italy to dance, experience new cultures and meet some incredible people. Abby later named the company In Cahoots to reflect a sense of belonging and collaboration.

When the funding ran out Abby decided to continue In Cahoots independently. She found studio spaces in The Theatre Royal and a local church hall and we have been going from strength to strength ever since. Of course, just as everyone else had to, Abby stopped running in-person classes throughout 2020, 2021 and 2022 due to the pandemic but we still met once a week online which was a great way for everyone to keep moving and stay connected. I had just finished my A-levels and therefore had literally nothing to do so it definitely helped me as I had something to look forward to every week. In a way, the break was good for the company as it gave everyone time to reflect on what we wanted to achieve.

In Cahoots relaunched as a performance company in April 2023 and since then I have had the best time of my life. The rebirth of In Cahoots has come with new people who have become life-long friends. Because each of us is so different, this company has become a place of deep trust and communication. It is a safe space where we share if something is different in our bodies and discuss if consent has changed. Whether you are an abled-bodied or disabled dancer, everybody is afforded the same level of respect and voice. This is probably the best thing to come out of In Cahoots. I have never felt different to any of the abled-bodied dancers.

Together, we have been lucky enough to perform at The Autumn Festival for two years now dancing with other inclusive dance companies from Norfolk. The day of this performance is the best day of the year. I woke up relatively early on a Saturday morning, put on my costume, did my make-up and brought food, snacks and drinks ready for a whole day of rehearsals, chatter and uplifting the other incredible dancers. Don’t get me wrong, I couldn’t do it every day, but if I was allowed to do it once a month, I would take it. In the summer of 2024, In Cahoots put on performances at The Plantation Gardens and The Forum which was another fun-packed day.
Hopefully, we’ll be putting on a lot more performances in 2025. We are already planning to go to Switzerland in May and are crowd-funding for it now.

​Dance, and especially this company, is my happy place. If I’m feeling upset, dance is the one thing I force myself to do. It has never failed to build me back up. If you have ever felt like me and wanted to dance but didn’t think it was on the cards for you, consider coming to a rehearsal and seeing for yourself what we’re all about.

On 11th April I went to the University of East Anglia in Norfolk, England for an exciting new chapter in my fitness journey. I have always been very active; doing horse riding, pilates, skiing and swimming throughout school. Then, when I started university, I fell in love with the gym as I could push myself. Recently I have been craving more.

When I discovered that Able2B, a gym designed for people with disabilities, had a frame-running club, I knew I had to give it a go! Frame-Running was created in 1991 by Connie Hansen and Mansoor Siddiqi from Denmark as a way to make running accessible to those with a physical disability – particularly designed for people like myself who have Cerebral Palsy.

Made to look like a tricycle, the runner has three wheels and a handlebar to steer with. You then sit on a saddle, as you would on a bike, but instead of having your feet on peddles, you stand with your toes just reaching the ground.

There is a very good reason for this; due to the large wheels, you don’t have to work as hard as with other frames as once you have taken a few steps, the frame takes on the momentum. If you put your whole foot on the floor, you might break the speed.  

I had a fantastic, all-be-it-frustrating time during my first session. This was my fault for thinking I could go from taking forty minutes to complete a mile, to running as fast as an abled-bodied person overnight. Like with so many things, this will take time and determination.

  
I loved that the shape of the seat kept my legs apart as I have very tight abductors so I got a good stretch in. But the seat was too high on my first try and I couldn’t get going because my feet were slightly too far off the ground for me to make any headway. It also caused quite a lot of pain in my abductors and hips as all my weight was pressed into the saddle.

Despite this uncomfortable first attempt, I tried again as it looked like it could turn into something great and I have never been one to quit. And I’m so glad I did because it was so much easier and therefore a lot more fun. I think there were two main contributing factors to this; the height of the seat and technique. This time I had the seat slightly lower so my feet had more traction to the ground which meant I could get more steps in to build up speed. It feels very different from your typical walker because the wheels are much bigger but also, you don’t need to worry so much about balance as it is so wide. On my second go I therefore just focused on the accuracy and speed of my steps. This seemed to be worth it.

​I will keep going with frame-running as the progress I have made with just two sessions is remarkable and I can’t wait to see what else I will achieve. 

At the beginning of December 2023, I travelled with my siblings and my father to Schladming, Austria to enjoy three days of skiing.

Due to the pandemic, this was our first time skiing in three years, so it was great to be on the slopes again. Not only that, but during the trip we went back to the places that I remember from childhood, so it felt extremely nostalgic.

I arrived at Salzburg airport in the afternoon of the Monday 11 Dec, where I was immediately awe-struck by the towring, snowy mountains all around. Night was beginning to fall and the sunset was enveloping the tops. My father picked us up and we drove an hour and a half until we reached our chalet right next to the slopes. Like any good Austrian lodging, it wasn't the most accessible place in the world, but it was absolutely beautiful. A wooden, traditional cabin with a kitchen/table/living room area and two bedrooms either end with separate bathrooms. Just outside the apartment was another door, which led to a relaxation room with a sauna and a wet room (where I could shower much more easily).

Soon the perfect itinerary for our holiday started to take shape. We woke up early every morning to be on the slopes at 8:30 am when the lifts opened, ski till 2 or 3 pm with a lunch break in a cabin on the hill and then come home to rest and spend time in the sauna until the evening, when we would either go out for dinner or stay in, depending on how tired we were.

Now, you may be wondering how a disabled woman, who can#t stand, is able to hurtle down a mountain on long, thin planks. Well, I don't (all by myself at least). I use what is known as a sit-ski which is basically a moulded seat with two skis attached to the bottom and bar on the back which an able-bodied skier can hold to guide me and keep me balanced. Then, using my upper body weight and strength, I move from side to side to do my turns and pick my way down the slopes.

Sit-skis are pretty expensive (several thousand pounds and you have to order them from the US, the only place where the type I use is manufactured) and as such uncommon. Schladming is one of the few places in Europe that offers them for hire alongside lessons which is why we always went there in my youth as my parents wanted all of us to be able to ski. Over the years my father then learnt how to use the sit-ski with me and my parents ordered one from the US just for me. This meant we became much more flexible when it came to where we went skiing. So we went to many places, including Ischgl, where the pandemic originated in an Aprés Ski bar, which we actually went to. I think my sister caught it there. At the time we thought is was only a nasty cold. But then the pandemic happened and the rest is history...

Anyway, being back in Schladming this year meant that I could ski with dad again and also go with an instructor, which was amazing. As much as I love skiing with dad, and I really do, it was very nice to ski with a professional, as it allowed me to go really fast. Together with him, I was at the bottom of the mountain in four minutes! At one point, we went over a hump with such speed that our skis came off the ground for a few seconds!

This is how sit-skiing works (the slow version with my dad :))

Some aprés ski is a must ;)

Despite all the fun I had, I feel that I should also mention the less glamorous side of being a disabled skier. The back and stomach pain is real. Because of how I sit, slightly hunched forward, my stomach gets compressed and my spine is not kept straight.  I often found myself unable to eat a proper lunch, because I just felt so ill. Luckily, or unluckily, depending on how you look at it, I am used to these problems as I spend the majority of my time sitting in a chair, which a human body isn't designed for. You would think that a disabled body would adapt, but apparently not. So, I had to suck it up until I got back to the chalet, but as soon as I did, I dedicated at least thirty minutes to stretches that would make me feel better.

If you suffer from back and stomach pain, you probably are aware of these techniques but if not, here's what I do on a regular basis to help me:

1. Arch your back so that you have a curve in your spine.
2. Twist from left to right
3. Lay on your stomach for 5-10 minutes
4. Go for a walk for 20-30 minutes in any way you can - I have a walker
5. Use a heating pad on your stomach

Hopefully these tips can help anybody struggling. All in all, I had the most wonderful time and I can't wait to go back next year.

I've been away for a while - to get a degree in fact, in English Literature with Creative Writing from the UEA, Norwich, UK. With that done, I can now concentrate on this page again and on developing my career as a writer, consultant and disability activist. So here I am, back and raring to go. Please follow me on my journey.

Have a look at my article "My sit ski is a breath of fresh air"