By Jessica Lockhart

The five performers with Down syndrome danced along with three professionally trained dancers without disabilities — and they all looked wonderful.

United Dance Company, Boston University Dance Theater, March 9.

United Dance Company in action. Photo: Nicole Marie Photography.

Who gets to be a dancer?

The majority of dancers are people with lithe and strong muscular frames. Their bodies are instruments of beauty and power. This is the norm. But the United Dance Company has embraced a different idea of who can be on stage and be considered a beautiful dancer. They feature performers of two distinctions: artists that identify as having a disability, and artists who don’t. The disability is Down syndrome, and this genetic disorder would seem to be a considerable hurdle to overcome to succeed as a skilled dancer on stage. But the five performers with Down syndrome danced along with three professionally trained dancers without disabilities — and they all looked wonderful.

Boris Richir founded United Dance in 2017 in Belgium. He was inspired to start the company because he had worked closely with the Boston Ballet Adaptive Dance program during his time performing in Boston. At that project, he met dancer Gianni Di Marco, who had helped create the educational program. Now Di Marco is artistic director and choreographer for Boston’s United Dance Company. In the show notes, Di Marco writes that “some of the dancers you will see on stage today have been a part of my life since they were young children taking classes 20 years ago…I have seen them blossom into the accomplished artists they are today, and it is an honor to choreograph for them.”

The performance began with a dark stage. Then we heard voices of people describing what it was like to find out that their child had Down syndrome. These parents spoke of their fear, of not knowing how to process this information about their newborns. After that, five dancers came onstage performing The Letter, a love letter to the Down syndrome community, to the company’s dancers and families. At first, it was serious and stately; the dancers were moved with grace and flow. They lifted their torsos high, bending back to the ceiling, then spiraling down to sit on the floor. They maintained control, strength, and asserted a powerful stage presence. The narration returned, this time with the recorded voices of the Down syndrome dancers describing why they danced: “makes me feel happy”, “I feel beautiful”, ”I can express myself.” Casey O’Donnell contributed a wonderful solo: it was so good I forgot he had a disability. He was so intense and in command of his body. After that, the parents’ voices returned: they talked about doctors telling them their kids wouldn’t be able to do much. They rejected that prophecy; they were determined to see just how much their kids could do.

The next dance, Sundaey, was a humorous pas de deux that explored different kinds of love. In the end, dancer Brady Maher chose an ice cream sundae over fellow dancer Avery Saulnier de Reyes. Loud applause from the audience agreed with that decision!

The final dance was From Boston to New York, a story about a budding artist leaving the safety of his home to live in the big city. This dance was multi-layered dance was complex enough to call on the talents of  eight company members. Set to George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, the narrative expressed humor, tenderness, and bravery. There were a number of characters and many costume changes. Enormous intricacy of movement was required of the dancers. The experience was overwhelming, a physical portrait of a world where everyone was welcomed and included.

The dancers are: Juliet Brown, Hannah Kendrick, Avery Saulnier de Reyes, Faye Jones, Gianni Di Marco, Adam Lewis, Brady Maher, and Casey O’Donnell.

This company is one of two other outstanding inclusive companies I have seen that feature people with disabilities: Abilities Dance Boston and AXIS dance from California. Let’s hope that, in these coming dark times, they keep breaking down hateful barriers with fresh new forms of beauty.

Jessica Lockhart is a National Endowment for the Arts Fellow in Dance Criticism and has a BA in Communication from the University of Southern Maine. Lockhart is a Maine Association of Broadcasters award-winning independent journalist. Currently, she also works as program director at WMPG Community radio.