“Do what you love and love what you do!”
As I was searching for dancers to feature in my book, Marley Takes The Stage, I connected with Sadie and her mom on social media. They were actually only a few hours away from me at the time, as Sadie was on tour with The Grinch Who Stole Christmas in Washington, DC. We finagled an hour of free time together between Sadie’s school hours and her call time for an evening performance, and had a quick photoshoot.
Sadie is a dancer and actress with Hypotonia and multiple birth defects of her legs, neck, and heart. Hypotonia is a life long condition that affects muscle tone & strength. While Sadie is hyper flexible throughout her body, she struggles with core strength. As we talked about what this means for her as a dancer, she explained that while she can bend her body into many shapes, she struggles to use her core for powerful movements, tumbling and jumps. She really has to concentrate and work hard at these skills throughout her dance training.
Though she is only 11, Sadie already boasts quite an extensive performance resume, as she shared with me. “My journey in dance was very unexpected. My mom tried to steer me away from baton twirling and dance because of my disabilities. She was afraid that it would make me feel bad about myself when I struggled. But I begged and begged and first started with baton twirling. I love baton twirling and worked super hard at it right from the beginning. I won state and regional titles my first year in the sport! I then began dancing to help improve my baton technique but I soon fell in love with dance just as much as baton. I became more and more serious about my dance training after winning the national championship in baton twirling when I was 7. At age 8, I began competitive level classes and started competing. I now train 7 days a week in all styles of dance and I love every second of it!” She has also worked on Law and Order SVU, Jojo Siwa’s Dance Pop Revolution, The Laurie Berkner Band Tour and has been a part of various commercials and modeling campaigns.
Though she has many amazing accomplishments, Sadie works very hard for every role, part, and place on a team that she earns. Sadie explained, “Most things in dance definitely do not come easy to me. I really struggle with strength moves, jumps and tumbling. I definitely have a harder time dancing as “strongly” as others. Also with having an invisible disability no one really knows that I struggle with these things unless I tell them. Sometimes I do get worried that someone may think I’m being lazy in class when even after multiple corrections my arms don’t look as strong or my jump isn’t getting any higher. I have had some people make comments to me that I shouldn’t be a dancer because of these issues, and it hurts. But, I try to push those words aside and stay focused on what I love, which is performing. At the end of the day I truly want to inspire people through my dancing. I believe that a persons passion is just as powerful as anything else.”
One of Sadie’s biggest goals in life is to inspire others to believe in themselves and the power of their dreams! She has encountered to many people in this world that have told her she couldn’t or wouldn’t do things she dreamed of doing. She wants everyone to know to never give up on their dreams regardless of a diagnosis or what other people say.
Sadie is currently dancing and training with The Dance Centre, Boss Kids NYC, Koin and Co, and NYC Tap Crew, as well as auditioning. Besides training, she enjoys being a dance helper at a program called Dancing Dreams. Dancing dreams provides accessible dance training for children with various special needs.
Find Sadie in your own copy of Marley Takes The Stage and take a look at all the the amazing characters and featured dancers.
If you know someone who should be featured in #danceknowsnoboundaries please send me an email at danceknowsnoboundaries@gmail.com.
