(Photo by Ralph Palumbo)
Learn how performing arts can benefit children with disabilities.
Wyatt Wennekamp, 9, loves lyrics and dancing. He began attending Segerstrom Center for the Art’s Studio D: Arts School for All Abilities when he was 6.
His mom, Brenda, said before that, they’d tried other activities and hadn’t found a good fit.
Wyatt, who is autistic, started out in Studio D’s Dance & Music and moved up to Musical Theater when he was old enough.
“Wyatt has definitely gained confidence,” said Brenda, of Huntington Beach. “He is less afraid to try something new. He used to worry that he couldn’t do something perfectly on the first try — he is now more willing to try his best and just have fun. He also feels more comfortable being part of a group. He used to refuse things like ‘circle time,’ but now he will join right in.”
Lisa Morabito Petersen, SCFTA’s vice president of Education and Engagement, said Studio D offers high-quality arts training in a supportive, adaptive environment where students of all abilities can thrive creatively and socially. Studio D opened in February 2017 with the mission of removing any barriers from participating in the performing arts. It now offers classes in many disciplines of the arts, expanding to those interested in production art, voice and musical theater.
“What makes Studio D so special is that it focuses on ability rather than limitation,” Petersen said. “Students are celebrated for who they are. Each Segerstrom Studio D class is staffed by a skilled teaching artist, a live musician and a therapist. This teaching team facilitates a specialty experience in the arts that focuses on helping students build skills that go beyond the classroom. Movement-based classes like dance and ballet can support students with cognitive sequencing, body confidence and self-regulation in a joyful and supportive setting.
“Classes that include speaking and singing like Musical Theater are going to have opportunities for students to naturally exercise and refine communication skills, strengthen expressive language skills and support social interaction opportunities.”
Studio D is currently in the middle of its spring session, with the annual student showcase scheduled for May 23. The show is called “Dive In!” and will feature performers from the Dance & Music and Ballet classes as well as Musical Theater and Theater classes, who will perform excerpts from “Disney’s Finding Nemo Jr.”
“One of the most compelling outcomes of Studio D is that the students begin to gain an identity as artists,” Petersen said. “One of the goals of Studio D is that everyone with any and all abilities is an artist, and we get the privilege of helping them recognize and develop that wonderful and very important piece of themselves.”
Studio D isn’t the only program in Orange County aimed at expanding performing arts access for all needs.
Carla Hutchison, founder and executive director of No Limits Creative Arts, said they currently hold classes in Placentia, Yorba Linda, Cypress, Orange, Lake Forest and Costa Mesa.
“I started our program 12 years ago for my son, Calvin, who has a rare genetic disorder called Jordan’s syndrome,” Hutchison said. “He wanted to dance on stage like his older sister, and at that time I could not find a program that would work for him. I was teaching at a dance studio and tried to enroll him in classes there with no success. It was after that I realized I needed to develop a class where Calvin could feel safe, included and successful.”
She said the students in that first class thrived, so she continued adding classes and growing the program. She said her son did not fit in one specific “disability bubble” and she did not want the program to specify who they served.
“Because of this, we have students with autism, Down syndrome and cerebral palsy,” she said. “We have students that dance with us in wheelchairs. We do not exclude anyone and have just continued to grow with each other.”
She said that over the years, she’s noticed significant growth in their students.
“Dance has given the students structure, an understanding of expectations and motor development,” she said. “Art and voice have given our students a way to express themselves. Yoga has helped our students with flexibility and provided the calm some need. In the end, our showcase where all our kids performed, gives the students the confidence to know they can achieve anything they put their mind to.”
Suzanna Victoria Torres, of Fullerton, said her son, Nathaniel, who is now 17, started attending No Limits Creative Arts in 2017. He has autism and ADHD.
“We noticed that he liked to script and perform certain parts of movies and books that he had seen or read here at home over and over again, especially the melting scene from ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ and he didn’t just say the words, but he really got into the role when acting them out,” she said.
She said he began with Musical Theater and loved it.
“We loved it too since he amazed us on how he was picking it up so easily,” she said.
He’s since taken voice, hip-hop and tap classes too. He’s currently in four different classes.
“If it was up to him, he would sign up for all the classes since he loves performing on stage,” she said. “It has benefited him in so many ways. To think that when he first started to take a dance class here in Fullerton, he couldn’t even walk backwards, do turns, kick his legs up, etc. by himself. Everything had to be hand-over-hand help and needed two peer buddies to help support him and that was just dancing.”
She said when they first signed him up for Musical Theater, they didn’t know what to expect.
“We were amazed by him,” she said. “We saw how it improved his coordination, following directions and interaction and socialization with the other kids and teachers. We also saw how he could learn and memorize a whole dance/musical routine so fast. We are sometimes told by some of the No Limits teachers that he could teach the class since he picks up the routines so fast.”
Lexa Wroniak, executive director of Platinum Performing Arts in Orange, said she opened the dance and theater studio with her mom, Christy, in August 2024. Their primary vision was to create a high-quality performing arts space that is accessible and welcoming to all.
“Platinum offers dance and theater classes to all ages, levels and abilities,” Wroniak said. “From ballet and hip-hop to mini musicals and tap, everyone is welcome and everyone is given the support, direction and in-class tools they need to feel successful in class.”
She said they have an Inclusion Program to keep communication open between instructors and families of students with disabilities. This includes consultations to discuss lesson plan accommodations and in-class material needs, as well as check-ins to make sure each student is getting what they need to learn and have fun.
In addition to the Inclusion Program, she said students with special needs have the option to join Platinum’s All Abilities classes that are specifically designed for students with disabilities and include an additional instructor, adapted lessons, more transition time, flexible age ranges and reduced class sizes.
“This is a great option for students who would benefit from the additional class structure and support,” she said. “Platinum Performing Arts provides scholarships to students with disabilities and students in low-income families as well, making performing arts classes more financially accessible.”
She said dance and theater are great tools for supporting social skills and cues, communication and language development, emotional regulation and gross motor skills.
“In every aspect of theater and dance there is movement, teamwork, verbal and non-verbal communication, and expression,” she said. “The biggest benefit that Platinum likes to emphasize for our students with special needs is confidence and independence. Being able to take ownership of becoming a character in a musical or learning to do a dance move and perform it in front of others are opportunities that only a performing arts education can provide. Although the learning takes place in a performing arts setting, children are developing life-long skills.”
Marleena Barber, arts and disability consultant for the Orange County Department of Education and director of the Orange County Arts and Disability Festival, said the festival began in 1976 through a grant opportunity to start a new program at OCDE specifically designed to support students with disabilities in the arts. She said the mission of the festival is three-fold, including to offer the opportunity for artists with disabilities to share their talents, arts and disability education, and awareness of the amazing things people with disabilities can do.
The festival is free and open to the public and this year it will be held on Saturday, April 25 at MainPlace Mall in Santa Ana.
“Participating in the arts promotes social-emotional well-being, fine motor and problem-solving skills, enhances communication, expression and self-esteem,” she said. “Students with disabilities often perform better and display more positive behaviors in the arts classroom. Overall, the arts provide a place where everyone can contribute.”
By Jessica Peralta
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