Ballroom dancing brings groups of up to 50 adults together three evenings per week at the Carmel Ballroom Dance Studio. Participants share a special bond, as they all have intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Benefits of Learning Dance, Inc., or BOLD, a nonprofit established in January 2023 by veteran dance instructor Sean Gehlhausen, provides a social and intellectual outlet for adults with disabilities seeking engagement with a community.
Each meeting touches on eight ballroom dancing styles (waltz, foxtrot, tango, rumba, cha-cha, swing, hustle and salsa) and encourages participants to learn both lead and follow positions. Besides dance, Gehlhausen, caregivers and volunteers guide students to practice social skills and build relationships.
“Dancing is such a unique type of therapy,” Gehlhausen said. “Learning to dance engages so many parts of the brain simultaneously that it is an enhancement to both the body and the brain.”
Gehlhausen fosters an environment where each student greets one another by name with a handshake or hug and builds confidence through learning to dance together.
“The most immediate benefit is the social component of just being around friends, and also because ballroom dancing involves physical touch, there’s an amazing amount of healing therapy that goes on just by simply touching – respectfully – another person, and dancing and being in contact,” Gehlhausen said.
Gehlhausen brings more than three decades of dance instruction to the group. Inspired when his nephew Leo Mays, 13, was born with Down syndrome, Gehlhausen began to study the benefits of dance therapy and started a group for adults with intellectual disabilities at CBDS in 2019.
The first meeting had six participants but quickly grew through word of mouth.
“There are so few resources like this. It is truly a remarkable experience for all involved,” said Jane Hornett, whose daughter, Taylor James, 25, is autistic and started attending the group in early 2020.
“It’s about learning skills and applying them and making friends,” said James, a group leader who likes making new students feel welcome.
BOLD dancers participate in monthly dance parties at CBDS and several performance opportunities in the Indianapolis area each year. They recently performed a dance routine to “The Greatest Showman” theme at the Fishers farmers market and the same routine at the Indy Dance Festival at Butler University.
“We’re not going to cure any diseases. What we can do is have somebody experience learning, and maybe they can carry that into other aspects of their life,” Gehlhausen said.
Repetition and patience, Gehlhausen said, lead to eventual results, “and it’s beautiful to see.” He emphasizes improvement with each practice over perfection.
“It’s OK to make mistakes,” James said. “It’s OK to be nervous.”
Classes cost $5 each and are from 5 to 6 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays and 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesdays at the Carmel Ballroom Dance Studio, 111 Medical Dr. Gehlhausen also provides private lessons.
For more, visit bolddance.org
Inaugural showcase
The public is invited to join volunteers and students of BOLD for its inaugural showcase and fundraiser from 6:30 to 10 p.m., Aug. 9 at 502 Event Center, 502 E Carmel Dr. in Carmel. Drinks and appetizers will be provided.
The evening will feature 15 performances from BOLD dancers, including two full-group numbers to the theme of “The Greatest Showman” and “Feel this Moment.”
A “Dancing with the Stars”-style competition will feature students dancing the foxtrot, hustle, waltz and salsa.
Professional ballroom dancers from Indiana will also perform, and attendees will have opportunities to dance and see firsthand the benefits of dance.
General admission tickets are $75. Proceeds will benefit the group’s efforts to provide dance instruction to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Learn more at bolddance.org or contact Sean Gehlhausen at 414-839-0118.
