Expanding Access to Dance:

Inclusive Movement at the Texas School for the Blind

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Abril Padrón and her team have been teaching dance classes at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI) throughout January, February, and March 2025. These classes provide students with an inclusive and engaging movement experience, fostering confidence, creativity, and community through dance.

Due to privacy and liability laws, such as FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act), which protects the privacy of student records, and HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), which safeguards sensitive health information, we are unable to take photos or videos of students participating in our program.

However, the impact of these classes is deeply felt by participants. One student, Genji, shared:

"I need to start every single morning with dance. I feel so much better.

My mental health is completely better. I feel amazing. Wow, I love this!"

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Through this collaboration, Abril and her team are ensuring that blind and visually impaired students have access to high-quality dance education, reinforcing the transformative power of movement in building self-expression, well-being, and inclusion.

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Our main contact for this collaboration is Melanie Walton (waltonm@tsbvi.edu).