Mary Verdi-Fletcher, America’s first professional wheelchair dancer, founded The Dancing Wheels Company in 1980 in Cleveland, Ohio. Having been born with spina bifida, Mary wanted to open the doors of opportunity for people with disabilities who wanted to pursue their goals on an equal ground with their non-disabled peers. Mary always wanted to be a professional dancer, and was not going to let her disability stand in her way. The Dancing Wheels Company was formed to employ professionally-

Since its beginning, The Dancing Wheels Company’s compelling performances and educational outreach programming have conveyed the philosophy of inclusive arts and reached audiences of over five million people worldwide with school assembly programs, workshops, residencies, and mainstage concert performances. The Company has also had the distinguished honor to represent its work at international festivals and conferences in Poland, Guatemala, British Columbia, Trinidad and the Czech Republic