Woman who thought illness ended ballet career now teaches dance from wheelchair

Ever since she was eight years old, Kate Stanforth wanted to be a professional ballet dancer.

She would train for hours before school, after school and at weekends. Dance was a huge part of her life.

But one morning, when she was 14, she woke up and felt so unwell, she could barely move.

Kate quickly deteriorated and was eventually diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome.

Eventually, Kate started to use a wheelchair and she thought she would have to leave the world of dancing behind.

But now, age 25, Kate has built up the strength and is now teaching ballet from her wheelchair.

Kate, from Northumberland, says that although she has a huge amount of experience in practising and teaching ballet, the world of dance is inaccessible and she faces a lot of judgement.

She explains: ‘It is quite a judgemental industry anyway but when you are a disabled dance teacher, people immediately judge you 10 times more.

‘People think that because I’m in a wheelchair or because I’ve got my walking stick that day that I’m not capable but I know that I’m a really good teacher.’

Kate fell in love with dance as a child and she was already committed to becoming a professional before she even left primary school.

She explains: ‘It was a huge part of my life. I would get up early and train and then do more after school and on weekends.

‘Then basically overnight, I had to give it all up.’

The first signs of M.E. appeared suddenly, and initially, Kate and her family thought that she would get better.

‘I woke up one morning and I had to crawl up the stairs. I just didn’t have the energy to walk up them. I couldn’t do anything. I was so exhausted.’

Kate and her family couldn’t understand what had happened and spent years going back and forth to doctors, eventually leading to her diagnosis of M.E.

Although she now had a name for her condition, there were few treatment options and she continued to get worse.

‘I just seemed to deteriorate. I started using a wheelchair, then became bed-bound and at one point I had paralysis,’ she explains.

‘I didn’t even have the energy to think about dance any more. Sometimes I would bump into someone from dancing and it was extremely difficult thinking I couldn’t do that anymore.’

Kate hoped that her condition would improve and she would one day be able to dance again but a few years after her first diagnosis, she was also told she had Ehlers-Danos Syndrome, a connective tissue disorder.

‘At that stage, I realised it wasn’t going to get better and my dance career was over. I was never going to be a professional dancer.’

But over time, Kate slowly started to build her strength up and was able to walk a little.

She decided once again to return to the world of dance, working as a professional teacher.

She managed to secure a teaching assistant job and completed her teachers associate exam.

Kate says: ‘Just doing the exam was difficult for me because it is about an hour and a half long.

‘I had to build my strength up to do it. It took me about a year and then I was able to start teaching. I had a health relapse and had to pause it but now I’m back teaching from my wheelchair and I’m also trying to do a little bit of dance myself.’

She now teaches one class a week for about 45 minutes but says that she does feel like disabled people are treated differently in the dance industry.

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It’s World Ballet Day today and looking back through the last year of work I can honestly I’m proud of myself (which doesn’t happen very often!). Being a disabled dance teacher in this industry is not easy & teaching my one class a week puts me back for days; but I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m incredibly grateful to have worked with some amazing people this year who have honestly excelled my career (and enhanced my life!) whilst I try to make the dance industry a little more accessible. Thank you to everyone who has supported me or has been part of this journey so far ?‍♀️ Photo: @hannah_todd_photography #worlddanceday #ballet #disableddanceteacher #bloch #disableddancer

A post shared by Kate Stanforth (@katestanforth) on

She explains: ‘I got most of my jobs through people who knew me and word of mouth. I’ve applied for lots of dance teaching jobs and never even heard back. I have all the qualifications but I think people immediately judge you on your disability.

‘Accessibility in dance needs to improve. There needs to be more opportunities – there are hardly any disabled dance classes and it’s so hard to find wheelchair-accessible studios with accessible toilets and changing rooms.

‘There’s also not a lot of representation for disabled people in dance. I think we need to start showing disabled people in dance and representing everyone.’

Kate adds that she thinks more widespread views about disability make people frightened to get involved in dance.

‘People are scared to dance or to show that they’re doing anything physical because it might seem like because they can do a dance class, they are lying about the benefits they need.

‘People need to be encouraged to be active though because it can really help to build strength and can have a positive impact.’

Kate also says there isn’t enough access to wheelchairs that people can use for sports and many people, including Kate, have to fund them themselves.

She says: ‘There just isn’t enough equipment available and it’s a massive barrier for disabled people to be able to do sport.

‘It’s such a shame because I know so many people who want to dance and be active. Every time I put something up on Twitter, I get so many messages from people wanting to dance but it is difficult.’

You can follow Kate’s story on her blog, on Twitter or Instagram.

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