My Story

My name is Talia McDowell and I am 25 years old. I use a powered wheelchair to move around. I am passionate about movement and dance as an art form because it allows me freedom of expression.

As a person with Cerebral Palsy, I love to innovate with movement and demonstrate my ability and musicality.   I adapt dance pieces to suit my own need and the needs of others. My speech is hard to understand, unless you know me well. I use an application on my phone to speak sometimes – this is like the digital voice that you may have heard Stephen Hawking (the scientist) use. My interpretation of wheelchair movement paired with my communication technology places me in a unique position to push the boundaries of my art form and create movement from a new perspective. Everyone has a story of movement worthy of sharing.

Barriers within society can sometimes leave me feeling excluded but dance enables me to take the lead. I want to share my love of dance with others. Dance is for everyone.