SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - When limb girdle muscular dystrophy confined Beverly Weurding to a wheelchair, she decided she wanted to dance.
"It's just freedom of moving and expressing it," Beverly said.
All she needed was a partner. She found him in professional dance instructor William Valencia.
"We can do rumba, we can do cha-cha, we can do swing," William said.
Three and a half years ago, along with help from Sharp Hospital and San Diego Parks and Recreation, they founded Wheelchair Dancers, a weekly workshop where volunteers and students learn how to trip the light fantastic.
"You have to be a dancer to begin with, and also be able to understand how the chair works, understand the momentum that the chair creates -- you're able to assist them," William said.
Rose Cardenas loves to dance.
"It gives me a sense of happiness in life. And not only that, it brings me together with other people who are physically handicapped," Rose said.
"Some people just don't get hugged or loved or have someone look at them eye-to-eye. This is all part of wheelchair dancing," Beverly explained.
There's more to it than just swaying bodies and touching hands. There's something almost spiritual about the movements. Lost in the moment, barriers are broken and anything seems possible.
"We can give the people in the wheelchairs an opportunity to socialize, to be able to experience dance and more importantly, they get connected," William said.Wheelchair dancing is just another reminder that the body has limitations, but it is the spirit that can't be confined or contained. Life may have knocked them off their feet, but the ability to dance has given them wings.