This is soooooo stupid. Come on, I'm all for including those who are disabled, but let's face reality: if you're in a wheelchair, you are NOT going to make the dance team.
[hr style="width: 100%; height: 2px;"][h1 class="Headline"]Partially Paralyzed Woman Pursues Dancing Dream[/h1][h2 class="SubHead"]Woman Injured In Car Crash[/h2][div class="posted"]POSTED: 4:13 pm PDT July 21, 2006[/div][div class="updated"]UPDATED: 6:28 pm PDT July 22, 2006[/div][!--startindex--][b class="Dateline"]
LOS ANGELES -- [/b]Briana Walker's routine for the Laker Girls squad tryouts Saturday included the energy and rhythm expected from a performance dance team. But Walker, who is partially paralyzed, performed her routine from a wheelchair. "I want to show them that just because of my situation and circumstance, that shouldn't prevent me from doing the things I want to do," Walker said.
(Unless it's [span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"]DANCING[/span]. Hellooooooo? -tb)
Walker said that she loved to dance in high school before she was injured in a car crash. She refused to stop dancing when people told her she could no longer pursue her passion."My attitude was, 'Well, watch me. I'm going to do whatever I can,'" Walker said.
"There are a few things that stop me, like a flight of stairs. When it comes to dancing, I don't let anything stop me." Walker's routine requires arm and core body strength. She said it is a mixture of hip-hop, jazz and interpretive. "What I can't do with my legs, I make up for with my arms and my personality," she said.
She said she expected the judges would be shocked and curious when they first saw her. The Orange County native said the Lakers have always been her team, and she wanted to support them as a member of the squad. "I've always looked up to (the Laker Girls) -- literally, I've looked up to them."
Tryouts began Saturday at HealthSouth Training Center, 555 N. Nash St. in El Segundo. "I think she has a lot of courage," Daneen Wright said of Walker.
Wright came to L.A. from Philadelphia for the audition. "It's awesome that she's coming out and auditioning, and not letting anything stop her. I think it's awesome, and I'm rooting for her." Walker did not make the cut [span style="text-decoration: line-through;"]because common sense prevailed[/span] Saturday, but she had a lot of company. Of the hundreds of women that tried out, only about 20 will be chosen for the squad.
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