Wheelchair Dancer Builds Platform Across 16 Indian States

Nine women rolled onto a Jaipur stage in wheelchairs on a winter evening in 2025, and for the first time in their lives, many danced in front of hundreds without fear.

The performance at Astitva 2025 wasn't just about dance. For these women with disabilities, it was about being seen, heard, and celebrated exactly as they are.

Behind that stage stood Priya Sharma, a woman from Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh, who rebuilt her entire life after a September 2018 road accident left her with a spinal cord injury. Before the crash, she had completed her master's degree and worked across education, recruitment, and technology sectors, focused on financial independence and supporting her family.

Then everything changed overnight. She became a wheelchair user at 30, facing not just physical challenges but deep questions about identity and purpose.

Recovery came in small, difficult steps with family support. But the real turning point arrived at her sister's 2019 wedding when her siblings insisted she join the sangeet celebration.

Sitting in her wheelchair, Priya danced. "It was the first time I felt joy after the accident," she says.

That moment planted a seed. A close friend and fellow para-athlete, Ekta Bhaiyan, encouraged her to think about dance as more than personal therapy but as a tool for collective change.

In 2024, Priya founded Dance With Wheels with three or four women and a WhatsApp group. The early sessions happened over video calls because traveling isn't easy for wheelchair users across different states.

There was no funding, no formal choreography, just women joining video calls to talk about life, share struggles, and practice basic movements together. Many participants initially hesitated to even turn their cameras on due to low confidence and fear of judgment.

Priya often covered small costs herself to keep everyone connected. The sessions gradually became more structured as confidence grew, but the heart remained the same: a safe community where women with disabilities could express themselves freely.

The Ripple Effect

Today, Dance With Wheels connects women with disabilities across 16 Indian states. What started as informal video calls has grown into a platform that creates real performance opportunities, like the Astitva 2025 event where 350 people watched nine women claim their space on stage.

The platform isn't about professional dance training. It's about joy, recognition, and the simple power of moving to music in whatever way feels right.

For many participants, these sessions represent their first time traveling alone, performing publicly, or being part of a community that truly understands their experiences. The wheelchair becomes not a limitation but part of the choreography, part of the celebration.

Priya never trained as a professional dancer, and that's precisely the point: Dance With Wheels proves you don't need perfection to deserve the spotlight, just the courage to show up as yourself.