This dynamic dance troop's mission is to empower women with disabilities to live boundlessly and shift perspective through dance. A special thank you to the Rollettes for being a part of our opening ceremonies and for providing us with this performance from the 2020 Abilities Expo!

Braille Institute’s Johnny Mercer music program provides free music education and services to visually impaired students ages 8-18 living in and around Southern California. Since the start of the pandemic, the choir has been holding rehearsals and events in a virtual setting, which has presented some challenges but has also provided some unique opportunities.

These performance videos were recorded by the choir students who were challenged to sing along with a guide track and record themselves on their cell phones. The videos were then taken and synced together to make it look and sound like the students were all in the same place.

Tasha Garo, a Hope Center for the Arts actor and songwriter, wrote her own Spoken Word Performance, "Unique," to encourage others to "Be Brave, Be Kind, Be You."

Throwback performance from 2020! Travis Ammann and Arroya Karian’s friendship began when they were in grade school. They met in Community Children's Theater and went on to dance for the Academy of the Performing Arts (APA) in high school. However, 4 years ago, after a surfing injury, Travis was diagnosed with what is called “Surfer's Myelopathy” of which there are only 40 known cases worldwide. The injury left Travis as a T10 Complete Paraplegic. Arroya was one of Travis's first friends to step up and help Travis when he was at his lowest. Travis has also been there for Arroya, when she has needed a shoulder to cry on. Friendships like this do not come around very often, and they should be cherished. When Travis was invited to perform for our opening ceremonies, the first person he thought to dance with was Arroya. This dance is the story about, not only their own friendship, but the power one person can make in another's life.

This duet, famously performed by the late-greats, Johnny Cash and June Carter-Cash, was taken on by the lovely Joaquim Dixon and Kendelina Mugambi as the first virtual performance produced by Creative Identity. This heartfelt piece has been described by Joaquim and Kendelina as a "romantic love story" and a song about "loving one another." Joaquim and Kendelina have made great strides in their performance abilities, and the CI team is proud to share their performance of "It Takes One To Know Me" with the audience of the 45th Annual VSA Festival.

Creative Identity was established in 1996 by music therapist and jazz guitarist George Gilliam and is a music and art-based, prevocational day program for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), including Autism Spectrum Disorder, Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy, and seizure disorder. Our mission is to improve the quality of life and societal perceptions of adults with IDD by providing therapeutic and educational interventions that cultivate pre-vocational skills, independence, and creative potentials.

StraightUP Abilities believes in the power of movement. Dance is the hidden language of the soul. And it proves to bring people of all abilities together in light. StraightUP Abilities is rooted in Los Angeles and provides low cost dance and movement training to children and adults with different abilities in Los Angeles and surrounding areas. They also do school assemblies and live performances to help spread a message of patience, inclusion, and empathy for ALL.

Throwback Performance to the 2019 VSA Festival featuring the students from Lord Baden Powell and Salk Elementary with dancers of Straight Up Abilities. Choreography by Robin Olive, accompanied by the amazing Special Day Staff.

The VAPA department at Hope School presents its first-ever virtual winter performance. Hope School is a public school in the Anaheim Union High School District. Its student body is 100% individuals with severe/moderate disabilities. Each year, the Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) Department puts on a Winter production. Due to the pandemic, many thought it would not happen this year.

This massive collaboration effort among Hope School students, parents, families, caretakers, and staff members took weeks of virtual rehearsals and recordings. The students dance, play instruments, pantomime, and perform poetic readings, inspired by the book, My House Has Stars by Meghan McDonald and Peter Catalanotto.

My House Has Stars, tells the story of 8 children from different parts of the world. Their homes, cultures, and lifestyles are different, and yet each of them live under the same stars. During this historic time we are in, this is the message we wish to convey to our students and families; We are all in this together, under the same stars.

Giselle Flores, Mario Guzman Ceniceros, Danna Guzman Tenorio, Keven Novas, Shenny Pureco Guzman, Janely Ramirez, Carissa Reyes, Yaritza Rojas, Hiyari Rosales,

In February of 2021, the Villa Theatre Troupe began to meet as a club once a week. Their first collaboration was to create a Reader's Theatre Shadow Puppet Production of "The Wise Old Woman" adapted by Yoshiko Uchida. A mighty group of ten students, representing the 6th and 7th grade, were able to record and edit their voices on a collaborative music software at Soundtrap.com. This production includes an original score and sound effects that were developed by the students and their teacher mentors. The shadow puppets were made of paper. Each member of the troupe was able to contribute according to their identified creative interests and strengths and work together as team to take responsibility and become familiar with various aspects of production.

Throwback to last year (2020)! Based at Venado Middle School and University High School in Irvine Unified, the Orange County Department of Education’s DHH program serves more than 135 students from districts throughout Orange County. Please enjoy this special rendition of Disney's "It's a Small World." Inspired by social media, counselor Kim Coronado came up with the idea to enlist the DHH staff to perform this special message to students at home during the pandemic.

OC Children’s Therapeutic Arts Center’s mission is to provide innovative, artistic, educational and therapeutic programs that inspire and transform children, at-risk youth, adults and their families to fulfill their highest potential. OCCTAC is the first and only organization in Orange County offering unique programming that combines the arts, academics, and creative therapies to help children, youth and adults reach their highest capabilities.

It has been a long standing tradition that the Orange County Children’s Therapeutic Arts Center’s Folklorico dancers close out the Festival day in a colorful finale! Please enjoy this throwback performance from 2018. OCCTAC's mission is to provide innovative, artistic, educational and therapeutic programs that inspire and transform children, at-risk youth, adults and their families to fulfill their highest potential. OCCTAC is the first and only organization in Orange County offering unique programming that combines the arts, academics, and creative therapies to help children, youth and adults reach their highest capabilities.