SHINE an Adaptive Dance Program
Eastern Connecticut Ballet is excited to partner with the Miracle League of Southeastern CT for our SHINE Adaptive Dance Program.
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Eastern Connecticut Ballet’s SHINE (Support and Highlight Inclusion through New Experiences) Program is designed for differently-abled children and adults ages 4 and up. In this program, students will experience a welcoming environment in which people of all abilities can gather to express themselves through dance. We utilize a structured curriculum based on Boston Ballet’s Adaptive Dance model, which encourages fine and gross motor development. Students will develop musicality, expression, coordination, and strength. With the help and guidance of volunteer occupational and physical therapists, faculty and volunteers are able to modify the class to accommodate each child’s physical and developmental strengths and needs.
Teacher: Christine Finch
Christine Finch received her pre-professional training at Eastern Connecticut Ballet. She attended Butler University and graduated with a B.A. in Dance Pedagogy with a focus on early childhood education and development, completing a weeklong course on Early Childhood Education in Reggio Emilia, Italy. As an undergraduate, Ms. Finch completed an introduction to the National Dance Institute Course and taught an after-school program for at-risk children at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Indianapolis. She has taught ballet at several dance studios in the Midwest and New England as an undergraduate and graduate. Inspired by her older sister with Down Syndrome, Christine took Special Education courses at Butler University and Middlesex Community College. She completed an Adaptive Dance Teacher Training Workshop at Boston Ballet in 2017. Christine is extremely passionate about working with differently-abled students and adults and is excited to share ECB SHINE Adaptive Dance with the community.
Support Staff
Elizabeth Beaumont is a special education teacher with over two decades of teaching experience. Her degrees include a B.S. in Elementary Education and Psychology, a M.S. in Educational Leadership and a Sixth-Year certificate in Special education. She has worked with students of varying abilities, including those with ASD, Intellectual disabilities and emotional dysregulation.
Catherine Uustal has been a physical therapist for 9 years practicing in Rhode Island. She began her university studies with a focus in dance and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance and a minor in Biology. She continued onto physical therapy graduate school and developed an interest in neuro rehabilitation and pediatrics. During PT school, she was able to travel to Guatemala to provide volunteer PT services to children with various neurological disorders as well as complete one of her full time clinical internships at a clinic that specialized in dance injuries and getting dancers/ ballerinas back to their full function on the dance floor!
After graduating in 2012 from the University of Rhode Island with her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree, Catherine Uustal began working in neuro rehabilitation at a center where her time was split between the pediatric day school, adolescent traumatic brain injury unit, and adult neuro rehabilitation program. In 2017, Catherine began work within a public school as the only physical therapist for that school district. She greatly enjoys working with children ages 3 to 22 with a variety of disabilities and diagnosis reach their maximum potential and independence within their school environment.
In her spare time, you can find Catherine enjoying time with her husband and kids by hiking, staying active, and going to the beach!
