Special dance troupe dazzles at PHS football halftime show

PALMER — That cheering, stomping and rhythmic clapping you heard coming from the Palmer High School football stadium about 8:20 p.m., Friday wasn’t a celebration of a Moose touchdown.

It was the sound and feel of hundreds of people enjoying a performance from the Mat Valley Dance Super Stars. Ranging in age from about 16 to 40, the Super Stars have been growing and making a name for themselves since forming in 2007. Since then, they’ve received rave reviews from around Southcentral, including the state high school cheer and dance competition and at this year’s Alaska State Fair.

What sets the Mat Valley Dance Super Stars apart from other dance troupes is their energy, positive attitude and the inspiring effect their performances have on an audience, said Shanelle Gangstad, who leads the troupe. In fact, the dance group was her idea, one she got when observing her mother, Michelle Deemer, as she worked with special education students at Palmer High School. Gangstad was a PHS senior at the time and thought a dance troupe for people with disabilities would be just the outlet they needed to help socialize and participate in a broader range of activities.

While in high school, “I was selected to go to Kansas and speak at a student council meeting with other schools to encourage schools to start programs to include people with special needs,” Gangstad said. “There was a singing group there with special needs. I was always on the dance team, so thought it would be really neat to do a dance troupe with people with special needs.”

Apparently, her dancers also think the idea was really neat.

“It felt good,” said Donna, one of the Super Stars who performed Friday evening. She said the crowd cheering and clapping was great to hear.

“We got to dance at the fair and other places,” she said. “That was really fun.”

Fellow dancer Christina was all smiles after the halftime show, and showed a bit of being a veteran performer.

“Nervous?” she responded when asked about feeling butterflies when performing in front of others. “No, not no more we don’t get nervous. We did at first. It was kinda scary.”

With Gangstad’s help, though, the group — now 23 dancers strong — has been a good way for special needs teens and adults to show they’re capable of accomplishing more than many think they can.

“They’ve just blossomed,” she said. “Honestly, when they’re dancing, they’re having the time of their lives. They’re the stars of the show. They’re superstars, and that’s how I see them. I hope when other people see them they get inspired. I am so inspired by them. Each and every one of the dancers are my heroes.”

Judging by the reaction from the Palmer High parents and students Friday, they were plenty inspired as well.

The dancers began with a number to the pop hit “Call Me Maybe,” then segued to “We Are Who We Are.” And even a technical glitch that ended their second dance early couldn’t bring the troupe down, as they all skipped off the field beaming from ear to ear.

Experiencing the performers dancing for the fun of it and not as a competition is something that inspires Gangstad, she said.

“Here’s my most inspiring moment. We were invited to do an exhibition performance at the cheer competition two years ago,” she said. “Everyone’s full of spirit. When my group got up there to do their dance, everyone in the gym was just clapping and cheering for them. They were overwhelmed. They had never had such a reaction of everyone cheering for them before. I can cry now just thinking about it.”

That emotion is shared by Deemer, who said she likes to see the dancers’ faces when they perform.

“It’s just pure joy,” she said. “They are having a great time and it’s exciting to see.”

It also shows people with disabilities are capable to doing almost everything anybody else can, it just takes a little longer sometimes, she said.

“There are more opportunities to do things outside Special Olympics,” Deemer said. “Special Olympics is wonderful, but this is a year-round activity and for them, it’s like, so what, we have a disability. We can do anything anybody else can do.”

Learn more about the Mat Valley Dance Super Stars at mvddance.com.

Contact Greg Johnson at 352-2269

or greg.johnson@frontiersman.com.