“I move my arms and my hands,” Sulahian said of what he uses to enhance his performance.
He and classmate, Zoe Johnson, 18, dressed as cowboys lip-syncing to Garth Brooks’ “Tomorrow Never Comes.”
The number involved Sulahian getting on one knee in front of Johnson as she sat in a chair.
Sulahian then reached out for her hand, all while singing the song.
“Sometimes late at night . . . I lie awake and watch her sleeping . . . she’s lost in peaceful dreams so I turn out the lights, and lay there in the dark,” he sang backstage.
“It makes me feel really good,” Sulahian said of singing in front of an audience.
For her solo performance, Christina Wilkinson, 32, used a pair of flags and choreographed her piece with music from “World of Warcraft.” She said she enjoys dancing and working with props. It complements her love of music, she added.
In taking Robles’ class, Wilkinson said she sometimes just feels like dancing. She has lost up to 50 pounds so far this semester.
“I enjoy it a lot,” said Wilkinson, shortly before her classmates were to begin their final rehearsal.
As soon as the students were in position, the sounds of the 1975 Van McCoy hit “The Hustle” played over the sound system, the students performing it effortlessly.
“She loves this dance class; she loves the opportunity to move around and have people help her,” said Johnson’s mother, Rebecca Granite-Johnson. “She’s made many good friends.”
“The focus is that you’ve got to get them as much independence as possible,” Robles said.
“They work to beyond their limitations. We try to work with what their hindrances are and go beyond that so that they can accomplish things that they hadn’t accomplished before. We’re using movement and music as a means of motivation, which tends to tap into different areas for them.”
