Dani, who has been part of the Arts Access Program since 2012, is known for pushing boundaries and doing the unexpected. For example, a dance she created for Full Circle 2017, “Simply Wonderful Talented Dancers”, started in the back of the performing arts center in a bright spotlight. Dressed in a scarlet red ball gown with Asian symbols and flowers embroidered at the base, Dani raced through the aisles followed by three dancers dripping in gold material and sequins. Her vision for the costumes was to capture the essence of The King and I. Dancers jumped, ran, and cartwheeled until they reached the stage. All movements were performed to Dani’s original music written in Matheny’s Music Therapy department.
With visual art, Dani exudes the same daring. She likes to utilize things “you just would not see other painters use to paint with — broken pieces of a car from an accident, marbles, a piece of plastic pulled from an old toy. I like paintings that make people think,” she says. “I did one with melted crayons and another with a pair of ripped up jeans. I get a lot of inspiration from things I see when I am out. The way the world looks from my wheelchair is very different than how others see it.”
Dani, a resident of Princeton, attended the Lakeview School, a private school in Edison, NJ, for children with disabilities. After she graduated, her teacher, Carol Sherman, told her about Arts Access. “From the moment she entered my classroom,” says Sherman, “I knew that she was something special. Dani is one of the most creative individuals I have ever met. She exhibits a unique passion for life, which is expressed in her art; and her physical limitations have never been an obstacle for her creative expression.”
