BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (WTVF) — Family and friends filtered into a room to watch a dance team. It was at the performance I saw two friends watching.
"Are you being sassy?" Kara Harper asked.
"Yeah!" Lily Faught answered, the two leaned against each other as they watched.
"Oh my gosh!"
Lily has down syndrome.
"You like the sparkle, don't you?" Kara asked Lily, watching the dancers' quick choreography with glittering pom poms.
"Oh yeah!" Lily laughed.
Something that was so clear was how much Lily loved to watch people dance.
The dancers were with Dance Mania Nashville. Coach Kirstin Hawk owns the studio.
"Our competitive team, our senior team, is our worlds team," Coach Kirstin explained. "They've gotten selected to the USASF Dance Worlds which is held in Orlando, Florida. It's an invitation-only dance competition."
This whole crew at Dance Mania Nashville knows Lily.
"Each week, we host this program called 1Team1Goal, which is a program for dancers with special needs," Coach Kirstin continued.
"I think Lily was probably four-years-old whenever we met," Kara said.
It's through 1Team1Goal Kara started working with Lily.
Something big has just happened, something connected to that upcoming competition.
"What is so unique and cool is they've made a category called Dance Abilities for children with special needs to be able to compete at this level," Coach Kirstin said.
Lily is going to get to dance with a team from a Florida sister studio.
"Overwhelming, kind of," Lily said.
"But it's special, huh?" Kara asked.
"Special, yeah, in a good way."
At this big send-off event, the crowd was waiting to watch Lily's routine.
"Nervous, scared at the same time, and a little freaked out," Lily said.
"Yeah, it's a little bit scary cause that's a lot of fans you have!" Kara added.
Right. That's how you have to see it. This was a whole lot of people ready to cheer on Lily.
The crowd roared as Lily began her routine. Kara went through the moves next to her.
"You just forget about the crowd and just step on stage, and it's like everything goes away," Kara said. "In that moment, Lily is just able to be a normal teenager, and her peers are so wonderful to her."
"Every child who is exposed to inclusion and is able to include children, it just helps us all be better humans," Coach Kirstin added. "I love the sport of dance, but I also love making more good humans. They're just proud of another peer who's getting up and doing something that takes so much courage."
"I'm going to Florida with my best friends," Lily said.
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
It's has been a dry spring for us. Nashville is over 6 inches below normal for rainfall for the year with Clarksville over a 9 inches deficit. Kim Rafferty went to a nursery to get a couple of tips that may be useful for you.
- Lelan Statom
