More Than a Dance Team: My First Time at the Rollettes Experience

Crystal at the Rollettes Experience

I’ve been a massive fan of the Rollettes for several years. Founded in 2012 by wheelchair dancer and CEO, Chelsie Hill, the Rollettes are a wheelchair dance team based in Los Angeles, California. Created out of the hope to meet other women like herself and to be part of a community, Chelsie also created a space to share her love for dance. Today, the Rollettes Wheelchair Dance Team offers events catering to the disability community, including dance classes, a mentorship program called the Boundless Babe Society, and most importantly — a real sense of belonging.

Each year, the Rollettes also host a big four day women’s empowerment event for women and girls in wheelchairs called the Rollettes Experience. Having attendees spanning the country (and internationally!), the Rollettes Experience is an empowering, welcoming, and not-to-mention, incredibly fun event. I was lucky enough to attend this year’s Rollettes Experience, which took place from July 9 to July 13, 2025 at the Sheraton LAX hotel.

Day 1: The whole day was dedicated to the Boundless Talent Showcase & Award Show. This is where performers can show off their talent to a ballroom full of people. Whether it’s dancing, singing, or even poetry-reading, just seeing all these performers with different disabilities doing their thing on the stage was incredibly inspirational!

Day 2: This day marks the official start of the Rollettes Experience 2025! We got to check-in in the morning, and since it was a full day, jam-packed with various activities for the next few days, you have to pick and choose what you want to do — seriously, it was physically impossible to do every activity! After the energizing Welcome Reception, I attended the Booth and Babes Cocktail Hour, where there are several tables of different vendors: like Aerie (where they gave each participant a free t-shirt!), Permobil, and Damsel in Defense, to name a few.

After Booth and Babes, I ended the day with the Attendee Mingle and Connection groups, ice breakers. This activity was really wonderful as I got to meet other wheelchair users on the East Coast, like New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York — I also met a local wheelchair-user who lives on Long Island by me, which I (and she!) was absolutely thrilled about. I, of course, told her about Women on Wheels!

Day 3: Today is the RE Plus day — this means for the first time ever, the Rollettes Experience (RE) was open to male attendees, if only for the day. Today, I started off my morning with the Parent’s Coffee Chat (even though this turned out to be moms with kids that have disabilities, not the other way around. Oops!) After the coffee chat, I jumped straight into the Adult Dance Class taught by wheelchair dancer Kaylee Bays. Kaylee is an amazing dancer who has a bunch of accolades, with one of them including an appearance on TV show, So You Think You Can Dance. It was a pleasure taking a dance classes with her, I had so much fun!

After Kaylee’s dance class, it was time for lunch. They had a food truck parked outside if you want to purchase lunch from there. And trust me — a break is needed. After spending a few hours in my room resting (I was staying in the same hotel along with a lot of other attendees), I went downstairs for Saloon Game Night. The theme was western this year, so along with my cowboy boots and cowboy hat, I entered the game night located in the Grand Ballroom of the hotel. I had such a blast! I got to learn how to line-dance in my wheelchair as well as other dances — and yes, we danced the night away! This was such a fun way to end day 3!

Day 4: I started the morning with the Adaptive Strength: No-Weight Workout with Nikki Walsh. The exercise class was really fun and energizing; my arms were slightly sore after. Next, I attended the Coaching and Q&A with Tony Award Winner Ali Stroker. The talk she gave was amazing, along with the coaching and audition tips. She sang for us as well — what a treat that was, I thoroughly enjoyed that!

There was then a break for lunch where another food truck was parked outside. Afterwards, I went to another dance class. This one, I was super excited about! It’s the Adults Dance Class with Celebrity Choreographer Chris Scott. Christopher Scott is a three-time Emmy-nominated choreographer, dancer, director, and producer most famously known for being the choreographer for the film adaptation of In The Heights and Wicked. Wow, I still can’t believe I got the chance to take a dance class from Chris Scott — the experience was truly amazing and I am, honestly, still in awe! Afterward, I jumped straight into the panel: Empowering Moms: Disability and the Journey of Motherhood. This was a great panel, very informative and interesting. I’m so happy I got to meet other wheelie mamas at this panel!

Lastly, I ended the day with another party: Rollettes Rodeo! Welcome to the Wild, Wild West! This was so much fun and I got to meet (& talk to) some really cool people!

Day 5: Each year, the Rollettes Experience wraps up the event by having a pool party, and this year was no exception! I stopped by the pool party only at the beginning as I had other plans that day.

Well, that’s it! This was my first-hand experience at the Rollettes Experience 2025. I had an amazing time and thoroughly enjoyed myself at this event, just looking into a sea of girls and women in chairs was so very special and not-to-mention, incredibly empowering! May I just say, the whole experience was simply life-changing and I can’t say enough positive things about it — I just can’t wait for the chance to go back again!