Dancer, Chelsie Hill, could have stopped dancing at 17 when she was involved in a car accident with a drunk driver, leaving her paralyzed. However, even with her world upside down, she found joy, courage, and a way to empower other women. And such was born the Rollettes and the global movement of "Empowering Women with Disabilities to Live Boundlessly and Shift Perspectives Through Dance and Content Creation!" When Chelsie Hill isn’t seen inspiring others with dance, she can be seen staring in the Sundance Channel's award-winning TV show "Push Girls," working on the Be Boundless Campaign and the "We Can Together" campaign, and much more, please keep reading.

Where are you based?
Los Angeles, CA.

You've been dancing your whole life. How did you get into it?
I started dancing when I was three, and started competing when I was five. My parents put me in dance classes when I was very young.

You were a senior in high school when you were involved in a car accident with a drunk driver. Can you tell us a little bit about what happened and where it left you?
When I was 17, I was out at a party drinking with friends, and when it came time to leave, I ran out to the first car I saw. Seven of us piled into a 5-seater car. Our driver had been drinking. We dropped off two people, and when we were on our way back, I remember dancing in the car, having a good time, and seeing a yellow flashing light (meaning slow down) and then a sharp turn, and I remember seeing a tree and then blacking out. We ended up hitting a tree head-on. I was paralyzed instantly, and I remember waking up in the hospital and feeling like I knew something had happened. I spent 51 days in the hospital learning how to maneuver life in a wheelchair. When I got home, my whole world was flipped upside down, and the real recovery started.

Fifty-one days after leaving the hospital from the car accident, you were dancing again. How was that? Why was this important to you?
My high school dance team choreographed a routine based on wheelchairs, and my dad went all around northern Cali to find wheelchairs. This was a huge turning point for me because I got the chance to be at eye level with my fellow dancers and teach them a little about my world. Performing for the first time in my chair with other girls using chairs, even if they weren't real wheelchair users, I felt this sense of normalcy that I didn't know I would ever get back. It was like this fire was reignited within me again.

Is it safe to say that your injury didn't stop you from living your dreams, but gave you a higher purpose, a way to transform and empower other women's lives?
I always thought this injury would have stopped me from living my dream. In the beginning, I had many, many moments leaving the dance studio crying because I looked & moved so differently.

In 2012 and 2013, you starred in the Sundance Channel's award-winning TV show "Push Girls." How did this opportunity come to be? How was exposing your challenges and life?
I had met the other push girls when I was about 11 months injured, my father and I were invited to a nonprofit event in Los Angeles, and I remember when I saw one of the girls, Auti Angel, get her wheelchair out of the car. It was the same woman my dad showed me online dancing with Ludacris! I full-on went into fan girl mode! I then met the other girls that night. Long story short, they invited me back to LA to meet with producers, and I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I remember filming the first season, sharing some really vulnerable moments with them and the camera, such as putting heels on for the first time, talking about dating, and coming to terms with my injury. I learned so much in both seasons. They helped me become the woman I am today.

Still, in 2012, you founded the Rollettes, a wheelchair dance team based in Los Angeles. Could you share more about your inspiration for launching this team?
I started it purely because I wanted to meet more girls my age who were like me. I craved community and sisterhood on a bigger scale. In 2012 I invited six girls to my hometown of Monterey, CA, for dance classes, sleepovers, and girl time. All six said yes, and at the end of that weekend, we did a showcase for my hometown called "Dance 4 Life" some of those videos got out, and we started getting calls to perform all over California.

How did the Rollettes team become to be? Could you tell us more about it and the process for building this group of amazing dancers?
This has honestly been a journey, a beautiful one and one full of lots of lessons. I have learned so much. If you would have told me at 20 years old that what I was starting back then would turn into what it is today, I would have thought — no way, that's not possible. I started small, didn't grow too fast, and I am so thankful for that because it was just me, my dad, and a few others who really believed that what we were doing was changing lives. When I moved to LA, everything started to shift. I built it up to a certain point where I began to see the vision I always wanted could possibly come true. I met some fantastic choreographers; I needed to get an assistant, Bria Pellandini (who is now the COO of Rollettes), and our manager Joe Loera who really grasped what we were doing. They have been by our side since I moved here in 2014. The dancers that have been part of Rollettes are incredible women because they have helped make Rollettes what it is today.

In 2018, you started the Be Boundless Campaign saying, "We have seen a lot of "wheelchair-bound" terminology being used lately. On the news, in magazines, and in everyday conversation. We have launched this campaign because we believe that we are anything but bound to a chair." Could you tell us more about it?
This was the first campaign we did. We had gotten a lot of attention over the past year, where so many news outlets would start with the words wheelchair bound, and it really bothered us because we are not bound to this chair. It is a device that assists us in getting around, and it has given us the opportunity to be the exact opposite of bound. We have been able to do so much because of our wheelchairs. This campaign was intended to make waves and remind people that what they used to think about wheelchair users is actually, in fact, not accurate anymore.

In 2019, you launched the "We Can Together" campaign, a beautiful and touching campaign made to showcase how everyone has their own struggle but that it can be overcome through unity and strength. What was the response from the community?
The response was so beautiful. We wanted our community to remember that there is power in numbers. You can move mountains, but it takes a village. That's what Rollettes is all about. Yes, I started this, but there is no way I would have been able to make it what it is without each of the Rollettes and our COO and manager. I feel like this campaign really reminded our community to reach out to each other and find more people like themselves.

Through the Rollettes, you have amassed a global movement of "Empowering Women with Disabilities to Live Boundlessly and Shift Perspectives Through Dance and Content Creation!" Could you tell us more about this journey and how the four-day experience delivers this empowerment to other people? Can you tell us a bit about your 2022 event in Sheraton LAX that just happened?
We had four incredible dance classes, four panels on motherhood with a disability, being boundless talking about mental, physical, and emotional health, advocacy, and a talk with some amazing game changers. We also had the honor of having Judy Heumann, who is an internationally recognized disability advocate. She served in the Clinton and Obama Administration and was a Senior Fellow at the Ford Foundation. Judy's story was also featured in the documentary "Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution," a 2020 American award-winning documentary film produced by the Obama Higher Ground Production, and so much more. We continued on with a workout class, makeup seminar, yoga class, a PJ party, and a Boundless Babe Awards night and ended our weekend on Sunday with a pool party saying our goodbyes! We had a jam-packed weekend, but that's the goal — we know that some girls come not to dance but to get other resources. Huge thank you to Coloplast & Aerie for helping make Rollettes Experience 2022 possible for all of us! These women and children get to see the people they follow (not just Rollettes) in one room. I've had women and children come up to me and thank us for putting this event on because they finally made friends in wheelchairs for the first time. Some people have never traveled by themselves before until this event. We hope the Rollettes Experience gives these women an opportunity to believe in themselves and remind themselves how powerful they are.

The Rollettes' event is open to all ages and abilities. Why is including kids in your program important to you?
We started to include kids in 2017, that was the first year we bought little ones in, and seeing their smiles light up the room, we knew we could have it another way! Our RE kids are our future, and it means the world to us to know they have true role models in the rooms of RE to look up to, not just virtually.

Why do you think dance is so transformative?
Dance saved me. It has allowed people to be more active and develop creative and physical skills that other sports can't do. Yes, dance can reduce stress levels and burn calories or even improve balance, but as a wheelchair user, dance has given me a way to get to know my body in a different way. I have been able to connect with my wheelchair in a way that I may not have if I didn't go back to dance.

During the pandemic, you had to change how the Rollettes experience was delivered. Can you tell us more about how it was living and making the event happen during the pandemic?
In 2020 we had no choice but to go virtual; to shut down and not provide a space for women to connect was never an option. Our manager, Joe Loera, and COO Bria Pellandini worked so hard to provide a safe space for our Rollettes and staff to be in order to make it happen, and they did just that. We had over 300 women and children watching from over 15 different countries. We provided dance classes, workout classes, makeup classes, and incredible conversations and panels with game changers in our community. It was exactly what our community needed while navigating the pandemic.

How have you been staying positive through the pandemic? Are you back to normal now?
At the beginning of 2020, before the pandemic, my COO and I, Bria Pellandini, started a virtual mentorship program called Boundless Babe Society. We saw that over the years, there was this need for community more than once a year at Rollettes Experience. Three months later, we all went into lockdown, but we kept pushing our videos to our society members talking about different topics. I was able to stay positive through the pandemic because of the community we created virtually. We were able to sustain community not only for ourselves, but for so many women around the world who craved the same. I don't really know what normal is anymore; the pandemic changed so much. We have grown as a company and learned so much, and I hope to continue to build leaders, create community and empower women no matter what the normal is.

Last year, in September, you married and walked the aisle with your father. On your Instagram, you shared, "I'll be honest it wasn't about walking.. it was about standing heart to heart, getting that full body hug, building the stamina to do this, and also for that little girl that grew up envisioning that moment." First of all, congratulations! We loved seeing you overcoming so many obstacles. Could you share with Jejune how it was living the dream of walking the aisle? Did you need to prepare yourself for that? Could you share any thoughts with other women who may want to live this moment?
This moment could be very controversial for our community, but I did it for the little Chelsie, that always dreamed of the moment she got married. I wanted to train for this moment. First of all, it was a good excuse to get my leg braces and get standing even when I didn't feel like it. In the process, I got so much stronger than I ever thought. I worked with my trainer Samy Benyamini who has been training me for years, but his first time training me standing upright. It was a learning curve for both of us, but I had never felt stronger. Consistency is how I prepared as well as listening to my body. I also over-communicated with my wedding dress company Galia Lahav, and they really listened and adjusted to all my needs and learned with me as we went.

What's next for the Rollettes?
I can't help but think about what 2023 will be like for the Rollettes Experience. To me, keeping what we have already started sustained and continuing to grow is a huge priority of mine. We have our mentorship program that is every month where we pour into girls in the society where we build leaders, create community and empower women. To maintain everything we have going on is what's next, but I will say a huge goal of ours is to perform for the Olympics in 2028!

What's next for Chelsie Hill?
My husband and I are expecting! So we are gearing up for our little one to join the world in January.

What's your motto in life?
"Dance is dance whether you're walking or rolling!"

To learn more about Chelsie and the Rollettes please follow via the links below:
www.rollettesexperience.com
www.rollettesdance.com
IG: @Rollettes_LA
@Chelsiehill
Tiktok: @Chelsiehill_
@rollettes_la

Rollettes Experience info:
CO producer: Joe Loera
CO producer: Bria Pellandini
Associate Producer: Conner Lundius

Chelsie Hill - Dance Is Dance