Arms Wide Open a joyful creative space for performers with special needs

Arms Wide Open a joyful creative space for performers with special needs

It’s a Thursday afternoon, and inside Studio B of Arms Wide Open’s El Cajon building there is energy, laughter and joy. The social dance class is in full swing. “Good job, guys!” AWO director Christopher Rubio exhorts from the front of the mirrored studio, where 15 to 20 participants of varying disabilities have formed a circle and, with many of them arms raised high, are dancing to booming recorded music. Some clasp hands as they move. Some, in…