“USA TODAY’S First Hollywood Hero: Zina Bethune, Founder and Artistic Director of Bethune Theatredanse and Infinite Dreams"    by Bobbi McKenna   Zina Bethune has always been on the cutting edge, a multimedia pioneer, who has led the way in blending classical dance with digital media in live performance.    Zina is a Balanchine-trained prima ballerina who has danced with some of the most prominent ballet companies in the world, including the New York City Ballet.

She also played Greta Garbo in Tommy Tune’s “Grand Hotel” on Broadway, starred in the CBS TV Show “Nurses” in Primetime and in national tours of “Carousel,” “Sweet Charity,” “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” and “Oklahoma,” to name only a few.  Read Zina's Full Bio

I meet Zina for the first time face-to-face at the USA TODAY offices in Los Angeles.      She is completely unassuming, natural, and humble.

Over 20 years ago, Zina founded a dance education and performance program now called "Infinite Dreams" that has enabled 6500 physically, emotionally, or mentally disabled individuals to experience the joy of dance.  In the greater Los Angeles area, Infinite Dreams serves nearly 1000 people every year.     Zina says, “We did this before it was fashionable.  It’s not therapy.  It’s art.  It’s performance, and it’s part of a real dance company.”   I ask Zina how she found out that she had been chosen for the very prestigious "USA TODAY Hollywood Hero Award."   “Someone from USA TODAY, a very dear friend whom I have known for many years, called,” she says.  “He told me about the award, and then he said that I had been chosen to be the first recipient.”   “Are you sure about this? I asked him." Zina says this with a little shrug, still looking somewhat bewildered by it all.      It's clear that Zina does what she does not to gain recognition or kudos.  She does it because that is who she is.  She is a dancer, who shares her passion.   Dance chose her.  Just as the passion to share her gift chose her.  Her mother Ivy, who is also an actress, says that Zina came out of the womb dancing.    When she was 12, Zina was already beginning her own dance outreach program, but she says she only found out when she was 14 or so that she had serious medical issues of her own.   “Dysplastic hips, scoliosis, and lymphedema,” she says. “I’d had them all my life.  I think that my interest in helping people with disabilities came from some sense I had about my own health.”   “I’m a soul mate with these kids,” she adds.  “I have a special kinship with them.”    She’s had multiple surgeries over the years, and before she dances, she spends an hour putting on the special stockings she must wear.   “As an artist, the art has always transcended my own limitations.  Art is about forever.”   “Can anyone dance?” I ask her.   “Start where you are,” she says.  “Start with who you are and what you have to say.”   “Dance your feelings.  I do a mad dance with my kids,” she says, laughing.   “Let yourself express your feelings.”

“What do you hope this prestigious award will do for Infinite Dreams?” I ask.   “I’m hoping it will have a large impact,” Zina says.  “Infinite Dreams is about showing kids that it’s possible.  Up to now, for twenty-five years, we’ve had a nomadic kind of existence."

"Now we want to create a universally accessible art center called ‘Emerald City.’  There’s nothing like it anywhere in America.  We need partners to step forward to help us make it a reality.”

The interview closes with Zina telling me a story about one of her young dancers: A 12-year old boy named Diego, with cerebral palsy.  “One day after class,” Zina says, “he tugged on my shirt.”   "Do I dance okay?" he asked.  “I said, ‘Yes,’ but that didn’t seem to satisfy him.”       “Do I dance okay?” he asked again, more insistently this time.   “‘Yes,’” I said, ‘you do.’  Diego asked the question a third time, and I realized that the question was about more than the quality of his dancing.”   "’Why are you asking, Diego?’"   "Because if I can dance," he asked, "why can't I walk?"   Diego used a walker to walk into the dance class.  Once there, he would set his walker aside and begin to dance.   “I smiled.  ‘That's a great question.  Why don't YOU answer it?’"   “Okay,” Diego said. “I give myself four months."   Zina says that he was true to his words.  In four months, Diego walked without his walker.   Some people say that heroes are hard to find today.  I don't happen to be one of those people.  I see heroes everywhere I go - heroes who reach out to help others.  But even in a world filled with heroes, Zina Bethune stands out from the rest.     She is that very rare individual who is truly pure of heart.  There is no guile in her.  No pretense.  She is a healer, an artist, a star with a spirit that doesn’t recognize the word impossible.  A few minutes in her presence, and I leave, with a spring in my step.  Zina has convinced me that life is a wonderful dance.

Zina Bethune is a true Hollywood Hero!   For more information or to make a contribution to Bethune Theaterdanse & Infinite Dreams: Visit www.bethunedance.org.

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