Ecstatic Dancers, 18th Annual Earthstock, Crystal Ballroom, Portland, Oregon
Earthstock is a dance—a prom, really—for high-school students who are physically, emotionally or mentally challenged. It was founded 19 years ago by Tony Nitz, an administrative clerk for Portland Public Schools, after a student with Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy pointed out to Tony that kids who are differently abled don’t like to attend school dances. 
Joseph Janson, a student at Madison High School who was confined to a wheelchair, convinced Tony to start a prom where no one would make fun of students like himself. Where there would be people to help students who couldn’t walk, but would now be able to dance. People who’d make them feel welcome. 
And this is what Earthstock is. It’s Tony’s miracle. And it belongs to the people who support him and the students.
Tony pays for it largely out of his own pocket. Last year he allowed his car to be repossessed—choosing instead to spend the money to pay for buses and staff to transport students. Because Earthstock isn’t an official school function, public funds (usually) can’t be used to pay for expenses. This year Tony spent about $1200 to pay for the expense of bringing in kids from 35 schools in Oregon and Washington. More than 600 kids came in 2010, when this photo was taken. This year 670 people (some of whom were support staff and parents) attended.
The biggest support Tony gets is from high school students (and some of his former students at Madison High School), from special education workers in Portland Public Schools, and from McMenamins (a chain of brewpubs, theaters, hotels and restaurants mainly in Oregon). McMenamins donates the legendary Crystal Ballroom (think Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, Nick Cave, the Indigo Girls ...) for the dance, and provides a world-class sound engineer (Jay D. Demko) to support Tony, who is also the D.J. for the annual event.
If you’d like to contact Tony about supporting the dance, you can email him at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). And if you’d like to thank Brian or Tim McMenamin, who are the good souls backstage at the Crystal Ballroom, you can comment here.