two female dancers swing dancing in the center with an audience watching on

The Rise of Queer-Friendly Social Dances

On any given night across the country, queer people can be found dancing hand in hand, arm in arm, cheek to cheek in bars, bowling alleys, and convention centers. From line dance classes to salsa parties to Irish dance céilís, social dance culture is becoming increasingly queer-friendly, often flipping the script on the strict gender binary these genres have traditionally upheld. And while the recent surge in LGBTQ+ social dance is undeniable, so too are the progressive—and, in some cases, queer—roots of many of these dance styles.

Pioneer Winter's New Project Mines the Experiences of Underrepresented Queer People

Focusing, as always, on beauty outside the mainstream, Pioneer Winter has mobilized his “tropical militia”—a recently expanded group of collaborators—to document the trajectory of overlooked queer people. As the director-choreographer’s most ambitious project to date, Birds of Paradise comes with an original score by Juraj Kojš and costume design by Chaplin Tyler—both firsts for Pioneer […]

Meet the Activist Helping Rewrite the Rulebook for Trans Irish Dancers

The process of gender transition is never easy. But in the dance world, it poses particularly unique obstacles. Hayden Moon, a 26-year-old theater and performance PhD student from Sydney, Australia, has been Irish dancing since he was 13, and competing since he was 19. For years he danced in the women’s section, but it took […]

Why I Spend Every Sunday at a Homeless Youth Shelter

As dancers, we tend to find ourselves in a bubble—the dance bubble. We become consumed by our art-form, eating and breathing it every moment of our lives. Don’t get me wrong, dance is incredible and deserves our admiration, dedication and even obsession. But we are also people and can contribute to the world in many […]

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