Dance Magazine: Many techniques, especially older ones like ballet and bharatanatyam, segregate movement into gender-based categories. It's of little surprise, then, how many schools struggle to welcome dancers who are nonbinary, transgender, gender-fluid, gender-nonconforming or still discovering their gender identities. It gets even more complicated when you factor in how early many start training.
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Gender has no means or stance with art. Art doesn’t exclude anything, it should be open to anyone and everyone who has anything to say or express. Especially dance, expression and experimentation are two of the main things that are highlighted in that form of art. Gender shouldn’t be the factor that stands in the way of one wanting to be artistic and tell a story with their emotion. Everyone, no matter who they are, has valid feelings that need to be exposed to places other than just their minds. For a lot of people, dance is the escape that helps people get through their days. I think it’s cruel and close minded to not accept someone because of their gender, especially when it comes to art which knows no boundaries and has no rules. The idea of “you are not what you dance” is an important idea to remember in order to know that there is a difference between you and the fictional situation or person you are portraying, and that what you are portraying doesn’t have to mean that it is who you are.
I think this article brings up some really good points as to how to make the learning environment gender-inclusive. One important thing they talked about is refereeing to a room as “dancers” instead of “boys and girls.” This idea in all contexts is one that so many people today are working on (or should be working on) which is great because I think making the change from “he or she”, “boys and girls”, “ladies and gentlemen” to things such as “folks” or “everyone” is an easy way to begin to make people and students of all genders feel included in a room. This article kind of touched on it, but I think a good way for dance to being to be gender-inclusive is to stop referring to the roles as “guy parts” and “girl parts” and start referring to them as “part a” and part b”. This is will allow people of all genders to feel empowered to play any part they wish. As more ballets are being choreographed, I challenge people to try to choreograph in a way that isn’t the traditional strong person lifting up the light person and then they fall in love. Maybe there is room for new kinds of roles that draw from both of the traditional roles in dance.
How strange! I have not done dance since I took ballet when I was maybe six years old. I had no idea how gendered the dance world was. I am glad people are finding ways to be more inclusive. I agree with Annika that we need to remove gendered language first in order to become more inclusive for everyone. There is no need, in my opinion, for gender to have such a large role in the dance world, and I hope that these gendered roles become more versatile going into the future. I think another huge part of this discussion is recognizing the fact that the dance world and opera world are used to a certain repertoire, and are more hesitant to produce new works. I believe that the more we begin to accept new works into the world, the more we will see those values change and become more gender inclusive rather than following the rigidity of the past.
This article is a proof of how even though everyone says that the world today has progressed for the better, that is not quite the case. We still live in a world that has such prevalent issues as sexism in a creative world, which is just not the way it should be because it is about creating art.
Art, of any kind, is all about self expression. This expression should be free from any outside forces such as stereotypes and what people think to be right. And this article does a great job in telling people how they can battle such gender exclusivity in a dance environment.
It talks about how when things are expressed in ways other than pertaining to one's gender, it opens up a whole lot of doors for people to feel free with their expressions and not feel suffocated while doing so. And I feel like if these are incorporated, at least gender exclusivity could be handled in the dance environment.
I think one of the biggest reasons why dance is lagging behind the other creative arts is because its history is closely related to social intercourse. In addition, because there are clear differences in physical ability between sex, people find it difficult to categorize the aspects gender neutrally. The important thing is, just like sex and gender are not the same, “you are not what you dance.” This heading clarifies entanglements of gender aspects in the creative arts. It also makes the argument intelligible without denying the history of gender roles in dance and hurting anyone who also enjoys traditional partner dances other than new, non-binary forms. Furthermore, although there are relative differences in physical ability between sex, preventing gender discrimination could open up new possibilities to challenge the limitations. As mentioned above by others, I really support the use of gender-nonspecific language, because this is something we can all start doing right now.
When I was in high school, I took a few dance classes as I was curious about ballet and jazz styles. I have always questioned the ways in which the conversation surrounding gender factors into something like classical ballet, which has incredibly clear male and female roles, not allowing for wiggle room. This article starts out with the statement that "you are not what you dance", citing the dance teacher who tells her young students that their identity is a "fact" which can be kept separate from the "fiction" that they are dancing. However, I do not think I agree with this. I think it is more important to make the work that these students do fit the fact of their identity. Dance is a form of expression and should be viewed as such from a young age in order to encourage young dancers and children to be unapologetically themselves.
I used to be an interpretive dancer. My learning environment was one I never thought about and never did until now. It was a coed classroom. My teacher had no apparent preconceptions regarding gender. Boys and girls danced the same dances and moved the same movements. Gender was not even a consideration in my classroom. I guess that is not always how it is, especially in older dance forms, as mentioned, like ballet. I love the initiative these studios and instructors are taking by including trans teachers and using gender-neutral and validating language like "dancers" instead of "boys and girls," and taking strides to normalize pronoun change and pronoun awareness. I feel practices like these are in line with dance as a form of expression. It encourages exploration of the self and acceptance of diversity, which is so important for trans and nonbinary youth because it creates a safe and accepting environment for everyone.
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