Cristina Michaels

If you are just beginning to dance or take class regularly or if you are a veteran dancer.  Having your body, mind and soul formulated for every class, each time takes regular practice. Like class itself making a mental checklist short of long to analyze your body and mind’s readiness.  As a transgender folx this can be incredibly difficult when dealing with cis-normative structure in place that are in many dance studio’s around the globe. We look the system in the eyes and break the binary.  Even with my extensive experience I still shy away from professional ballet classes because of the lack of diversity and inclusivity.  The classical ballet community is very binary and has a hard time embracing the transgender umbrella.  

So how do we prepare for such an on-slot of gender expectations.  Ask the studio owners if they have an inclusive and diverse approach to dance classes.  Do they embrace the LGBTQIA community.  Having a buddy or friend that can also put the mind and soul at ease. This will allow the mind to begin listening to the body.  Dance is not about just listening to the music, and step memorization, but it is also hearing the internal workings of our bodies.  

This is where I encourage myself and my students to either go to your dance class to check in with our body. If that is not possible, just give yourself a few minutes to analyze where your body is at. From my professional experience I love to get to the studio about 30 minutes beforehand to give myself time to listen, to hear my body and prepare the mind for class. 

This may seem incredibly effortless to write down and say to you. That said, as trans and or queer folx it just isn’t that easy.  The struggle to find a welcoming, diverse and inclusive dance space is an endeavour for many of us. And personally I will rather walk out of a class if I am miss gendered than put myself through their strife.  At Queer Dance Project we are here to break the binary, and embrace inclusivity and diversity.