Autonomy vs. Access: Female & Queer Dancers in DanceSport

This project investigates how women and queer people are affected by and respond to societal norms surrounding gender and sexuality in competitive ballroom dancing, also known as DanceSport. The goals of this research are: 1) To understand the needs of female and queer dancers in DanceSport, and 2) To create new policies, discourses and practices to protect these groups and tackle exclusion and violence. This project shines a spotlight on ways in which queer and female dancers already fight back and go against the grain in their everyday experiences in the DanceSport world. It also sets out ways to make the DanceSport world safer and more welcoming for them. This project looks at how female and queer dancers deal with the barriers they face, and how policies can help or stop them. It does this by studying how queer and female dancers navigate the balance between their bodily autonomy and their access to higher ranks in DanceSport.