Why Queering DanceSport?
At first glance, the DanceSport stage dazzles with glitter, grace, and glamour. But if you look past the glitz, behind the sequins and precision, you’ll find a carefully staged illusion. This is a world built on a binary, where roles are fixed, identities are edited, and bodies are told how to move and who to be. This system makes everyone fit into a box defined by cisheteronormative gender roles, dictating who leads and who follows, who gets to dance with whom, who gets to wear what outfit, who gets to move how, who gets to dance which steps, who gets the spotlight and who disappears into the margins.
We’ve been told there is no other way, that DanceSport involves a fully-dressed straight cis man leading a half-naked straight cis woman. It’s time to remember that this binary is just a story, one that has been told so often that we’ve mistaken it for the one and only Truth. But it’s not. All it is is a social construct. This is not inevitable. The way we've always danced isn't the only way to dance. We’ve just grown so used to this framework—endorsed by federations, enforced by norms—that we've stopped imagining anything else. Representation shapes imagination, and imagination shapes reality. When all we see is cisheteronormativity, it becomes all we can imagine.
Because the heteronormative gender binary discriminates against or excludes those it deems illegitimate, queer dancers have been pushed to the margins. They’ve been edited out of the picture, or forced to fit themselves into costumes - literal and symbolic - that were never made for them. Let’s be clear: this isn’t just about aesthetics. It is about systemic normative and institutionalised violence, exclusion, silencing, invisibilisation – about oppression. The DanceSport scene tells many dancers they don’t belong. Not because they can’t dance, but because they don’t fit the mould
“L'ipersessualizzazione riguarda il senso dell'azione: quale corpo fa cosa a chi. Si normalizzano due modi diversi di essere nel corpo:chi tocca e chi è toccato”.
Our vision: Bold, Queer, Inclusive
Enter Queering DanceSport.
We are not here to blend in. We’re here to expose and deconstruct the silent systems of power and exclusion that are embedded within the sport. Our aim is to spark disruption, not for disruption's sake, but to open doors, expand vocabularies and awaken dormant possibilities. By reimagining, one step at a time, what Latin DanceSport could be like and centring those it has long excluded, we aim to challenge its very essence and offer vibrant alternatives. We want to challenge the norms and stretch the form until something new and beautiful emerges. Queering is not about fitting in — it's about breaking open!
And about returning the floor to those whose joy was never prioritised. Queering DanceSport is choreography as resistance. It's about reclaiming the Latin dance floor as a place where everyone can dance freely, joyfully and authentically; a place where all bodies are welcome and all identities are celebrated; a place where the full spectrum of expression, identity and desire can flourish. We believe that dance should be a liberating space. But to achieve this, we must dance the system into collapse and then rebuild it with joy.
We invite you to dream with us, beyond the status quo. Queering DanceSport is an act of radical imagination. When shared, imagination becomes transformation.
Liberating our imagination
What if DanceSport was a place of wild innovation and radical liberation rather than quiet conformity? What if queerness wasn’t erased or hidden, but celebrated and centred? What would a radically inclusive dance world look, sound and feel like? What if roles weren’t gendered? What if costumes didn't signal conformity, but celebrated individuality? What if leading and following weren't fixed roles, but flowed and shifted between partners? How would DanceSport change if it welcomed all bodies, identities and ways of moving?
We believe in the liberating power of imagination. We’re not asking for permission; we’re creating new blueprints. We dare you to dream with us. To unlearn. To imagine a world beyond binaries. This isn't just about inclusion; it's about transformation. We don't claim to have all the answers. But we are here to ask better questions. To offer ideas. To open doors. And above all, to invite you in.
Building community
This is only the beginning. With Queering DanceSport, we’re planting seeds of dialogue, curiosity, change, possibility, and inviting others to help them grow. We want to build a community that thrives on justice, creative risks, and unapologetic queerness. We want to facilitate collective growth.
You may not agree with everything. You may take a different path. But if you believe that DanceSport can be fairer, more inclusive and more vibrant, then you are already part of this movement!
DanceSport can and must be more. Our ultimate aim? To make DanceSport a space where everyone, regardless of gender, identity, clothing or partnership, feels seen, safe, and free to move as they truly are.
Let's dance towards a future where nobody has to choose between being themselves and being accepted. Let's fight for dance floors where everyone can move freely and nobody has to hold back. Let's create spaces that not only tolerate difference, but thrive on it. Let's raise our voices, support each other, and ensure that the world cannot ignore what we know to be true:
The future of DanceSport is queer. And the future starts now.