Book Launch - Reimagine ballroom dancing through 'Equality Dancesport: Gender and Sexual Identities Matter'
- Date: Wednesday 5 February 2025, 12:30 – 13:45
- Location: Social Sciences Building, seminar rooms 12.21 and 12.25
- Cost: Free
Join us for the launch of 'Equality Dancesport: Gender and Sexual Identities Matter' by Dr Yen Nee Wong.
This instalment of the School of Sociology and Social Policy's Seminar Series takes the form of a book launch.
Dr Yen Nee Wong will discuss their book Equality Dancesport: Gender and Sexual Identities Matter (Routledge, 2024). The session will be chaired by the Centre for Interdisciplinary Gender Studies Director Dr Patricio Simonetto.
Abstract
From the royal courts of centuries past to the ballrooms of our present day, ballroom dancing continues to reflect traditional gender and sexual norms of the West. Binary male and female roles are expressed through costuming, sex-segregated dance roles, movements and heterosexual partnerships, the synchronised display of these elements making the dance aesthetically pleasing to the audience. While highly successful reality TV shows such as Strictly Come Dancing, Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance brought traditional ballroom dancing into the public view, some of these programmes have shifted towards more inclusive representations of the dance form. Through Equality Dancesport, my book responds to Strictly Come Dancing’s recent debate on including same-sex dance partnerships by presenting a different way of doing ballroom dancing which disrupts normative binaries of gender and sexuality. Through the lived experiences of LGBT+ equality dancers in the United Kingdom, I illustrate how identity work in dancing involves a complex process of striking a balance between transgressing, reinterpreting and reinstating gender norms and heterosexual intimacy in the traditional dance form. Join me on this journey to reimagine ballroom dancing through talk and photography.
This event is in-person and open to all staff and postgraduate researchers. The seminar will take place in 12.21/25 in the Social Sciences building at 12:30 - 13:45 and attendees do not need to register in advance.