Teaching Body Liberation in Dance
Trigger Warning: Eating disorders, Mental Health Concerns
By Hannah Emory, DWC Blog Contributor
From my experience dancing at the collegiate level in the 2020s and beginning to develop my own pedagogical style, I see a lot of exciting room for growth in how dance teachers talk about, interact with, and allow space for the bodies in their studios. A huge wave of creative boundary-breaking has already begun as a result of more types of bodies having space in the dance world. This wave can only get bigger and have more impact as our teaching styles shift toward body liberation.
Cliona Byrne, body confidence coach and author of the Body Blog, writes:
“Body Liberation is freedom from all outside expectations of how your body should be/look, even your own [expectations]… Liberation is not being consumed with thoughts about your body. Liberation is not asking permission to be included in society’s ideal of beauty. Liberation is letting go of the concept that beauty = worth. Liberation is giving ourselves permission to live our lives in our bodies.”
I assume most of us were raised in dance spaces that were the opposite of body liberating. The majority of us probably experienced a rigid aesthetic being honored, dance movement having a narrow definition, and dancers being pigeon-holed into being a certain way of personal presentation. This certainly was the truth for me at many times throughout my formative dance years.
There are folks I watched walk away from dancing because the psychological pressure of ableist and sizeist standards created a toxicity in the studio that even sincere love for dance could not overcome. I was almost one of those people, until I realized that now more than ever we need dancers who know what it feels like to be on the margins and that seek to teach in ways that bring everybody in.
Body liberation has to begin with breaking our own negative thought patterns about the self. It starts with fundamentally believing that every body, including our own, is a dancing body. A succinct lens on body liberation comes from the University of Vermont’s (UVM) Center for Health and Wellbeing:
“the freedom from social and political systems of oppression that designate certain bodies as more worthy, healthy, and desirable than others. We do not believe that bodies that are white, able-bodied, cisgender, thin, or fit are superior, worthier, or inherently healthier than any other bodies.”
According to UVM, impacts of body discrimination extend to many areas of life, including social life, healthcare, mental wellbeing, and relationships with food and weight. Discrimination based on someone’s physical ability, body composition, and presentation of health can lead to a pervasive lack of self-value that stunts personal growth long-term. Arguably, the popular understanding of dance is still a largely discriminatory one.
In an aesthetic- and athletic-focused environment, like the dance industry, that largely thrives on opinions of the populace, it is a difficult thing to not view its participants through a dominant societal lens that promotes harmful messaging about bodies. In an environment where technique is often seen as king, it is not easy to let go of judgments and to not be consumed by body-centered critiques.
So, how do we take a genre like ballet, with specific stylistic hallmarks, and remove judgment from it? How do we make joy and authentic learning the focus instead of primarily focusing on objective outcomes that were handed down to us? These are questions that are not easily answered and it must be acknowledged that teaching always requires a form of constructive evaluation.
But, I think there are ways that dance teachers can focus on molding confident students who are gentle with themselves and love their bodies, over and above seeking technical excellence. I think studios can welcome in and effectively serve each dancer that walks in their doors. Punishing and accusing our bodies can be seen as an outmoded means to success. Exclusivity and unreachable standards don’t have to be what defines the dance world. Instead, body liberation can be the guiding force and joyful expression can be the ultimate goal of dance education.
Body liberation is a powerful mindset, but it can sometimes be difficult to know how to translate something from our headspace out into the real world. Yet, there are many intentional ways to apply a liberating mindset in the studio. A few pieces of constructive advice for teachers on this subject I’ve come across include:
“The cardinal rule of a body-positive teaching style: Correct your students’ dancing, not their bodies.” Comments about the bodies of dancers, especially young ones, should focus on highlighting their strengths and teaching injury prevention, rather than categorizing or critiquing their body composition. (Helen Rolfe, DanceTeacher.com)
Work towards a culture in the studio that “[views] the concepts and practices of wellness and wellbeing as a mindset and a way of life, not as specific behaviors deemed healthy or unhealthy by a dominant culture. Wellness and wellbeing look different to everyone.” (UVM)
Present your students with dance media and auxiliary instruction from creators of multiple backgrounds and physical presentations. Seek to show them concretely that dance is for every body and that discrimination doesn’t belong in dance spaces.
Through self-education, have your teaching honor the subjective nature of dance, respect dancers’ space, and bodily autonomy, and maintain a dialogue with students about positive approaches to movement and dance culture. (ausdance.)
It is not an easy thing to liberate our teaching from models that have been ingrained over generations, but I have seen that there is great momentum for change. Each time we walk into the studio as teachers, there is an opportunity to make dance a life-giving space for all who want to move.
Resources for further reading:
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