How has your identity affected you in the dance world?
By Anna Ricketts (she/they), DWC Blog Contributor
I am Anna Ricketts, a sixteen-year-old dancer at Fidalgo Dance Works. I currently identify as a cisgender, omnisexual woman. If you don’t know what that means, it means that I am attracted to people of all genders and orientations. Fortunately, my dance studio is very accepting of people in the LGBTQ+ community. Overall, I feel very loved and accepted there. Although I feel accepted at my studio, the journey to feeling careless about what others think about my orientation took a long time.
I never knew a lot about the LGBTQ+ community until middle school. I started attending GSA meetings and thinking to myself “Who am I?”. Figuring out my sexuality was not an easy task and it was extremely challenging mentally. I felt scared, alone, worthless, confused, and stressed. These mental challenges with exploring my identity and the troubles with everything else in life critically affected my dance life. This affected my dance life especially since I never really saw professional dancers on social media who were a part of the community. I felt that I was never going to be able to dance professionally in the future, which had been my only dream in life since I was very young. The mental turmoil made me want to quit dancing. It made me want to quit trying in life. However, as I grew older, figured out my sexuality, and found a place of peace in my mind, those thoughts and feelings went away. I stopped caring what other people thought about me and started thinking more about how I can start loving myself and giving back to myself.
Seeing more and more queer dancers on social media has also helped me gain confidence in my dancing. These dancers inspire me to continue growing and learning the art of dance. One important dancer to mention is Ashton Edwards. Ever since I read that they started dancing with PNB, I have been inspired. Seeing them dance onstage a few times has also been extremely inspiring. Another inspiration is Merce Cunningham. Merce Cunningham was a dancer and choreographer who helped shape modern dance into what it is today. He was a part of the LGBTQ+ community and was very inspiring to hundreds of people around the world. Having these inspirational dancers to look up to and having friends and family to support me helped with my journey extraordinarily. Growing up not knowing about many LGBTQ+ dancers made me feel alone. I want to change this for the future generations of dancers to come. I want to show them that it is okay to identify with the LGBTQ+ community. You can become a professional dancer and be a part of the community. You are worthy of acceptance and happiness.
If you are struggling with your identity just understand that you are not alone. There are so many other people around the world who struggle with figuring out their orientations. Having people who inspire you and help support you will make your journey less stressful and challenging. It is normal to feel confused, sad, and scared. Growing up not knowing about many LGBTQ+ dancers made me feel alone and frightened. I wanted to give up on everything including dance. Now that I have gotten through that really long path, I want to help change the future generations of queer dancers to come. I want to show them that it is okay to identify with the LGBTQ+ community. You can work in the dance/performing arts industry and be a part of the community. You are worthy of acceptance and happiness. The journey may be difficult, but I believe in you. There are people around you that believe in you and love you.
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