Whisper Networking + Open Secrets

Hey Dancers! Its time for our November check in. Here we let the cat out of the bag and talk about having Daniella Mestyanek Young on as a guest on the podcast this month. We also touch on the collective conversation of power, control, and the resurgence of the #metoo movement where that shows up in the dance world.

In this episode, Lou + Kate get into whisper networks and open secrets. What do we do when the open secrets of the world fall on deaf ears? We whisper network.Sometimes, the only way women and marginalized people in the dance world (and the rest of the world, too) can protect themselves and each other is through a good old-fashioned gossip: sharing experiences, passing along warnings, and trying to keep each other safe when speaking up publicly isn’t enough.We talk about our own experiences and the biggest Me Too Movement creepo of them all, a.k.a. the guy whose name we can’t get right because he doesn’t deserve our labor, as examples of what happens when everybody knows a dangerous truth, but accountability isn’t in the room.So, what options do we have besides cancel culture and looking the other way? Tune in as we unpack whisper networks, the open secrets we keep, and the middle path: accountability.And consider this the beginning of a new direction for The Degender Dance Podcast: more honesty, more candor, and more of the things that spark our joy, fascination, rage, and passion. Lou + Kate are getting into it.

Wait…people still dance Cha-Cha-Chá? HELL YES THEY DO. This week, Kate teaches Lou about one of their favorite dances, the Cha-Cha! Where did it come from? Why did it become a massive dance craze? How does it fit into the history of Cuban and Latin partner dance? And why might you see a dance floor thin out when a Cha-Cha comes on today? We talk about the history, the Cuban craze of the 1950s, the rise of salsa, and how dance histories can get lost when we stop teaching them. Then Kate breaks down the rhythm a bit, puts on some Tito Puente, and teaches Lou how to dance the Cha-Cha basic. Before you know it, Kate and Lou are at the club dancing Cha-Cha! Because the best way to keep a dance alive is to know where it came from and dance the damn thing with your friends!🕺Some Notes, clarifications and Resources⭐A note on names: We mostly use Cha-Cha-Chá when referring to the original Cuban music and dance tradition. You may also hear the shortened name Cha-Cha, particularly when talking about later social and ballroom adaptations. ⭐Son and rumba predate Cha-Cha-Chá and belong to the much broader Cuban musical tapestry surrounding its development. ⭐Cha-Cha-Chá’s movement out of the center of the U.S. social dance scene was not caused by one event. Changing musical tastes and dance cultures, changes in Cuban and U.S. cultural exchange, and the later prominence of salsa all form pieces of a much bigger story. ⭐One correction from our conversation: Cha-Cha-Chá is not exclusively danced on2. Different social traditions use different timing conventions, as do later forms of ballroom Cha-Cha. Kate teaches the on2 timing used in the episode. 📚Read & Explore📖Jeffrey Torchon, “Cuban Cha-Cha-Chá: Applications for Music Education in the United States” Read the article📖National Geographic, “History of Ballroom Dance: Cha-Cha-Chá”Read the article🎻Listen!🎵Enrique Jorrín🎵Orquesta América🎵Orquesta Aragón 🎵Tito Puente

Hey Dancers! We are shaking things up, and starting a monthly check in EP. Join us for our other EPs this month: Whatever Happened to Cha-Cha-Chá?, and Whisper Networking and Open Secrets. Both coming out later this month.Catch us on-line at DegenderDance.com See you on the dance floor!

In this week’s episode, Kate and Lou share a short and sweet conversation on why partner dance is so damn good for queers and why partner dance needs queers running shit! For queer and trans people, embodiment and unadulterated authenticity is a powerful part of discovering, inhabiting, and expressing who we are. Dance gives us a container for that experience: a place to play with gender, energy, roles, connection, and taking up space, while getting out of our heads and into our bodies.Queers bring something essential to the dance floor and to the dance business, and we deserve to be at the forefront of wherever partner dance goes next and create spaces that are safe, inclusive, radically expressive, and, of course, FUN!Tune in, cuz Kate and Lou also reveal whether they’re a top, bottom, or vers… partner dancer!

This week we’re joined by Jason Hsu (he/him), Lindy Hop dancer, educator, researcher, tour guide, and founder of Switch Taipei - a dance school for Queer equality and identity in Swing in Taipei Taiwan! With a background in theatre, language education, and cross-cultural pedagogy, Jason teaches and performs Lindy Hop but also bridges dance practice and academia. After completing a master’s degree in the Anthropology of Dance, he is now pursuing a Ph.D. in Dance at Taipei National University of the Arts, researching cross-cultural movement in Lindy Hop through queer identity and exploring how those ideas can reshape dance symbolically, and in real time.In this episode, we talk about switch dancing, gender expression and how Jason’s journey has been anything but linear, the importance of dancing both roles, and how switching can create opportunities for visibility, authenticity, and more expansive expressions of gender. We also get into gender equity, oppression, Jazz as a liberatory art form, Jason’s Taiwanese identity as a partner dancer,l the way identity can have so many bodily and experiential overlaps. And maybe the best part: the important role that fashion plays in self-expression.Join us for a conversation about dance, identity, culture, and disrupting the norms that tell us who we should be so we can be a lot more who we really are!

What happens when we stop making men and their whims, ideas, and impulses the center of everything?In this episode, we’re talking about a pattern that shows up everywhere: from small dance communities to the highest levels of power. Men are often given the benefit of the doubt, the spotlight, the leadership, and the attention, while women, femmes, and queer people are conditioned to provide the care, emotional labor, support, and forgiveness around them.Partner dance has its own version of this. We’ve been taught to look up to men as leaders, teachers, studio owners, and authorities and too often charisma and success get mistaken for character. The harm of centering men exists on a spectrum: from women and femmes providing endless unpaid labor that allows men to thrive, all the way to grooming, harassment, sexual violence, and communities protecting men instead of the people they harm.These patterns are a part of a larger culture that has allowed men from local community figures to powerful people like Trump and Epstein to accumulate influence, avoid accountability, and keep being centered.Decentering men isn’t about hating men. It’s about questioning why so much of our energy gets organized around men’s approval, attention, and “success.” What could we create if we stopped orbiting around men and started investing that energy back into ourselves, our communities, and each other?Come hang out with us as we talk about taking up space, trusting ourselves, and building dance communities where we don’t have to shrink, perform, or carry the burden of making men comfortable.

OMG Y’all! This week we're joined by Kyla Hallums (kylahallums.com), a movement coach, somatic practitioner, and Bachata and Salsa teacher from Nashville, Tennessee, whose work blends social dance, somatics, and embodiment in ways that might change how you think about partner dance. So, what if becoming a better dancer has less to do with nailing the steps and more to do with trusting yourself? Kyla shares how she shifted from teaching people what to do with their bodies to helping them discover what their bodies already know. We explore why embodiment isn't about performing or copying steps, how social dance can become a powerful practice of self-awareness, and why vulnerability often opens the door to our greatest growth.We also dive into Kyla's work leading transformational retreats in the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica, where dance, somatic practices, joy and intentional community come together to help people reconnect with themselves both on and off the dance floor. As Kyla reminds us, vulnerability really is one helluva drug.Tune in dance teachers, lifelong dancers, anyone too intimidated to try dance, or if you are curious about what embodiment actually means, this conversation will leave you thinking differently about movement, dance instruction, connection, and the courage it takes to be fully present. And if you're already a Kyla stan, don't worry we ask the hard-hitting questions, including the one you've all been waiting for: What's Kyla's favorite ice cream?Check out DegenderDance.com for FREE resources to decolonize the dance world.

Check out our new site www.degenderdance.com⁠!!! Big title, we know. But stick with us. Last episode we talked about our complicated relationship with dance and how joyful, connective, and freeing it is... also weirdly still full of colonial bs. This time, we're asking: if dance is supposed to be about freedom, why is it still carrying around so much nonsense? From rigid gender roles and major hierarchies to gender inequality and outdated norms, our dance communities have inherited a lot more than just dancing. We dig into what it actually means to decolonize something and why gender equity is a powerful place to start decolonizing partner dance. But how the hell do we change this stuff? It starts with each of us! We have been working behind the scenes on something we hope will be the first of many guides for decolonizing the world of dance.Drumroll please.....OUR BIG NEWS! In this episode we launch our very first handbook: Gender Equity in the Classroom and Ballroom!  This is a full-ass 50 pg book Kate + Lou have been working on for a loooooong time.🎉 In this episode share a little about what's inside, including degendering language, rethinking dance roles, consent, and more. It's like a field guide for dancers, teachers, studio owners and everyone in between to make gender equity in partner dance a priority. We also introduce some companion resources, including a video class, and role stickers that are designed to help dancers and organizers take small, tangible steps toward a more inclusive dance culture. Sometimes (always?) changing the world starts with changing what you do on the dance floor. Tune in and check out these resources and more at www.degenderdance.com!!! 

We're back for Season 2! In this kickoff episode, we sit down to unpack our complicated relationship with partner dance. From the intoxicating magic of a truly great connection to the patriarchal overtones woven through modern partner dance scenes, nothing is off the table. We talk about what drew us to build Degender Dance in the first place, what keeps us passionate about it, what we'd love to see change, and what's next.Along the way, we get into the highs and lows of social dancing, the joy of music and community, the frustrations of outdated and harmful norms, and gendered expectations, and why we believe another way is possible. Expect tangents, strong opinions, plenty of laughs, and a few moments where we get properly fired up. Also, stay til the end cuz also share some mega news, so consider this your invitation to catch up with us before some exciting changes ahead! And since you made it this far: what do you love and hate about dance?