Dancing is a performance, an act.

In some ways this could be viewed as a way in which the performer fills in the expectations of the viewer. I’m a follow, so woman to man, this seems even more likely. Women are always, to an extent, performing within or against the expectations of gender driven society.

However, when I dance, I feel this to be much less true than when I am just walking down a street. Rather, on a day to day basis, I feel the challenge and the implications of the performance of my own identity, a need to resist and to push against boundaries set up for me.

Within the frame of a mans arms, I am free to do what the hell I like. I feel like myself, gloriously alive, attractive, magnetic, in control. I feel all these things independently of any prescription, and although I am being steered and lead, I know that the follow is mine to explore, and the expression is truly of myself, made in my own sense of fun and vitality.

Ellie