I have a great fascination with things like ballroom dancing, like all the dances. I'd really like to get into it all but I have one small snag that keeps me from finding lessons...

I haven't exactly transitioned yet and I don't want to have to be taught how to dance like a 'female' when I want to be treated like a 'male'. So I wonder, has anyone been in this situation when it comes to gender roles being apart of an activity or sport? Should I wait until I start transition or is there something I can do now so I can start lessons sooner... I'm kind of excited to get into it. It would be disappointing if I had to wait on that as well as therapy.

I have a real interest in Ballroom and I have a good ear for the music. I think it might be therapeutic.

I don't think there should be a problem with you learning in the gender role you want to. Just tell them up front that you'd prefer to learn as a male and I'm sure they'd be fine with it. After all, if it's a form of dance where the different sexes do different things, then they should be used to people switching roles all the time.

And dancing is great! I do Highland dancing and ballet, and find that after a couple of weeks away I start leaping down the hallway, flinging in the kitchen......

But yes, dancing's great, and I honestly can't see why wanting to learn the man's role should be any problem. Go for it!!!    

Hi Monty,

I've done ballroom dancing lessons, and the main thing is learning the technique and the steps.

If you do it in a group you almost always find that there is an imbalance, so swapping gender positions is common.

So sign up and learn how to waltz the night away.....

Chrissty

Dancing is fantastic. i did ballroom for a few months while i was dating my ex. since we broke up, i haven't been dancing again. it's a shame really, but dancing is fun.

you can always go to one school... just not the very very formal ones because they are normally really expensive... and just tell them you want to learn the male parts. that should be good.

are you planning to transition while you're dancing at the same school? otherwise I'd suggest learn what you can at one school, take some friends with if you can- practice at home with your friends- and then go back after transitioning or go to another school.

other than that i have no more advice to give. but if you do end up enjoying dancing very much, don't give it up dancing just because me transitioning.

*huggles*

Thanks for the encouragement.

And I bet there is an imbalance, so no worries there. I suppose technique and the steps are more important than gender role.

I'm not sure how many schools there are in my area, but I plan to transition while I'm dancing so I don't have to wait an extended amount of time to get into everything. Thats probably a smart move though, about switching schools, just so things don't get really awkward.

I think I'm going to go for it.

I will be taking dance in the spring. If anyone even asks, I will tell them I prefer a masculine style. I am going to take Introduction to Dance movement and then Tap. What I'm scared of is that women aren't usually all that fantastic at tap. I hope it isn't an anatomy-related issue.

Anyway, gender roles are a constant issue in theater for me. I want to play young men but I'm a female who looks like a little boy. I always get typecasted, and rarely am I ever allowed to play the roles I want to. This is one reason transition is so exciting for me; transition will smooth the subtleties and I'll look much more around my age in a couple years.

You can start dance, if the dance instructor is understanding and will let you dance male parts. My problem is that I can't start an acting record yet because I'm stuck in female roles. I don't want my portfolio to say that for the first year of acting I only played girls...

I thought all theater - the more professional the more so - is typecast.  Its not a matter of ability, lot of people can act well, its getting the two people who most look like, say, the Romeo and Juliet of the directors vision.  Unless you're going for flat-out comedy (and I'm happy to make the case for R&J being a black comedy) you're not ever going to cast a five foot five Romeo opposite a five foot eleven Juliet.

Quote from: tekla on July 20, 2008, 12:56:55 PM
I thought all theater - the more professional the more so - is typecast.  Its not a matter of ability, lot of people can act well, its getting the two people who most look like, say, the Romeo and Juliet of the directors vision.  Unless you're going for flat-out comedy (and I'm happy to make the case for R&J being a black comedy) you're not ever going to cast a five foot five Romeo opposite a five foot eleven Juliet.

Not always. It depends on the director. I could play a Hamlet if I was on testosterone-- currently my voice cracks too much because it's, well, feminine.

Film is a little different. Actors are casted based on trademark. They want that "Bill Murray feeling" in their film. Shows like SNL and Mad TV are really based on skill and availability more than typecasting work.

And yes, I am a comedian, so I will tend to get roles I like. I like musicals and all the characters I'd like to play can be 5'3".

I don't need anyone here to tell me the "tough world" of theater like I don't know it. I've worked with theater for quite some time. Things work out. Casting is flexible. Good thing I never want to be a Romeo.

however, as a boyish looking man, roles like Romeo are possibly yours for the taking. But you said you've played (Tybalt was it?).
If you were in that play, I reckon Mercutio could be yours, 'specially if you are a comedian.

I spent most of my time in the theatre playing small boys and old men, when i played around at university I always played old men despite the fact that I was usually one of the youngest (and indeed young looking) people in the cast... I never found out why.

Quote from: Pica Pica on July 20, 2008, 01:25:03 PM
however, as a boyish looking man, roles like Romeo are possibly yours for the taking. But you said you've played (Tybalt was it?).
If you were in that play, I reckon Mercutio could be yours, 'specially if you are a comedian.

I spent most of my time in the theatre playing small boys and old men, when i played around at university I always played old men despite the fact that I was usually one of the youngest (and indeed young looking) people in the cast... I never found out why.

Yes, and Tybalt was amazing. The only reason I didn't get Mercutio was because I was so obsessed with being an ->-bleeped-<- at the time (really, it is fun to play a character that's a total jerk, which is also why I like playing Hamlet).

Dance classes helped precipitate my self-discovery 4 years ago. In the crucial months leading up to my admission that I'm trans, I knew about it but was still holding onto denial. I went to my friend who's a Middle Eastern dance teacher and asked her to teach me.

She wanted to teach me male styles of dance. I felt worse then disappointed--it was depressing. For years (ever since childhood) I'd felt depressed every time someone "helpfully" urged me to become more masculine. So I argued back-- no thanks, I want to learn to dance the girly way. She always had a lack of male dancers and kept trying to push me to go masculine. The more she did, the more I pushed back. Her dancers were all so feminine and beautiful and dazzling, they formed a vision of what I dreamed of attaining but had always despaired of. But all her pushing masculinity on me had the effect of bringing me to realize clearly just why I felt so bad to have that forced on me.

I kept arguing back at her by saying I had "gender identity issues." Yeah, that's the wording I used because I wasn't up to admitting the full truth yet. It was only a few months later that I finally dropped the denial, faced up to my transgender, and began transforming my existence. I feel that dance was an important catalyst in finally bringing it to the surface, because I had to argue back to my teacher why I wanted to be girly.

Haha, I know what you mean about playing the 'jerk' characters, Elwood. They're just too much fun to play as.

And Hypatia, thats a very interesting story. Thank you for sharing! In a way I think watching ballroom has sort of pushed me away from hiding my identity issues. I've had to suppress them for a little while and I kind of got stuck in the grove of escaping from reality and my problems. Every time I'd watch shows like Dancing With The Stars or watch a professional Ballroom competition on TV I'd get very anxious and the body dysphoria could seep its way back in. I admire how the girls dance and I think its beautiful, but I can't help but feel a bit of envy for the men. I wanted to dance like them, even if it wasn't as fancy as some of the female choreography, I wanted to do what the men were doing and not only that... but the reminder of gender roles and the male body that I was lacking would get to me.

So I suppose in that way, dancing is one good way to bring someone to reality about their gender identity or to cut through the denial one may have about it.

You do understand that the 'pros' on Dancing with the Stars can dance both roles?  They can do the lead or the follow.  If they could not, they could not do the choreography in the first place.  And, if you know dancing, with the male stars, the females do tend to lead, not follow.

Thats another good point. And I've seen some of them do the opposite role to show the stars how to do a certain dance or move.

So in any case, I'd still be learning the male role even if people saw me as female. That actually makes a lot of sense and I never really thought about it until some people in this thread pointed it out. Way to use my brain power, eh?

I always let the best dancer lead.  Sometimes that me, often its not.