Perhaps not. As a ballroom dancer, formerly competitive, I was excited to see a major article in the NYT about ballroom—but the content of the article, I'm sad to say, doesn't surprise me in the least. When the dancers said that the rules of competitive ballroom are "archaic", they were really not kidding. In fact, by far the most surprising thing in the entire article was that the YCN stood up to the rest of USABDA and got them to allow same-sex partners at the collegiate level. I've been at college competitions where in order to be considered an official YCN/USABDA competition, there had to be a rule that women could not wear pants while dancing—dresses or skirts only. And this wasn't just a lip-service thing, because the YCN coordinator was on site making announcements, and preventing at least one couple from competing again until they changed costumes. Never mind that there are plenty of great Rhythm and Latin outfits with pants. Progressive they are not.
I had always assumed that USABDA was the biggest group of fuddy-duddies, but reading what the IDF folks had to say to the media I'm realizing that the IDF is at least at the same level of fossilization. This was my all-time favorite section:
"Just as the Hopak dancers do not have to start adding other ethnic groups' elements to their dances because to do so would fundamentally contradict what the dance is about, DanceSport does not have to start adding dances about some other relationship," Jim Frasier, who heads the legal commission of the Europe-based federation, wrote in an e-mail message, referring to the Ukrainian folk dance to explain why his organization has sought to restrict same-sex couples.
Citing as an example the pasodoble, a dance based on movements performed during a bullfight with the man in the central matador role, Mr. Frasier added: "It is performed by a man and woman because it is about the relationship between a man and a woman, using the metaphor of the matador and the cape to express one more aspect of the man/woman relationship."
What the hell are they thinking over there, letting this guy do their PR? The pasodoble is they example they choose, of all the dances in their repertoire, to hold up as an example? Pasodoble, while a very interesting dance, is pretty much the black sheep in terms of the equality of the roles of leader and follower. They may as well have issued a press statement saying, "Well, we don't really see ballroom dance as an art form, or a way of exploring the dynamics of partnerships in a broader sense—we like to think of it as a way of preserving the misogynistic elements of our society's past. If there's no woman in the couple to push around, what's the point?"
Also not surprising was the mention of the Olympics as a possible factor in the IDF's stance. Three or four years ago, even at the YCN (collegiate) level, the powers that be in this area were already obsessed with the Olympics. That was already becoming a primary motivator. And when I say "Olympics", I of course mean "money"
I seriously wonder if any of the leaders of these organizations remember what it was like to enjoy dancing.
Category: Society
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