While traditional ballroom dancing involved a man and a woman in partnership, it’s not required that dancing couples be different genders.
We’ve had women who are friends sign up as a couple to take lessons. We’ve had same-sex couples come in to learn to dance together. All you need to do is designate one person as the leader and the other as the follower and you’re ready to go.
Over the years, we’ve had to fight the stigma that any man who dances is gay. We’ve had to deconstruct stereotypes and build new definitions of people who dance.
You see, dancing is simply about people coming together to flow through steps and stances and put on a beautiful show. It’s about knowing how to move together, knowing how to give and take, knowing when to move forward and when to step back.
It’s about smiling, moving arms and legs, dressing for the occasion, feeling proud of the movements you can make.
And frankly, gender has nothing to do with it. Everyone is welcome at Fred Astaire.