On dancing (on the grave of fat stigma) w/ Jo
Jo (she/her) never set out to be an advocate. She just wanted to perfect her plié and float about a stage swathed in silk tulle - but she’s never been thin.
Freyia (she/her) and Jo have a heart-to-heart about their mutual ambivalent relationship with dance (and other aesthetic performance practices) to explore how their experiences have shaped them into the women they are today - for better, worse and everything in between
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Content Warnings:
Discussion of fatphobia, body dysmorphia, eating disorders and disordered eating behaviours throughout.
There are specific mentions of the following topics at the time stamps provided:
6:56 - 8:40 - Anxiety and agoraphobia
8:11 - 8:19 - Assault specifics
10:12 - 11:36 - Dance not for boys
11:36 - 12:02 - Negative effect of socializing men to not be able to process emotions
12:38 - 13:05 - Not fitting in, feeling like a social outcast
21:27 - 22:03 - Historical dangerous dance teaching practices
23:44 - 24:18 - Diet culture rhetoric around exercise
36:02 - 37:38 - Racism
36:36 - 37:24 - Anorexia
36:02 - 37:38 - Classism
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References:
Snag Tights
Snag Tights Inclusive Dance Tights
https://snagtights.com/pages/dance
Joanne Cornish Interview: Snag Dance Tights Launch - Snag Tights
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HtftKA2QBPU&feature=emb_imp_woyt
/
The Armour of Masculinity - Beyond Equality
https://www.beyondequality.org/blog-posts/the-armour-of-masculinity
/
What It Means To Self Objectify and How We Can Stop Doing It - Allie Marie Smith
https://blog.darlingmagazine.org/what-it-means-to-self-objectify-and-how-we-can-stop-doing-it/
Purity and Danger In Ballet - Elena Lambrinos
https://disruptdance.com/2021/05/20/purity-and-danger-ballet/
/
Dancing Chimpanzees May Reveal How Humans Started To Boogie - Eva Frederick
https://www.science.org/content/article/dancing-chimpanzees-may-reveal-how-humans-started-boogie
Survival Dance: How Humans Waltzed Through The Ice Age - Heather Whipps
https://www.livescience.com/619-survival-dance-humans-waltzed-ice-age.html
/
Fearing The Black Body - Sabrina Strings
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/42129163-fearing-the-black-body
/
The Toxic Diet Culture & Fatphobia Of Early 2000s Chick Flicks - Film Fatales
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nFzDUhyeK_4
Bridget Jones’s Diary
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0243155/
/
Book Review: Fearing The Black Body - Fluffy Kitten Party
https://fluffykittenparty.com/2020/07/10/fearing-the-black-body-sabrina-strings/
I Said, Can You Hear Me Now - The International Association of Blacks in Dance
https://www.iabdassociation.org/mpage/canyouhearmenow
/
Julia del Bianco
Instagram: @judelbi
Teaching Instagram: @danceforplus
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Credits:
H O S T
Freyia Lilian
G U E S T
Joanne Cornish
Instagram: @plussizeposition
D I S T R I B U T I O N P A R T N E R
Strong365
Website: https://strong365.org
M E N T O R S H I P
Chantel Garret (she/her)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chantelgarrett
M U S I C
Foxhunt (he/him)
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/foxhunt-official
S O U N D
Jake Burgess (he/him)
Bandcamp:
USKK - https://uskk.bandcamp.com/album/yr-hen-ogledd
DJ Death Sentence - https://windowmusic.bandcamp.com
A S S I S T A N T
Becca Vines (they/them)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-vines-3111b81b8
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If you are concerned about your mental health, Folie À Deux always recommends turning to trusted members of your community first.
In the words of Drs Amelia and Emily Nagoski:
“The cure for burnout isn’t self care, it’s all of us caring for each other.”
Access allowing, spending your time and resources finding a supportive professional you gel with can be invaluable to your journey.
If you are in crisis and you don’t know where to turn, Strong 365 hosts their own free 24 hour peer led online mental health chat which can be found here:
https://www.7cups.com/p/strong365/?wla=strong365
A thorough list of mental health helplines for a range of countries can be found here:
https://www.helpguide.org/find-help.htm
The world is better with you in it.
