#world class women ballet dancers

[ketoandme]

The cover of the Houston Ballet program / company magazine from Spring 2024.

These two dancers are among the world’s leading ballet dancers, and Houston Ballet is one of the finest companies in the US and the world. They are muscled, strong, and they do … a lot of resistance exercise.

I was in Houston back in the Spring this year, and attended the Houston Ballet - stunning performance. And there is no way a dancer could be starvation skinny, underfed and underweight, and do what these dancers do onstage, night after night. I went to the reception after the performance, and one young female dancer told me, the era of the ed dancer is decades out of date.

[ukulelegodparent]

I think a thing that is criminally overlooked in a lot of fantasy world building (and when it's done it's often done badly) is dancing. Like dancing was such an important element of polite society. It played such a huge role in people's lives. Like literally for a lot of European history you really didn't have someone who'd explicitly teach you manners (as a noble/upper class person) bc that was the job of your dance teacher. In the baroque era how to walk properly, how to sit properly, how to greet people on the street, that was all considered a form of dancing.

And it was in many ways considered almost a more important skill for men than for women at times. On the one hand because dancing teaches you a lot about balance and if you are living at a time where sword fighting is in any way still considered a relevant prestigious skill for men, you should really have impeccable dancing skills. A lot of sword fighting manuals explicitly talk about how it is good for a fighter to also be able to dance well BC it will drastically improve their footwork. And also all that complicated footwork in many dances? If you're wearing a long dress nobody is gonna see what your legs are doing. But if you're wearing pants or (more likely) hot pants and stockings, people will see what your feet are doing and judge you for it.

It was considered the thing that teaches you how to move your body with grace. How to keep your posture.

I am exhausted by the amount of times I've had to read about feasts in novels without there being any mention of dancing. My brother in Christ THE DANCING IS LIKE THE MAIN REASON FOR HAVING A FEAST. Dancing was how you met people, how you snuck in a conversation. When Elisabeth Bennet complains, that Mister Darcy doesn't talk while dancing this is BC that is what dancing was for. Especially Playford Longways are notorious for this BC in most of them one couple has very little to do while the other is dancing a lot. These days many dancing masters use variations of these dances where couple two has more to do, because these days the balls where these dances are danced are generally not to find a potential partner in marriage but rather BC you enjoy dancing.

So please please please, make your characters dance more. And don't make them not dance bc they are not 'girly' and don't make them be bad at dancing without there being a good reason for it and without other people making it a thing. (Aka if they can't dance BC of a disability that is fine. If they can't dance bc of their low standing or BC they can't be bothered to learn this will be considered a moral failing). They can not like dancing. They can be bad at it BC they have two left feet and no sense for rhythm. But please make them dance. And if you point out particularly bad dancers, please, maybe consider also pointing out incredibly good dancers.

For some examples through the ages: we have Lo Spagnoletto, a 16th century Italian dance written down by Cesare Negri, La Bourgogne (one of the more important dances of the Baroque era, here without period clothes, but notice both the arm and foot work. I am learning this one right now and even the feet alone are so difficult to get right) or the Quadrille Francaise, one of the most important dances of the 19th century, here in a version that is like I learned it, although very ballet-like (and I am told very Italian, but the person I learn 19th century dancing from is on a lot of balls in Italy so it makes sense that he has that style of dancing. This is another thing: even when dances themselves were widespread different styles still emerge and are still present/redeveloping today. 19th century dances are danced very differently in Russia compared to say the UK) or here in a version that doesn't require quite as much waiting by having all four couples do everything at the same time.

Now, do note that these (except for the Quadrille) are generally considered to be the more difficult dances of their time. At least in the modern historical dance community. Many people dance only Arbeau (a French 16th century dancing master who wrote perhaps the most well known 16th century source on dancing, the Orchésographie) and John Playford (who published the Arbon dancing master, which is a very important source for baroque dances, although it should be said, that Playford is often danced with very simple steps, BC his descriptions are very minimal but in the scientific community it is generally believed that this is BC it was assumed that people knew the proper steps that are described in more detail in other dancing manuals of the time)

If you have any questions about dancing please feel free to ask me. I am far from an expert but I have been doing this for many years now, I have read some dancing manuals and I have experience with dances spanning several centuries.

[wintfleur]

⚘ ˖˙𓈒ִֶָ☾.˙ ᰋ ── WHERE’D ALL THE TIME GO?

aka ophelia’s timeline

━━━ ❛ it’s starting to fly

ᯓᡣ𐭩 EARLY LIFE & SCHOOLING !

april 11th, 2002: ophelia is born on a bright and sunny Thursday afternoon in Vernon, British Columbia.

may 9th, 2006: ophelia (4) takes her first ballet class

2008 - 2013: early childhood / elementary school

august 2010: ophelia (8) joined the soccer team and met her now best friend Amber Jameson; they have been inseparable since.

october 2013: ophelia (11) got an ankle injury during a soccer game and sadly had to quit the sport. Her love for ballet was stronger and she didn't want to risk not being able to dance again.

She had to stop dancing for the rest of the year so her ankle could heal, it was miserable for her.

2013 - 2016: start of her teenage years / middle school

march 2015: ophelia (12) joined the theater club and helped make the costumes for their play, in turn finding her love for fashion designing.

april 2016: ophelia (13) went to get her photos taken for her ballet portfolio and was approached by a teen modeling agency.

summer 2016: ophelia (14) went to south korea for a ballet summer intensive program.

She was housed by a sweet family, where she met one of her bestest friends seunghan and his younger brother park sunghoon who is her age. Seunghan is a fellow ballet dancer and went to the training camp with her.

Ophelia became very close with the family, only becoming closer with them as the years go by, she's an honorary park! Seunghan’s parents think of her as their own child and his little sister thinks of her as her big sis!

2016 - 2020: teen years / high school / start of her modeling career

december 2016: Ophelia (14) was on the cover of pointe magazine.

june 2017: ophelia (15) won first place in the Helsinki international ballet competition, in juniors for women.

august 2017: ophelia finished her first wedding dress that she made for her cousin's wedding.

may 2018: ophelia (16) won first place in the american ballet competition

july 2018: ophelia won first place in the varna international ballet competition

was invited to be on jimmy fallon after her win.

february 2019: ophelia (17) made her debut by walking the catwalk and attending the New York fashion week.

may 29th - june 2, 2019: ophelia walked and attended the miami fashion week

september 2019: ophelia walked and attended the paris fashion week

october 9th 2019: the creation of ophelia's youtube channel

Ophelia created her youtube channel so she could have another way to communicate and become closer with her fans.

She mainly posted vlogs of her days as a model and a ballet dancer, and her just traveling and doing random activities with her friends.

december 2019: ophelia walked and attended the NYFW: December pre-fall and fall-winter, fashion week.

february 2020: ophelia walked and attended london's fashion week, fall-winter.

Ophelia meets Ryan James, a fellow model, they exchanged numbers and Ophelia then got in a relationship with him in may.

June 2020: Ophelia (18) graduated highschool with honors.

july 2020: ophelia moved into her apartment/loft in manhattan, New York. With her best friend seunghan.

Throughout 2016 - 2020 ophelia modeled for many different high end brands, her favorites being Dior, Dolce and Gabbana, and GQ.

She was given the nickname “the next model it girl” for her sudden dominating presence in the modeling world.

ᯓᡣ𐭩 JUILLIARD & JACK !

september 2020: ophelia (18) starts her first year at juilliard

february 23 - march 1st 2020: ophelia walked and attended milan’s fashion week

march 2 - 9th 2020: ophelia walked and attend paris fashion week

Throughout the rest of the year ophelia really focused on her ballet career, putting modeling to the side, and focusing on her studies.

march 2021: ophelia (19) won the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP)

may 2021: ophelia won first place in the american ballet competition

july 2021: ophelia won first place in the varna international ballet competition

for the rest of the year, Ophelia modeled for many different brands, but she really just focused on her ballet career and getting more known in the fashion design world.

2022 : breakup era

april 11th 2022: Ophelia (20) broke up with Ryan after finding out he has been cheating on her for many months.

april, may, june, july 2022: ophelia took a break from anything that evolved with modeling during those months, trying to heal from her breakup. Throwing herself into training, practices, and her studies.

august 2022: ophelia modeled for celine as her comeback into modeling

was invited back on the jimmy fallon show where they talked about what she's been up to, the celine shoot, and her comeback to modeling

october 6-9th 2022: ophelia walked and attended los angeles fashion week

november 2022: ophelia was interviewed by WIRED where she talked about ballet and modeling and her love for fashion design

2023: meeting jack

march 3rd 2023: curtis gets traded to the new jersey devils

march 28th 2023: ophelia and Jack meet for the first time at a club and share a kiss.

april 18th 2023: ophelia joins curtis out at a bar to meet some of his teammates, and she sees jack for the first time since the club.

they keep what happened at the bar to themselves (besides Jack freaking out about it to Luke), and pretend to just meet each other for the first time.

april 25th 2023: ophelia and jack run into each other at a bar, things escalate and jack ends up bringing her back to his place where they hook up for the first time.

the next morning they talk about what happened, and how they need to keep what happened between them a secret. They want to keep seeing each other, so they decide to become friends with benefits.

july 2023: ophelia models for calvin klein

july 17th 2023: jack confesses his feelings to ophelia after 3 months of being friends with benefits.

Ophelia didn't take it well and left his apartment in haste (girly was afraid of her feelings and commitment) and they didn't talk for two weeks.

july 31st 2023: ophelia goes to jack’s apartment where she apologizes and asks him on a date.

august 1st 2023: jack and ophelia have there first date and officially start dating (secretly)

november 6th 2023: curtis holds a dinner at his home for his teammates, curtis finds jack and ophelia kissing in the garage and did not take it well.

curtis gives her an ultimatum ‘him or me’ in a moment of anger and that leads to ophelia not talking to either of them for a week, locking herself in her apartment.

november 14th 2023: curtis comes to see her early in the day to apologize for his reaction and what he said, later in the day jack comes to see her and they have a sweet moment, happy that everything is now okay between them.

january 12th 2024: ophelia and jack said i love you for the first time

january 24-28 2024: ophelia walked and attended miami fashion week

february 9-14th 2024: ophelia attended new york fashion week fall-winter

february 16th 2024: ophelia and jack's relationship is exposed to the media when videos and pictures of them at the njd’s family skate go viral.

february 26th - march 5th 2024: ophelia walked and attended paris fashion week

may 2024: ophelia did the 73 questions with vogue

june 2024: ophelia did the “10 things I can't live without’ with GQ

may 6th 2024: ophelia (22) attended the met gala for the first time

ophelia did a get ready with me / last looks with vogue for the met

june 2024: ophelia did diary of a model with vogue

july 2024: ophelia and jack do a couple quiz with GQ

may 2025: ophelia (23) graduates at juilliard

ᯓᡣ𐭩 WHAT'S TO COME !

aka phia and jacks future

. . . to be added

ᝰ.ᐟ 𝓇oro's note. I didn’t add every detail about her modeling and dance career in the ‘julliard and jack’ section, it would have taken forever for me to do that 😭 I will update the timeline as time goes! I hope this helps give you a better understanding about the AU >.<

au masterlist

˖ ་ feel free to send in any thoughts/requests you have !! And please let me know if you want to be added to the taglist mwah

˖ ་ taglist : @yoontwin @toasttt11 @winterbarnesblog @iceflwers @cixrosie @bunbunbl0gs

[kimiko24-art]

Oliva Ercolani (Olive) JJBA OC (more AU lore and world building)

Oliva is another Vento Aureo oc apart of my au. Her first name means "olive" in Italian. She enjoys chatting with new people and has a love for the arts. Oliva's birthday is July 25th and she's currently only 21. I will be drawing both a reference sheet for her and Pesche soon.

✨ STORY✨

💖 Oliva, the willful daughter of one of the most influential mafiosi in Italy, Giulio Ecrolani. She was raised in Florence Italy after the Ercolani family relocated there from Naples. She lived in Florence until the age of four. Then gained the opportunity to travel the world with her adoptive brother Pesche Mistro to study dance in different countries. During her years abroad at the age of 16, Oliva was given management of her very own international dance team.

She soon returned to Italy at the age 19 to put her newly acquired knowledge and skill set to good use. Two years later, Oliva now manages most of her father's theatre businesses within Florence. While also aiding the women in her community. She scouts talent, training them and the other women in the Ercolani family. So that they could eventually be employed at one of the many theatres/opera houses that her family own. However, trouble arrives when Oliva runs into her old friend Kimiko (they met abroad) who's now affiliated with Passione. Despite knowing about her family's hatred for Passione Oliva still communicates with Kimiko, keeping her friends affiliation with Passione a secret.

SOME INFO

💖 Oliva doesn't have a Stand. Though she is a very talented ballet dancer and is applauded for those abilities.

💖 Oliva travels between Naples and Florence often for work. She's both respected and well known amongst the women in both cities. She has a strong sense of justice especially when it comes to women in general.

💖 Despite her cute and unassuming appearance, Oliva's a clever woman with a fiery personality, very out spoken and head strong comparable to an Ox.

OUR RELATIONSHIP

💖 Oliva and I met while she was studying the arts abroad, mainly dancing. At the time, I was attending one of her dance classes that she was responsible for instructing. I wasn't the best at it and she offered one on one sessions. During that time we got closer and began hanging outside of her classes. Before long we developed a sort of sister bond. With Oliva taken the role as a sort of big sister role model. Nowadays I consider Oliva my best friend/family as she's the closest person to me besides Bruno.

INFO ABOUT THE ERCOLANI FAMILY

💖 A now powerful family, that had their humble beginnings in Southern Naples. In the beginning the Ercolani family had an arrangement with Passione. They had deep ties to the gang and agreed to work together since they both operated out of Southern Naples.

💖 The Ercolani would supply funding to Passione for a cut of the total profit made from the drug trade. But after finding out that Passione had been holding back on the family's cut, despite the investment, they had a huge falling out. Which led to a sort of heated rivalry. Eventually after a few years they cut ties and the Ercolani relocated elsewhere.

💖 They now own several major business throughout Italy. Mainly in tourism. They also have control of several popular opera houses in Florence and Rome. For now the two groups are at a sort of truce. Neither ventures on to each others territory. The Ercolani family has roughly 106 members and the head of the family is Giulio Ercolani. He is known for his intense hatred of Passione and love of opera.

-

(The family's name is a variation of Ercolano (Italian: [erkoˈlaːno]) is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania of Southern Italy. From the personal name Ercolano originally an adjectival derivative (meaning 'Herculean') of Hercules.)

[canichangemyblogname]

I mean all the cis non-queer female fans of that toxic 911 show drive me absolutely fucking insane, but lets live in reality here. I did ballroom for eleven solid years in my youth - and just like with my other hobby - figure skating, it was entirely populated by girls and gay boys. Unlike with skating though, I actually competed ballroom and did most of the competitive circuits here in the UK. Unlike other dance genres/styles, with ballroom, there wasn't a straight lad in the mix. Maybe one who came with his sisters under the duress of his mother to my little regional class before I started competiting. But he had none of the will to be there that we all did. I think sometimes we are so keen to pluck out prejudice we obfuscate the truth. Ballroom has been shaped by the gay community. And too often we are pushed into the darkness!

I’m first going to push back on the idea that fandom homophobia is all or exclusively the fault of cis, straight women. I’ve seen and blocked a number of queer guys with shit-ass takes. I also do not know the gender or sexualities of 99% of the posters who I’ve highlighted.

As for the rest…

Anon— formal ballroom dancing has explicitly NOT been shaped by the queer community. Partner dancing, especially, is incredibly heteronormative. Ballroom literally has a “male lead” and “female follow” with corresponding choreography that is explicitly gendered. Dance—even, and especially ballet and ballroom—is still entrenched with heteronormative and misogynistic norms. People are still unwilling to see the transgression of gender roles in dance. Effeminophobia is standard in performance ballroom dance. It is also still considered radical to have two men or two women perform these dances together. Hell, the National Dance Council of America only began accepting same-sex competitors/pairings for ballroom in—like—2020. Systems of heterosexist, misogynistic, inequality, and racist power persist in dance.

Fuck— homophobia and the heteronormativity of dance has had a long-lasting influence on dance styles and cultures in many parts of the “western” world. The reason drag balls even exist is because of strict/stringent rules around how men could interact with each other in public. Ball culture emerged explicitly because of how gendered and heteronormative dance is. Drag balls are a means of resisting societal norms and supporting queer dynamics. Like— in the 50s, it was illegal for men to dance with each other or too close to one another, something which created lasting norms in western dance. To get around laws on public displays of homosexuality, queer establishments created warning systems for patrons in the event the authorities arrived, giving patrons time to switch partners.

The idea that most of the men who’re willing to dance *must* be gay *is* a stereotype. It is *because* dance remains an unconventional activity for men and boys in WESTERN contexts that we have this idea that the men who dance *are* gay or that dance is dominated by gay men. So much so a reporter made fun of Prince George for taking dance classes. The idea is that if he’s straight, this isn’t the activity for him. And this idea that dance is for the fags is why (predominantly white, western) men oft refuse to dance. This idea also creates complicated social negotiations for professional male dancers to maintain their masculinity and sexed status when navigating (mis)conceptions about their profession.

This isn’t saying gay men have had no outstanding influence on the arts, as that’d be an asinine argument to make; this is to say that the arts are not “gay” and that it is actually our own perceptions of art being dominated by queerness that leads us to think a male dancer is likely gay. It’s not obfuscating the truth; it’s recognizing a pervasive stereotype. Did you ever ask those boys if they liked boys? Or did you assume? Did you assume because they seemed more effeminate than guys who don’t dance (maybe even because they dance), and this effeminacy was taken as evidence of queerness? Because there is little systemic evidence of the validity of the stereotype that men who dance are predominantly queer. It is, however, a fact that we—even professional dancers themselves—overestimate the number of queer men among dancers.

And it is so, so crucial to understand that these notions about dance and masculinity aren’t just WESTERN, but also pervasively WHITE, too.

It’s just simply not true that Eddie having a history in competitive ballroom dance—like Bobby having a history in competitive figure skating—is a sign of queerness. It’s also simply not true that people assumed he was queer or should assume he’s queer because of this. And it’s additionally not true that any other boys in his classes or in other competitive couples were queer or should be assumed so. Even if—even IF—there genuinely “wasn’t a straight lad in the mix,” your experience may be just that: your experience.

[eatmangoesnekkid]

Belly Dance Week "I have no idea...I imagine I have been belly dancing with 2 different lovely teachers for 9 rebirthing months, but really I have no clue :P)

If most women were to be honest, there is a cellular-deep desire to live the life of a dancer.

"I want to live this life dancing," I wrote in my journal in 2012.

And this is exactly what I have created.

I am a dancer, a dancer archetype..... whirling in pole, aerial, belly dance, the occasional ballet, and my "hoochie mama" shake dances in my living room to incredibly nasty music that I keep hidden just for myself on a private playlist, a code red Kevin Gates level nastiness.

I have lived what I call an “Art-life” for most of adult grown woman life....

....opening, gyrating, arching, pulsing, bending, stretching, elongating, protruding, and widely winding into new narratives in the global world. Women do not realize the amount of real shadow work and repair that's done when we "heal" our relationship with our body parts, when we learn to move in different ways and open up more space in our tissues. We are initiatated into a different level of trust and surrender for our own oracle with somatic care like neck circles. I have always been inspired by art. Muse consciousness. The muse is part of my lineage. Not “me” as the muse always, but life itself —as it is showing up in the moment—as my muse, however uncomfortable or at ease, it may be. Trying new things, being a vulnerable curious doe-eyed beginner at something and devoting to it without giving up. in other words, permitting creative energy to unwind and be redirected through my body is what has helped me to create new narratives.

Women do a lot of "healing" work-but it doesn't translate into something real unless it touches our matter. Dance-especially when it is not curated and so organized is a powerful tool of transformation. Don't get me wrong--there is room for cultivation and actual skill development like foot work or aerial technique, which I honor and work on as well. But when I'm in conscious and deliberate creation of my life, I'm unrefined and messy which open the channels of my body parts for energy to truly flow. Orgasmic.

I am always creating new narratives because I am always dancing.

Today we started class with a dance for Palestine. It was unpracticed and we, the students, flowed by following the lead of our teacher as she twirled us around to a classical Lebanese song. It was truly beautiful and heartfelt.

Then the teacher said we would do something divine to bring forth the Goddess! Our task was to shimmy (shaking our hips up and down in a rigorous expression) to a 9 minute Egyptian song. I love long songs. Long songs tend to send me into a natural trance state. Making the quiet commitment to myself to shimmy my hips vigorously for 9 minutes with 20+ other women without stopping was like a high-intensity workout at first but after a few minutes turned into a ceremony (for me) I imagine because I naturally live very close to the veil between worlds and spirit. I, India, the personality, was gone.

We were melting (sweating and heaving), releasing what didn't serve liberation to our hips and spine down into the floor/earth with long sweeping gesture with our hands. Encouraged to breathe deep from our bellies with our eyes closed to harness more energy upwards from the earth, not one woman stopped or would give up before the miracles happened. We breathed into the depths of spaces in our bodies that usually do not receive breath. Yoga.

What were the miracles for me? At the end of 9 minutes there was a lightness in my being and a greater radiance to my skin. Because when you shake your hips continuously for that long, you are unclogging the pipes. It is like an enema and kundalini yoga on 1000. Although I don't suffer from constipation and get plenty of different probiotics, herbs, and enzymes in my diet, I could feel how I was thawing out calcified density and other emotional accumulations from Intergenerational trauma and soul wounds that nest between the smallest interstitial tissues leading to freedom in the hips and better absorption of nutrition and better blood flow to belly, pelvis, and pussy. If you are a person who tends to intellectualize your feelings, which means that you may have the tendency to bury energy in your pelvis, psoas, and hips, all the hip drops, shimmies, and shakes will help you to release density that you may not fully ever understand or have proper language for.

But as someone who is sensitive to energy, I could feel archaic density naturally melting like ice water like the time I was decompressing my inner thighs at my pubic bone on a block at home and felt heat release that sent my into a real orgasm. In class, I emerged back into my physical body warmer and lighter, less in my head on "how to move," and deeper into my body, feeling grounded and true to my essence. Constipation is a great cause of low libido as we age, mainly because the gonads, pancreas, and pussy are unable to receive proper blood flow due to the blockages in the colon. It's also a great cause of bad body odor.

Try it for yourself. The more times you practice shimmying, the easier it is to access this lightness in your being, from root to crown, when you are ready, and able to breath life all the hardened 'stuff' that anchors naturally in your hips from different stages of your life from girl, teenager, to woman.

With all the shimmying and foot stomping, I touched into a trance state, getting lost inside the invisible in ways that would relax my brainwaves and unconsciously triggered me to touch into altered states. I could feel when this happened because my quality of dance elevated to something more signature to me and native to my bones. I used to really stiff but always knew that I held more fluidity and freedom in my body. I could sense that I had colonial energy trapped in my hips and ass from some parts of my female line.

As I was dancing, my teacher sashays over and exclaimed "yallah," an Arabic expression that means "come on, yeah, let’s go, or that's good," while bent down on one knee, a sign for the other ladies to gather around me to celebrate, clapping and cheering on their knees and cheering. It's a moment of acknowledging beauty between us women, celebrating when a woman is deeply lost in her dance and moving from the depths of her soul. It's pure beauty. When you invoke trance in your dance, whether dancing at home in your living or in a room of over 20 women of various ethnicities, you become a vessel for pure creation to protrude itself through your body. All the walls that differentiate culture, race, size, or class or any other construction naturally fall down. And you are free, not organized or calculated in your movement, but circulating water all around instead throughout your entire body. When you are in this kind of trance state, you are not trying to look cool, polished or pretty. You just are all of it! Your true self. Moments of trance are essential nutrients for the female body. The spaciousness gained elevates your confidence even more.

Courage is one of the major keys to mastering energy. The level of trauma, insecurity, anxiety, frustration and stuckness that lives in the female body and inhibits our expression is asking for us to melt it away. When you think about it, the amount of energy expended trying to be cute, pretty, or organize your essence in any other way buries the stuck calcified energy deeper into your body. It also keeps you in your head worrying about how other people are perceiving you and less in the flow of the present moment. When you have courage, GREATER creative energy can now flow through you. More sun!

Energy doesn't die but transforms. Energetic transmutation, one thing becoming another thing, occurs when we tap in art. Because art, whether dance, painting, drawing, songwriting, singing, etc. is creation. When you you begin to move your lower body, pelvis and belly, you get to know yourself (your cells) as a love poem. In all my years, I have never had so much fluidity in my hips, feet, spine, pelvis, ass, or shoulders as I do at almost 50 years old. I am witnessing the truth of what it means to be liberated and free. In these moments, I am my own muse.

Belly dance for me has been another way for me to open up my mind, body, and spirit and permit myself to be changed from the inside out.

It's one of my north stars at this time.

And every day, whether at home, in a forest, starting my workout at the gym, or making love, I shake/shimmy my hips and I enter ceremony. And I emerge transformed yet again. -India Ame'ye

[women-throughout-history]

Rukmini Devi Arundale

Rukmini Devi Arundale, born on February 29, 1904, in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, served as a catalyst in revitalising the traditional Indian dance form of Bharatanatyam and establishing its prominence. Born into a Brahmin family with deep connections to the Theosophical Society, Rukmini was exposed to humanist ideals from an early age. Her marriage to George Arundale, a theosophist and educator, further fuelled her interest in theosophy and dance. While travelling with her husband and Annie Besant, Rukmini learned of Western ballet and began studying ballet at the suggestion of the famous ballerina Anna Pavlova. Pavlova also encouraged her to explore classical Indian dance forms, which allowed Rukmini to pursue Bharatanatyam To challenge the norms and re-establish the artistic integrity of the dance, Rukmini undertook formal education at the Bharatnatyam master Pandanalur Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai. In 1935, at the age of 31, Rukmini made her debut in Bharatanatyam, defying societal expectations and setting a precedent for upper-class women to participate in the dance form. Witnessing the transformative power of Bharatanatyam, she established the International Academy of the Arts in Adyar in 1936, later renamed Kalakshetra. Through Kalakshetra, Rukmini aimed to teach and popularise Bharatanatyam through this institution, saying that she felt she had been "ushered into a new world of rhythmic beauty and meaning." Rukmini Devi Arundale's contributions extended beyond dance. In 1934, she founded educational institutions that blended theosophy and traditional Hindu values. Her vision for Kalakshetra went beyond preserving Bharatanatyam; it became a hub for various Indian traditions and the propagation of theosophical ideals. Her efforts earned her accolades, including the Padma Bhushan in 1956 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1967. As an animal lover, she chaired the Animal Welfare Board and played a key role in passing the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act in 1952. In the same year, she made history as the first ever woman in Indian history to be nominated as the Rajya Sabha member In 1977, she declined the offer to become the President of India from Prime Minister Morarji Desai post the death of President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed. In a 2013 speech at Kalakshetra, President Pranab Mukherjee delivered the first Rukmini Devi Memorial Lecture, emphasising on the significance she has had on the revival of classical dance and her commitment to the cultural renaissance of India. 

further links:

[itsisla-dubois]

CHANGED

"not a what. a who."

tw: age gap relationship, power dynamic relationship, general scuzzy man behaviors

Isla met Jean Paul "JP" Dumont when she was only seventeen at the ballet academy she was attending at the time when he was brought in as a guest instructor. A decorated competitive and theatrical dancer, classes with JP were usually highly coveted and ridiculously expensive. Luckily, her primary ballet instructor happened to be a long-time family friend of the Dumont’s, and was able to snag him for a semester to help prepare the girls for the professional world. During their first class, it was obvious that he took a quick liking to Isla. He constantly complimented her in front of the class, even using her as an example for some of the lessons (causing much envy to be directed towards her from the other girls). Isla couldn’t help but feel awestruck by the man. Here was this talented, successful (not to mention gorgeous) man who thought she had a ‘talent that couldn’t be matched’ as he told her. So when, at the end of class, JP offered to carve out an hour from his schedule to provide her with private lessons after the group class, the girl couldn’t say ‘yes’ fast enough.

Their lessons started innocently enough: corrections on form, customized advice and warm-ups, and perfecting competitive solos filled the hour. Sure, when he placed his hand on her waist to help adjust form, the young girl’s heart skipped a beat and her stomach fluttered with butterflies but she was a seventeen-year-old, admitted boy crazy girl, so the feeling wasn’t a shock. To her, it was another silly little teenhood crush. However, as the weeks went on, she could feel those thoughts changing to something deeper. Her ‘little teenhood crush’ was becoming an all-encompassing, utter infatuation with JP. Every look, every touch, every single moment of closeness made her want to act on her feelings that much more. Nevertheless, there was no chance that he reciprocated her feelings. She was just some young student he saw some promise in and nothing more. At least that’s what she initially thought.

A few weeks into their lessons, their relationship changed. It started innocently enough: a rehearsal for a tango-inspired piece to show off partner work. As they worked closely together, bodies intertwined in choreography, there was a moment of pause. Then a kiss. Then a deepening of the kiss. Then much more than a kiss. Then Isla lost her virginity to JP. From that day on, both their professional and personal relationship began to bloom. However, the personal side of that relationship had to remain a secret for the time being. They both agreed it was for the best and with the secrecy, they could be together in relative peace. Despite the secrecy and the twelve-year age gap between them, Isla found herself genuinely falling in love with him. Sure, the securing of professional opportunities, introducing her to influential colleagues, and providing her with even more private lessons was a welcomed addition to their dynamic. Besides that, she was falling for him: The man who threw himself into his work, who was passionate about life, and brought out a new, more confident side to her never seen before. She fell for the man that she and she alone got to see. 

As their relationship continued, JP introduced her to the importance and power of her body and sexuality when it came to getting what she wanted. With any connection he introduced her to (that happened to be male and sexually attracted to women), JP would encourage her to exchange sex for opportunities or to get ahead. He called it her ‘industry hack’. The first few times she tried it, she was absolutely mortified. Isla worried her actions would hurt JP’s feelings eventually and their relationship would crumble. He quickly explained those fears away by explaining that he knew there was no romance behind these actions, so he knew that at the end of the day, she’d be his. With that explanation, her trust in him knowing what’s best for her, and getting the results he promised and then some, she decided to continue. Sex in exchange for personal or professional gain is something Isla still does to this day.

Even with his semester-long stay being extended to a year-long residency, the day he left to tour with a French ballet company was not any easier. Though, as he promised her, they continued to stay in touch. Thousands of handwritten letters, texts, and FaceTime calls were shared between the two to keep their relationship connected. As that next year went on, Isla became more and more hopeful that the two could go more public with their relationship especially as she was due to graduate from the ballet academy, meaning she'd no longer be seen as a student. However, any time she would bring up going more public with their relationship or even the future of it, JP would either change the subject or simply brush the conversation off. Soon, her graduation came and went with no improvement of their situation on the horizon. In fact, as the days went on, conversations with him became shorter and shorter. Then, eventually, they stopped all together. No matter how much she tried to get in touch, how much space she gave him, or how much she wanted to go back to the way things were, she knew otherwise: he was officially ghosting her. To drive the knife of heartbreak further into her, five months later a picture was posted to JP’s Instagram: a picture of him and his supposed new girlfriend. His new, fellow ballerina girlfriend had similar features to her. For the first and only time in Isla’s life, she felt broken. Not only heartbroken but as if her very soul was shattered in that moment. 

Nowadays, JP is Isla’s only weakness; her kryptonite. He has since gone on to marry that girlfriend and has never offered any kind of explanation for why he suddenly and completely dropped her from his life. Despite the hurt he caused, Isla is utterly oblivious to the fact that what JP did was sleep with her when she was too young and then pimped her out to his industry buddies. She only sees him as a run-of-the-mill shitty ex-boyfriend and not the slimy monster he truly is. This ignorance is a huge reason why she still uses her body to get what she wants. It’s her ‘industry hack’ after all.

[cathygeha]

REVIEW

The Still Point by Tammy Greenwood

A well written story that made me once again wonder if parents help their children fulfill dreams of or if they push their children to live out the dreams they once had for themselves. As a child, I wanted to take ballet classes but was never allowed to do so. I love attending ballet and have enjoyed stories and movies since childhood that had ballet as the theme. As I began to read, I realized that this was not a book I was willing to invest time in reading word for word. I could not relate to the mothers or their daughters, become invested in the plot, or feel moved. In the end, I read the first part, the end, and skimmed the middle.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

2-3 Stars

BLURB

Dance Moms meets Little Fires Everywhere in award winning author Tammy Greenwood’s addictive new novel set in the hyper cutthroat world of ballet girls and their mothers as they compete for a prestigious prize… “She had never seen Bea dance like this. Ever sat spellbound as her daughter grew from a little girl into a woman before her eyes…” Ever, Lindsay, and Josie have ushered their daughters—Bea, Olive, and Savvy—through years of dance classes in their coastal California town. They’ve tended bloodied feet, stitched ribbons to countless pairs of pointe shoes, and in the process, forged friendships that seem to transcend rivalry. But now Etienne Bernay, enfant terrible of French ballet, has come to their conservatory. Not only will he direct this year’s production of The Nutcracker , but he’s brought along a film crew to document his search for one special student who will receive a full scholarship to the Ballet de Paris Academie. For the girls, this is the chance to fulfill lifelong dreams. For Ever, recently widowed and struggling financially, it may be the only way to keep Bea dancing. And Bea is a truly gifted dancer—poetic and ethereal, breathtaking to watch. Lindsay, meanwhile, frets that Olive is growing tired of the punishing reality of training, while Josie has no such qualms about Savvy, who is a powerhouse of ambition. From auditions to casting to rehearsals, the cameras capture the selection process, with its backstabbing and jealousy, disappointment and triumph. But it’s behind the scenes that Bernay’s arrival will yield the most shocking revelations, exposing the secrets and lies at the heart of all three families—and the sacrifices women make for their children, for friendship, and for art.

[writingfortheheart]

Counting to 30: Marcianna 4

The previously empty halls in the campus complex were now full of students going to their respective classes. Marcianna attempted to weave through the throng of women hurrying to their next destination, but found it quite difficult. Among the sea of leotards were also dotted a few students wearing street clothes. They would be going to theory classes where they'd learn dance history, among other things. Those were the only classes at the academy to be co-ed.

Women had an entire side of the campus to themselves with all the amenities, men had a separate side, both sides joined by a taller building in the middle that contained the clinic Marcianna had just come from, a bunch of classrooms, a large auditorium where practical exams and end of year productions took place, and a library.

A familiar bun caught Marcianna's eye as she entered the dance studio wing, Beth had just stepped out of her current class for a quick break. She still had her leather ballet slippers on, normally a faux pas in the hallway, but she wouldn't be very long. "Hey, newbie!", she said as Marcianna waved, "How has your day been so far?"

Marcianna did a quick shrug. "Fine. I still haven't done a class yet. That will change soon, though. I only have one today, then I think I'll just go back to the dorm". Beth nodded, "Who's your prof?". Marcianna responded, "Professor Julie".

Beth gave Marcianna a large smile, "Aww, I love her, she's awesome. I think they give her the intro students so they don't get scared off. She'll put you through your paces, though".

Beth's big, white smile and friendly voice suddenly made Marcianna feel a lot more comfortable. "I can't wait to hang with you back at the dorm", Marcianna grinned. Beth threw back her head and laughed, "After today, I'll be glad to take care of you". She did a quick check of her watch, "I gotta get back in there, and you should get to your class, too. I'll see you later".

The hallway where Marcianna's classroom was smelled of flowers. Just a faint smell, but noticeable. A large glass wall gave her a peek inside where several dancers were milling about, some doing warm up stretches on the floor, some standing with groups talking. A long wall opposite the one she was looking through was also made of glass, a window displaying the outside world, a cliffside overlooking a wooded area. The sky had gone grey and it had started to rain. It caused Marcianna to shiver, but she admired the beauty of it. The entire perimeter of the studio, including the glass walls, was lined with a barre, along which many students chose to stretch.

Marcianna stepped in and found a place to pull off her nylon booties and get comfortable. She sat in front of the large window to the outside and rested her back against it, feeling the coolness of the glass against the area cut from the back of her leotard. She stared at her feet for a moment, pointing and flexing them, making the leather on her slippers wrinkle. "This is real...", she thought to herself. She contemplated her slippers a bit more she a woman in her late 30s walked in. "Good afternoon, ladies! I am professor Julie, you can just call me Julie, welcome to intro to ballet here at Hope International".

Julie's long skirt flowed as she walked to the front of the class, her teaching shoes, black shoes similar to jazz shoes with a large heel, clicking on the shiny wood floor. "Most of you are already on the floor, let's start with some floor work!", she said, clapping her hands together. Marcianna listened to Julie's instruction and followed along to Julie's counts.

A hour later, Marcianna was drenched in sweat, her body was aching like it never had before, she was done for the day. She trudged back to her dorm, pulling her keycard from her bootie and swiping it against the lock. A beep, a click, the door opened. Beth sat on the couch, a plate of raw veggies in her hand as she watched TV. "I told you she wouldn't be easy on you", Beth said, placing her plate on the counter. "Go get undressed, I'll get you some ice".

Marcianna sat down on her bed, taking her modesty skirt off and tossing it to the floor, followed by her leotard. She swung her legs up and laid down on the bed, suddenly very comfortable, she felt like sinking in. "Are you decent?", Beth's voice came in through the door. "You're fine. We'll probably see each other naked at some point", replied Marcianna, a groan of pain in her voice.

The ice packs were cold as Beth carefully laid each one over strategic parts of Marcianna's body, but with the cold came relief. Beth started to massage Marcianna's calf muscles. "Trust me, this gets you feeling better faster". Marcianna closed her eyes and let Beth do her work. "How did you learn to do this?" she asked. "Lots of years of doing it myself. I started in sports medicine, fell into ballet, I figured if that falls through I can go back to sports medicine again".

"It's only our first day and I already like you, Beth", Marcianna forced a smile. Beth stopped a moment. "I think I like you, too..." she said, red filling her cheeks. She continued massaging. "There's supposed to be a welcome party tomorrow night. I'll be going to help out, but we can hang out after. I know a good place."

Marcianna took a deep breath in and smiled. "Yeah, that sounds nice..."

TO BE CONTINUED

[kipocricyy]

 —— welcome to infinite entertainment! it's KANG SU-JI, who is the LEAD DANCER of PHOENIX. i’ve heard whispers that the 24 year old is pretty POISE but lowkey CAPTIOUS. also, doesn’t/don’t she/they remind you of CHOI CHANHEE?

pre-debut

kang su-ji spent his child hood in the coastal city seogwipo, jeju island, south korea.

he was born to a teenage single mother and raised by a village of women.

growing up he spent a lot of time attached to his mothers hip. she was a dancer before getting pregnant and even though her career ended she often exposed suji to the fine arts world.

it was during these escapades that he fell in love with it as a whole. from little music pow-wows on the beach to an entire broadway production, he'd fallen for it all.

in childhood, suji was a bit shy. he didn't yearn for the spotlight but rather the skill. he enjoyed honing in his technique and landing hard skills over putting his talent on display. but the most important thing about it is that he was indeed talented.

as he got older, money came a bit easier, no longer relying on his freshly eighteen year old mother and her waitressing job, but now being sustained herself in restaurant owning ad management, catapulting them from bordering poverty to upper middle class.

having to simply survive together made them close, almost best friends as they practically grew up together in their struggling lively hood, bonded mother and son by the arts.

as money picked up for their family, so did su-ji's opportunities. and though most idols wouldn't say it, his adjacency to wealth is what he felt catapulted his career.

he started doing ballet at a small, bamboo floored studio when he was three, and as their wealth grew he upgraded to the korea national university of the arts.

but his time at the korean prestigious school was short lived as his mother opened a new restaurant, on the other side of the ocean. her home town bistro had a new seattle store front, forcing the kang's to take the big move.

it was hard, he hardly knew the language and it was far more competitive in this field in their new home than back in jeju or the south korean mainland. eventually, to keep his hand in a few pots he found an interest in theater, both regular and musical while continuing his ballet career at the pacific northwest ballet school. there he became notorious for his technical skill and poise even if he didn't land a lot of main roles on stage.

after a couple of years of jumpstarting his mother's us flag ship, his mother made her way back to her home country, son and new fiancé in tow, the women's relationship quiet and sweet.

upon their return, his mother pushed him to do something with his ballet and stage talents etc. and with out many options with his little connections outside of his teachers, su-ji took to auditioning at various companies until he was brought on to a small company to be a background dancer for their few idols

pre-debut career

after working with the idols at his parent company, su-ji became very regarded especially for feminine and delicate choreo or partner songs for idols and even landed a gig as a dancer for a few well known idols as well as the former group that KAISO was the leader of.

when auditioning to be a back up dancer for artist at the company when he offered the job of being a trainee for infinite's upcoming boy group.

at first he was apprehensive, the training to be an idol was rigorous and while musical theater in school helped a bit of his performance, he'd never added singing to hard hitting choreography.

he'd done one or the other and mayhaps a shimmy or two in theater but not to the level the idol regiment was.

in his two years of training he always fell right behind the top slots, often hearing feedback about needing to relax and actually put himself into the music, grooming him to be seen when he wasn't exactly used to it.

he was either too much or falling short, failing to blend with the other trainees around him and it almost got him cut from the final line-up. and su-ji could only count it on luck that they chose him along side the other talented trainees.

at debut

su-ji's original visuals caught people off guard, his pre debut image that everyone was so used to seeing seemed hardened in the face reveal of the members, leading netizens to speculate that he ahd changed drastically from backing up female soloists with waking and lyrical pieces.

they cursed infinite for ruining su-ji's image. which pushed the rookie to think through what exactly he wanted his idol. image to be.

even though he'd passed the final hump that most trainees failed to see, backlash seemed to follow him. su-ji stll struggled with the group cohesiveness, over dancing or under dancing, over performing or underperforming it didn't matter he was subject to the litigation, and for awhile it made him struggle with his motivation to succeed in the field. things were much easier when you were in the background.

he still struggled with breath control, opting to cut his lines short so that he could show off his moves, which only pushed the public to questioning their groups abilities as an entirety.

this made being in the spot light hard for suji as he felt as though his faults were bringing the group down.

multiple times he thought heavily on leaving before phoenix could really even pick up steam.

career & infinite tour

as his career went forward su-ji desperately did his best trying to define himself. he wanted to be his own idol, but struggled with how to do that without mishaping the perfect circle that was suppoed to be phoenix.

he wasn't the group's number one dancer or number one singer or even rapper, he wasn't even the visual. sure they threw him in the center to be pretty and dance, but this life wasn't settling in his bones the way just dancing had.

and as if fitting the idol mold wasn't already a hard thing to do, in februrary of 2021, he lost his biological mother to an illness that she had been quietly living with, forcing him to go on a short hiatus.

the groups comebacks during this time got high praise and even more so with out suji sticking out like a sore thumb. during that time he'd found himself in a deep depression, mourning his mother's loss while being the strong boy for all the women around him.

he changed a lot in short time, deciding that life isn't promised and he shouldn't kill himself trying to live up to the standards that are ever changing in this industry he found himself in.

he came back in july in just enough time to prepare for the infinite tour with a new found confidence and expression, that netizen still didn't seem to appreciate, though true fans, though deeming him unrecognizable, found it endearing that he was trying hard just as he'd done before.

during the infinite tour he found himself sick with all the traveling, the auto immune disease that afflicted his mother catching up with him.

in his moments of giving his all, suji found himself needing to recover for long stints of time after the fact, fans noticing his sickly face and thinning form.

still, suji pushed himself, he often still takes feed back personal and spends long days and nights in the practice room, even when it made him sick.

on tour his exhaustion and sickness became a regular occurrence. he would sleep between every break and find his appetite leaving and returning. and the rash on his nose and cheeks could no longer be mistaken as blush.

a trip to the hospital in the final leg of that tour after he fainted after his stage revealed after copious testing that suji had lupus. and from then on he had much ore to worry about through out the rest of his career.

now, even with the right medication and treatments, suji was forced to push through fatigue and joint pain, low white blood cell count, all while keeping up with phoenix's choreography and schedule.

post tour

suji spent a lot of the time post tour actively recovering. there wasn't a lot of time to rejuvenate his body and with the extra rest time his symptoms began to let up.

after going to doctors in korea su-ji was put on a "strict" diet and told to keep himself active, which outside of dancing was not his forte, but after awhile he was able to manage his symptoms just like anyone else.

occasionally he still gets sick and has to miss a performance or two and is currently a little worried with the new tour schedule that he'll end up back in the hospital, (but hey at least he's getting the check na mean?)

personality & tid bits

aquarius (sun), aries (moon) and taurus (rising)

mother raised him like her best friend, and literally the reason why he's so iconic

seems pretty quiet in variety but usually yaps the members ear off

very affectionate with his friends, almost to a fault, he isn't sure if it's the nerves when being "SUJI" but he often literally longs to touch someone's skin when he's out and about

because of his condition he's a little apprehensive almost every time he sees a phoenix demo choreo and yet he usually picks it up pretty fast

extravert in the sheets and introvert in the streets? unless you're giving him attention and calling him cute, is the aegyo king no shame

pretty chill, goes with the flow of the other members most of the time.

type to sunbathe in cute little shorts

lacks a bit of media training when it comes to the flames (think keeho from piwon)

most active on tik tok and instagram because he loves taking selfies and doing tik tok trends 10/10 probably forces the members to do them (think katseye, aespa and txt's pages)

he may not change a tire but he will slam down in the kitchen especially with korean home made food, he's also really good at doctoring up cheaper meals to make them gormet, a skill he acquired back in the trainee pay back days.

globally acclaimed baby girl and is well known for it and his behavior (think wooyoung from ateez, felix skz, jongseob piwon, all the other well known baby girls, yeosang top contender)

even though he seems more on the alternative feminine side his sexuality isn't set in stone, he likes to have fun, no matter who as long as they don't mind how he is.

find him scrolling his phone 99% of the time and quoting tik toks, pretends to not be chronically online in actuality he is.

favorite colors are red, pink, white, baby blue and all shades of purple.

knows korean and english though his english is accented

calls his stepmom almost daily, they've grown a lot closer since his mothers passing.

often cooks and cleans in the dorm but has lazy housewife energy

is literally the only boy of the family so is a w for all women, problem for most men

completed his bachelor's degree in dance, majoring in performing arts with a focus in ballet at the korean national university of arts and is working towards his masters

his fave vape flavors are dessert flavors and no he's not good at hiding it from fans

su-ji has a bunch of small tattoos that he acquired of the years of his career ( references: on his shoulder as pictured, on his left hip just above his groin, tramp stamp, in the middle of his upper chest with 'don't' crossed out, bottom of left thigh above knee, down side of neck behind ear )

is the type of idol to do all the dance trends and often likes to serve cunt when he's in the center

valentine's birthday, self proclaimed (by me) cupid boy

pray for his scalp infinite indeed has a hold on it.

growing up he was pretty sickly as are most kids with his condition but until they really had the money they did mostly home remedies. the more access they had to healthy eating and his dance career made most symptoms subside until he entered idol hood.

official socials

instagram: soogee42

bubble: sujiah

unofficial socials

youtube: user238593842

tik tok: quivksnak

wanted plots

bestie crew, (1/2-3 taken by boyoung)

maybe a few fwbs? gender is irrelivant age range youngest minimum 02? older than him probably not much older?

someone to help him with his breath control and stamina?

a close friend that keeps him and his condition under control bc he will neglect himself for the sake of the team.

maybe someone who became close to him when his mom passed?

and honestly im up for anything else?

[doberbutts]

Oh, yes, there was a part two of this that I decided to leave off because it was already long enough, but that was more or less the gist of it.

It's odd to me that us saying we need access to medical care and we are affected by misogyny and we don't want to be forced to walk away from everything we've worked for prior to transition is taken as evidence of us wanting to exclude trans women or evidence of siding with transphobic and transmisogynistic logic.

Outside of medical care, absolutely no where in my original writeup did I say anything about us needing access on the basis of having a vagina and thus being "more woman"- in fact, I stated the opposite within the medical care section. I have not been sterilized, so I need access to care for the anatomy I still have. A trans woman who has undergone bottom surgery, an intersex trans woman who was born with vagina, ovaries, or uterus, or various nonbinary and intersex people regardless of their presentation and gender also need access to this care if they have the anatomy for it. A trans man who has had bottom surgery and sterilization which removes all internal and external gonads outside of the new phallus, and a perisex trans woman who hasn't, don't need this access in the same way. I need this access currently, but perhaps in the future I will not. A friend of mine does not need this access currently, but perhaps in the future she will.

Other social services I've already said should be co-ed. The problem of homeless shelters turning away trans men is often the same problem of homeless shelters turning away trans women. And it kills people- as we've seen with the trans woman found frozen to death on a church's doorstep because the Salvation Army would only let her in if she agreed to be grouped with the men. Detransition, or die. For many of us, death is the preferable option.

I'm glad there are trans girls within the Girl Scouts! I'm glad we have trans women competing in women's sports, I'm happy for the trans women often spearheading initiatives to raise women up from the mire that is societal misogyny! I think the world is a brighter place to have them! In no way do I think that a trans man's requested access should be paired with the ejection of trans women from the same space.

I used to dance at my local rec center as a child. Initially tap, then ballet, then jazz. These classes were marked as co-ed, but there were only girls in my age group the entire time I attended. There were a small amount of boys in other age groups, but never more than one or two per class. Ballet and dance in general is often seen as a woman's hobby, and what boys are present are often assumed to be gay by outsiders due to proximity with the feminine.

I also lived in an incredibly conservative, homophobic, transphobic, misogynistic area. I stopped dancing there before I came out, but if I had come out during my time there, there is no way I would have been allowed to continue dancing as a boy. I would have been told that I was not welcome- if not by my instructor, then by the other parents. And I do not doubt that had any of these boys in the other classes actually been transgender girls yet to realize themselves, they also would have been ejected.

In college I began dancing again, this time with a small group of line, swing, and square dancers who gathered in a local church basement. At times, I dipped my toes into the waltz and the tango. By then, I was binding, I'd cut my hair short, and all of my friends knew me by Jaz and he/him. But I was still living under my parents' thumb- and the people hosting the gathering knew my parents well. So I held my tongue as they separated me into the women's section, exclusively pairing me with male partners for couples' dances, always following and never leading.

And, equally, I would not have been allowed to stay if I had spoken up. And, equally, neither would a friend of mine, at that time convinced she was a cishet man but the rest of the friend group had caught on quite quickly. If she had figured herself out back then, instead of a few years later, if we had swapped places, and I had led while she followed in the dance? We would have been told we were not welcome to come back next week.

Detransition, stay quiet, or do without. If you want to dance, these are your options. You can't be you, if you want to dance with the others.

It would be nice if an LGBTQ dance group equivalent existed. But it didn't, not within reachable distance from me, not 15 years ago. So I could dance with the homophobic, transphobic Christians as someone I wasn't, or I could stop dancing entirely. And my friend could do the same, and watch as I occupied the space she craved, while I mirrored her when it was her turn on the floor.

The thing about women and girls being at risk of sexual predators and not being given the same access to resources? Trans women are included in that! Because the option once again is detransition, stay deeply closeted, or do without. Die, even, if "do without" will kill you.

Schrodinger's gender? The first time I used the phrase was to discuss that case of the trans woman who was unable to get her gender marker changed, changed her shirt in a parking lot, was arrested for public indecency, and then placed in a men's prison. She was too much of a man to change her gender marker but not enough of a man to allow her to be topless in public. She was too much of a woman to escape criminal charges, but not enough of a woman to keep her out of a men's prison. She was whatever gender would hurt her most in the moment. Even if that gender changed sentence by sentence.

I know a trans woman who went as a gay man for a very long time. She did not change her name, but did pursue medical transition. And, honestly, she was always kind of "one of the girls" in the way that many incredibly feminine gay men tend to be. She managed to skirt my homophobic school's bans on homosexuality by pretending it was just a bit, that she actually was a ladies man and that all the girls constantly hanging off of her were her various girlfriends or girlfriend-hopefuls. The girls, of course, knew her attraction was exclusively towards men, but they rallied around her nonetheless.

She still, to this day, occupies gay male spaces. Sometimes she even sleeps with gay men. I don't see much of a point on chasing her out, either. Like my butch friend, she found a group of people who love and cherish her, and she is a bit reluctant to burn 20 years of her life. I think that's fair. I don't see any harm in her staying, or any good in rejecting her for the sin of being a woman where you're expected to be a man.

And it would be lovely, if instead of deciding I'm saying that I think trans men are women or have more reason to be included in these spaces than trans women, I could be listened to when I say "why don't we stop rejecting people on the basis of gender" in the first place. Why is my "I need access to this" taken as "so you need to leave"? Why can't we both occupy this space, together?

With this latest round of discourse being "trans men shouldn't complain about being kicked out of women's spaces", I felt the urge to write up a relatively long post regarding the topic, as I feel it is a long tangled mess and involves a significant amount of people simply talking past each other.

To begin, what is a woman's space? I ask this, because "women's spaces" often fall under one of three categories: medical services, social services, and social gatherings. Of the three, trans men need access to nearly everything if not everything included within "medical services" and "social services". These things often need to be considered co-ed anyway, but are still considered "for women" and often are labeled things like "women's health" or "women's defense". Social gatherings- things such as book clubs, concerts, festivals, and other similar outings- can have a nuanced and complicated history when it comes to the inclusion, or exclusion, of trans men.

As an example- I am a binary, gay trans man who has not yet been sterilized. If I become pregnant and need to seek out social services, I must do so via my provider's "Women and Babies" department. I am neither of those things, and yet regardless of whether I am completing or terminating the pregnancy, I must label myself a woman in order to receive care. If I wish to have a pap smear, receive birth control, or investigate my chances of ovarian and cervical cancer, I must do so via the "Women's Health Clinic". I am not a woman, but I must label myself as one in order to discuss sterilization options. Many trans men who have had their gender markers changed prior to sterilization have reported difficulty even booking an appointment, as well as difficulty convincing their insurance to pay for this appointment due to a discrepancy with gender markers vs gendered care. Many have discussed the realities of being a pregnant man, whether they remained pregnant until their child was born, or whether they terminated said pregnancy with an abortion.

It should come as no surprise that the statistics for trans men receiving quality gynecological care are abysmal. It should be equally unsurprising to hear how many trans men have died from botched abortions, untreated miscarriages, infections and cancers of the uterus and cervix and ovaries, and complications during pregnancy or birth. We belong in this space, despite it being labeled "for women", and the only thing pushing us out has done is quite literally what's been killing us.

This is, of course, not even taking into account the numbers of trans men who have been forced to become pregnant via their husbands or families as a means to detransition them, and those who have become pregnant as a result of corrective rape. There is a saying among trans men of my age- it isn't "we all know a guy this has happened to", it's "which of us haven't experienced this? who among us doesn't fear this? who will it happen to next?"

Which brings me to my next point: women's social services. As with women's medical care, nearly everything labeled "for women" as a social service must be inclusive to trans men. Shelters for domestic violence survivors, rape crisis centers, self defense classes, family planning, these are all things that honestly should already be co-ed. But, many times, they are exclusively targeted towards women. I understand why, I do. But with trans men being statistically more likely than cis women to experience the need for these services, it seems a cruelty to close their doors to a vulnerable demographic reaching out for help.

Where should trans men in crisis go? Shutting the door to us without addressing the reason we need to access these resources gives us a single ultimatum: detransition, or die. Go back to being a woman, or die knowing the likelihood that a woman's name will adorn your headstone, and "daughter, wife, mother" will be said in your obituary. Much like the medical services, this incomplete answer has lead many trans men to their deaths. Whether by their own hands, or by their attackers'.

But there are other social services out there that perhaps are not as dire. Women's scholarships, colleges, all girls schools. Girl Scouts, women's sport leagues, gym memberships. Trans men don't need access to these, right?

Well... is the trans man in question out? Has he been living as a man, or is he still closeted? Is it safe for him to come out? Does he pass, or has he just bought his first binder and given himself his first buzz cut? Is he living under the control of his parents, or is he able to freely decide for himself the type of person he'd like to be and the type of life he'd like to live?

You see, I was a Girl Scout once. And, if we are to believe to our core that trans men are men even before they know the words "transgender", this means I was a boy in a girl's space. I didn't know that being transgender was an option for me at the point where my troop disbanded, and another leader to replace the first within my local area was not found until after I had aged out.

But also... I was in 7th grade when my troop disbanded. Two years later, I would learn the word "transgender", and suddenly everything would make sense. Two years later, I would come out to my parents and my sisters. To put this into perspective, I graduated high school in 2010. The Boy Scouts officially allowed cisgender girls and transgender people of all genders to join all programs in 2019.

I was not expelled from my Girl Scout troop. My leader simply stopped showing up to meetings, and my troop disbanded to go our separate ways when leadership could not find someone quickly enough to replace her. But... if this had not happened, I would have been a recently out transgender boy in a girl's social service, still wearing push up bras and frilly shirts because that's all my parents would buy me until I became an adult and moved out and had a job with my own money to re-purchase myself a wardrobe. Indistinguishable from any of the others, outside of what went on inside my own mind.

I would not have been accepted into the Boy Scouts, if Girl Scouts had been taken from me as abruptly as it was from a different transgender boy in the same state I was born and raised. Which would have left me with... nothing. Neither. And the only reason I even joined the Girl Scouts was because I had wanted to join the Boy Scouts and the local troop had refused to allow me, because they had labeled me a girl.

I don't believe I'm the one that coined Schrodinger's Gender, but I do reference it often. In this situation, one is both a boy when it hurts, and a girl when it hurts. Even if that gender label changes by the second, the point is to use your gender and your assigned sex to hurt you.

But then, why do these services even have to be gendered to begin with? After all, Boy Scouts just updated to be The Scouts, and has removed (on paper) the insistence on gendering.

Well... I certainly agree that the majority of gendering these services is at this point a concept that needs to be reformed, but I'm unconvinced that we will be able to completely integrate without addressing the reason they were segregated by gender in the first place.

Women's gym memberships are gender segregated for two reasons. Women and girls- and anyone labeled as women and girls, regardless of true identity- are frequently not afforded the same access to resources as cisgender men and boys. Women and girls- and anyone labeled such- are frequently at high risk of predatory sexual behavior and physical violence. Both of these problems are symptoms of a larger system of misogyny at play, and both of these problems directly affect trans men especially those who have not transitioned in a way that makes them pass for cis men.

Regardless of the truth of my identity, the reality is that I was seen as and treated as a girl when it came to physical fitness, and thus barred from the same activities freely offered to the boys. Regardless of the truth of my identity, I have experienced predatory sexual behavior from cis men as young as 8 or 9 years old, continuing past when I came out and began to transition socially.

If the problem is not addressed, cis women cannot re-integrate with cis men. But, additionally, if the problem is not addressed, the choice still remains clear for trans men. Detransition, stay closeted, or go without.

A common complaint of trans men is the invisibility and erasure our demographic faces. It should be easy to see why this happens. The problem of a misogynistic society is one that continues to this day, and without addressing the problem we cannot hope for success in creating a more inclusive space. At the same time, trans men are being pushed out and isolated as they realize they must make a choice.

As for social gatherings, such as a woman's retreat or a woman's music festival? Of course, it may sound odd to say that a trans man should feel welcome there. But the truth of the matter is the majority of the trans men asking for the ability to stay are trans men who have been within that space for years already, prior to coming out, prior to realizing some things about their genders, prior to taking their first steps as men.

I'm pretty good friends with an older butch who told me that I am the first person they ever told that they were a nonbinary man. This person is in their 50s. They're married. But the wife doesn't like it, and they love their wife too much to cause friction in the relationship, so they keep it to themselves, and they keep quiet, and they don't say anything about being transgender, but in their head they aren't a woman. This person is not a woman, by their own insistence. Should this person be forcibly ejected from their local lesbian community, which they and the wife helped form decades ago? Should they divorce their wife, since that would make her not a lesbian anymore?

What harm is it, truly, to allow this person to stay? Social isolation kills people. The trans man suicide statistics are just as abysmal as any of the others I've mentioned here. Forcing someone to burn 20, 30, 40 years of their lives and their friends and their achievements because they are finally living as themselves is a deeply hurtful and isolating experience.

The majority of trans men asking to be included in these spaces are not trans men like me- who never really jived with the idea of womanhood and distanced ourselves as much as possible the moment we saw the opportunity. They are men like my friend, often existing outside of the binary, often with a deep love and appreciation for womanhood despite realizing that perhaps the label does not fit them as well as they once thought. They often have many years of connection, entire lives spent intwined in these spaces.

What good does it do to chase them out? What harm does it to do let them stay?

[sitaramasilamani]

The Divine Dance: Princess Sitara’s Inspirational Journey

Embracing Destiny: The Transformation of Sitara

Princess Sitara is not just a dancer; she is a symbol of strength, celebration, and an embodiment of cultural diversity. Her journey in the world of dance is not merely a personal accomplishment but a testament to the power of passion and persistence. Her story begins in a small village, where she discovered her love for dance at a young age. Despite facing numerous challenges and societal expectations, she remained determined to pursue her dreams. With unwavering dedication, she trained rigorously and honed her skills, mastering various dance forms and techniques.

As Sitara's talent blossomed, so did her impact on the community. Through her performances, she brought joy, inspiration, and a sense of unity to people from all walks of life. Her graceful movements and captivating expressions told stories that transcended language barriers and touched the hearts of audiences worldwide.

Beyond the stage, she became an advocate for cultural preservation and empowerment. She founded a dance academy that not only taught the art of dance but also instilled values of respect, discipline, and self-confidence in young aspiring artists. Through scholarships and community outreach programs, she ensured that talent knows no boundaries and that every individual can shine. Sitara Masilamani - California

From Ballet to Heels: Discovering a Passion

Her fascination with dance began at the tender age of four, when her mother recognized her love for movement and enrolled her in ballet classes. From the very first plié, her passion for dance flourished, and she dedicated countless hours to perfecting her technique. While her childhood dream of becoming an en pointe ballerina may not have materialized, she discovered her true calling as she ventured into a dance form that is both edgy and sensual: Heels. With each step, she effortlessly blends grace with attitude, captivating audiences with her mesmerizing performances. The fusion of her technical precision and expressive artistry sets her apart, making her a rising star in the world of dance.

This specific discipline, known as stiletto dance, showcases women delivering powerful performances while gracefully wearing 4-inch stiletto heels. It seamlessly incorporates elements of jazz, modern, ballet, and floorwork, resulting in a captivating and unique blend of styles. With each movement, the dancers exude elegance, strength, and confidence, captivating audiences with their artistry and showcasing the incredible versatility of dance as an expressive form of art.

She celebrates femininity in all its mystique through her captivating performances. Trained by the renowned choreographer Mitchell Kelly in his MKS Jewels program, she honed her skills and found an avenue to express herself. With each step, she tells a story, captivating audiences with her grace and passion.

A Performance to Remember: Embracing Cultural Roots

On October 28, 2023, a significant milestone marked a pivotal moment in her illustrious career. With grace and passion, she took the stage and mesmerized the audience with a breathtaking Bollywood heels performance. Every step, every movement, intricately choreographed by the renowned Saleena Kamakar, perfectly synchronized with the enchanting beats of the song "Mayya" composed by AR Rahman, beautifully sung by Maryem Tollar, Chinmayi Sripada, and Kirti Sagathia.

This awe-inspiring performance went beyond showcasing her exceptional talent; it became a powerful symbol of empowerment for South Asian women. Through her artistry, Princess Sitara aimed to inspire and encourage women to embrace their sensuality, beauty, and femininity, while proudly representing their rich cultural heritage. It was a moment that resonated deeply, leaving a lasting impression on all those who witnessed the magic unfold on that unforgettable night.

Her performance was a true celebration of diversity and cultural heritage. Through her choreography, she beautifully blended traditional elements with contemporary dance forms, creating a mesmerizing fusion that captivated the audience. The intricate footwork, graceful hand movements, and expressive facial expressions showcased the rich storytelling aspect of Bollywood dance, leaving a lasting impression on everyone present.

Moreover, her dedication to representing her culture went beyond the dance itself. She collaborated with a team of talented costume designers to create stunning outfits that combined traditional Indian textiles with modern designs. The vibrant colors and intricate embellishments added an extra layer of authenticity to her performance, making it a visual feast for the eyes.

Princess Sitara's performance served as a reminder that art has the power to bridge gaps, break barriers, and bring people together. It was a testament to the universal language of dance and the ability of cultural expression to transcend boundaries. Through her talent and passion, she inspired not only South Asian women but also people from all walks of life to embrace their roots, celebrate diversity, and find strength in their cultural heritage. Princess Sitara Masilamani

The Road Ahead: Melding Cultures and Styles

Princess Sitara is now carving a unique niche for herself within the entertainment industry. With her exceptional talent and passion for music, she dreams of providing a platform where Bollywood and Indian culture can blend seamlessly with elements of RnB/Hip Hop, crafting a one-of-a-kind fusion that celebrates the beauty of diverse cultures. Having kick-started her career in Los Angeles as a model, she made her mark with captivating appearances in iconic music videos like "Jalebi Baby" by Tesher and Jason Derulo, which marked her first professional dance industry exposure in the vibrant city.

In her remarkable journey thus far, Princess Sitara has shown that dance is more than just a form of art—it's an outlet to express raw emotions, a therapeutic escape, and a powerful connector of communities. With unwavering determination and a heart full of passion, she encourages anyone harboring a dream to dance to follow their heart, regardless of age or flexibility. She believes that dance has the power to heal the mind, body, and soul, providing a safe and transformative space for individuals to explore their deepest feelings. Her inspiring story serves as a testament to the profound impact of dance and the magical rewards that come with dedicated pursuit.

[thewidowstanton]

The Widow's Best of 2023

Jane Hobson 2023: Following such a desperate year for so many in the world this quotation by Nietzsche seems pertinent. "We have art in order not to die of the truth." So, in an effort to uplift whoever might read this, here's a somewhat curtailed list of a few of our favourite things we've seen this year. It wasn't the hottest time for live shows; we walked out of five! One every few years, maybe, but five! Disappointing. However we still managed to find some wonderful things, not all of them new. Let's begin with…

MOST SPECTACULAR: Phelim McDermott's Akhnaten at the London Coliseum. We'd been asked so many times: "Have you seen Akhnaten?" No, we hadn't but now we have and, OK, it's a Philip Glass opera (pictured above and below) but really, with a set by Tom Pye and costumes by Kevin Pollard it's a full-on feast for the senses, with the ever-inventive Gandini Juggling, choreographed by Sean Gandini, doing what they do best.

Jane Hobson BEST CIRCUS SHOW: Cirque Le Roux's thrilling and ambitious Entre Chiens et Louves – staged at Le Bon Marché department store in Paris (take note Selfridges) – took our breath away even without the sublime Lolita Costet in the cast; and Circa's Humans II at the Queen Elizabeth Hall at London's Southbank Centre.

COMPANY TO WATCH: Hoops Désolé! A “crazy” six-strong troupe of artists drawn from the circus school in Quebec, Cirque du Soleil and Cirque Éloize.

Emma Kauldhar BEST DANCE: Wayne McGregor’s Woolf Works at London’s Royal Opera House, with the mesmerising Alessandra Ferri, who at 59 was the same age as Virginia Woolf when she died. Another dancer with astonishing longevity is the Spanish Lucía Lacarra, now 48, who appeared in the Ballet Icons Gala at the London Coliseum.

BEST SHOWBIZ MEMOIR: Walking Through Walls by performance artist Marina Abramović; Do It For Your Mum by Roy Wilkinson, then manager of his brothers' band British Sea Power.

MOST TERRIFYING: He's done some daring things in his time and on World Circus Day Hungarian high-wire artist Laci Simet performed a sensational walk across the River Danube – 40 metres up in the wind – with only a balance pole to keep him safe.

BEST FILM: German film Afire or Roter Himmel by Christian Petzold (he’ll never let you down); Babak Jalali’s Fremont, set in a fortune cookie factory; and the Mexican film The Empty Hours directed by Aarón Fernández.

BEST ARCHIVE PIC: Josephine Baker and Dalida at L’Olympia music hall in Paris in 1968. A legendary pair!

LONGEST-SERVING FEMALE DJ: Texan Mary McCoy, who at 85 has been on the air for almost 72 years, and entered the Guinness Book of Records.

BEST DESERT ISLAND DISCS CASTAWAY: Actor/comedian/writer and so on, Adrian Edmondson; snooker star Ronnie O’Sullivan.

MOST INSPIRING: The Maricarmen dance school in Chorrillos, south of Lima, in Peru, run by retired dancer Maria del Carmen Silva, offers free classes to girls of all abilities from low-income areas.

BEST DOCUMENTARY: Never Be a Punching Bag for Nobody by indie rock musician Naomi Yang; My Indiana Muse, in which artist Robert Townsend discovers his Kodachrome muse, Helen.

FOND FAREWELL: Actor David McCallum, who, as The Man from U.N.C.L.E.’s Illya Kuryakin was an enduring heartthrob for a certain generation of girls and women. Closer to home the UK lost its leading circus director, Phillip Gandey (above), at 67, whose shows – including Cirque Surreal, The Chinese State Circus and The Lady Boys of Bangkok – were always far and away the most creative and exciting; and The Circus of Horrors – a show I reviewed more times than any other, except perhaps Cirque du Soleil – lost its co-creator and frontman, Doktor Haze (below) at 66. Along with Gerry Cottle, they were notable as two of the nicest circus men I met during my reviewing years, and are greatly missed.

LAST WORD: It wouldn't be a Widow Stanton 'Best of' without some showgirls. This picture was taken by the Argentinian photographer Luisita Escarria, who with her sister Chela, documented all the artists appearing in revues in Buenos Aires from 1958 to 2009. Their story and wondrous archive might have been lost had it not been rescued by filmmakers Sol Miraglia and Hugo Manso. Their documentary Foto Estudio Luisita will warm your heart… and fortunately both the sisters lived long enough to see it.

Compiled by Liz Arratoon

[finalprojectgroup20]

Gender and Sexuality: Unit 3

Sports carry gendered expectations. This idea of sports for certain genders is pushed onto children at a very young age. In elementary school, picking teams during recess is girl's worst nightmare. There is this innate idea that girls are “weaker” or “slower” than boys which leads to the girls always being picked last. It makes the girls feel as though they are unworthy of being on a team with “big”, “strong” boys when in reality the girls are just athletically talented. This idea of gendered athletics is continued into highschool. At my highschool and many others across the country, some sports are only offered for females and some are only offered for males. At my school specifically, wrestling was only offered for boys. This meant that any girl interested in the sport would have to play club and pay extra money or play with the boys. One girl the grade above me was interested in wrestling and decided to participate on the boys wrestling team. Not only did she fully immerse herself in the sport, but she was one of the star athletes on the team. If we had a female wrestling team offered at my school, so many others could be inspired from her success to try out the sport. It is always the “manly” sports and more “feminine” sports that are only offered for each designated gender. My highschool only had boys football and wrestling teams and girls field hockey and volleyball teams. These gendered sports limit students' ability to branch out in sports they have a passion for.

One of my personal experiences with gendered athletics is through ballet. I have been a ballet dancer for 15 years and there are major stigmas that come with the sport. For instance, it is not considered a “manly” sport so many of my male dancer friends had a hard time at school because kids would bully them saying ballet was a “girl sport”. This was also seen on a world wide scale a few years ago when Prince William's son, Prince George, decided to start ballet. Lara Spencer, a talk show host on Good Morning America, made an insensitive remark about Prince George's participation in ballet by saying “I have news for you Prince William, we’ll see how long that lasts." (O'Kane) and laughed after Prince Willam expressed his son's joy for the sport. The whole dance community rallied behind the young prince including major celebrities like Travis Wall, a famous dancer and choreographer, who sparked the use of the hashtag #Boysdancetoo. Not only that but there was a 300 person rally in support of prince Groegie and male ballet dancers (O’Kane). This issue is the same for females trying out predominantly male sports. For example, many female bodybuilders get backlash for becoming too buff and losing their feminine figure. These expectations of boys to be manly and girls to be feminine are running the athletic experiences of many children to be able to explore all of their interests. 

The stigma around gender in sports connects to what we learn in Gender Women’s Sexuality Studies, specifically unit 3. One reading that stood out to me was Joan Wallet Scott's “Gender: Still a Useful Category of Analysis?”. It really makes you question what it means to be a woman and to be a man and what that brings to your everyday and sexual life. One quote that relates to the topic of gender stigmas is “Gender was a  call to disrupt the powerful pull of biology by opening every aspect of sexed identity to interrogation,  including the question of whether or not male/female,  masculine/feminine was the contrast being invoked” (Scott). It dives into the topic of male versus female and feminine versus masculine which is connected to the feminine versus masculine stigmas around sports. How can we give gender to an activity? Your sex should not determine what sports you can play. As Scott states, “gender is an open question” as it is meant to be explored just like taking different classes in college (Scott). Another reading that helped me understand the connection of gender to everyday life was “Identities and Social Locations” in Gendered Lives. One quote that connects to this topic is “Using social categories is not the same as being “labeled”(Kirk). It is explained that labels are used to undermine people and make them feel bad for what they enjoy or believe in. In relation to sports, a common label is to name male ballet dancers as gay. This is a common stigma around the dance community and though there are male ballet dancers not all of them are and they are all being grouped together in a label that might not fit them. Sports and gender go hand in hand in help of self-discovery so limiting sports to certain genders can impact a child's life greatly when trying to figure out their passion. Your gender does not describe your physical ability.

Work Cited:

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Intersectional Perspectives. 7th ed., New York City, Oxford UP, 2020.

O'Kane, Caitlin. "300 Dancers Show up in Times Square as Lara Spencer Apologizes for Prince George Ballet Comment." CBS News, CBS Interactive, 27 Aug. 2019, www.cbsnews.com/news/300-dancers-class-in-times-square-as-gma-lara-spencer-apologizes-for-prince-george-ballet-comment-travis-wall/. Accessed 7 Dec. 2023.

Scott, Joan Wallach. Gender: Still a Useful Category of Analysis? Vol. 57, ICPHS, 2010. SAGE Journals Online, journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0392192110369316. Accessed 7 Dec. 2023.

[aayushi1806]

Leather shoes for men and women

Introduction : Leather shoes for men and women

Whether you identify as a man, a woman, or are gender non-binary, there are countless leather shoe types to choose from. Whether you are looking for something to wear every day to the office or for special occasions, there is a leather shoe that will suit your needs. Kiwi Enterprises, which ranks among the best in the leather manufacturing industry, makes custom designs for brands. You can give us your designs to manufacture, or you can even refer to our roster of designs and put your brand’s label on them.

Different types of leather shoes for men and women

There is a plethora of leather shoe types in the market now, and we can tell you with full confidence that they are versatile enough to suit everyone. Here is a look at different types of leather shoes:

1. Ballet flats: These are modelled on ballet dancers’ shoes that they wear while performing. They are a slip-on style of shoe with a leather body and rubber sole. They are comfortable and fashionable, and can go with Western and Indian outfits. These are a great reliable seller in almost every footwear and fashion brand’s catalogue because they will never go out of style.

2. Brogue shoes: These leather lace-ups are made for both men and women. They started off as dressy or office shoes exclusively worn by men, but now have expanded to women’s footwear as well. They are also available with high heels. The name comes from the term broguing, which is a pattern of holes that is made on the wingtip of the shoe.

3. Sneakers: This style of shoe has gained a lot of popularity in the last few years, and sneaker culture has slowly taken over the world. You can find a wide range of retailers selling sneakers for both men and women, in different colour ways and designs too. Be it sporty-looking leather sneakers or sleeker suede sneakers for special occasions, most brands have now added sneakers to their offerings.

4. Flip flops: Another functional unisex style of footwear, flipflops are considered to be a wardrobe staple. Many people have specific flip flops they like to wear around the house, but these can also be worn to run quick errands or even on beach vacations. Also known as thong shoes in some parts of the world, flip flops are a no-brainer when it comes to shoes your brand should carry.

5. Juttis: This type of ethnic footwear originated from North India, more specifically Punjab. They are traditionally made with leather but often are also embroidered. Think of them like ballet flats but with an ethnic twist. They are usually flat soled with a rounded tip. However, sometimes juttis made for men also have a tip that’s curved upwards to resemble a regal moustache.

6. Boots: Boots are usually worn in the winter because they are warm and can feel constricting. But if your outfit to have an edge, then you can always go for boots. Some popular styles of boots are:

Cowboy boots that usually have a pointed toe and decorative stitching

Ankle boots that are usually lace-ups but can also have a side zipper or slip-ons

Knee-high boots that are dressy and can be worn with skirts, shorts, and dresses of any length

Combat boots are modelled after boots worn in the military. They have thick and heavy sole and are durable enough to be worn in bad terrain

Chelsea boots became popular during the ‘60s because they were worn by the Beatles. You can spot one instantly because they usually have elasticated sides

Jodhpur boots they have pointed tips and can be confused with Chelsea boots, but often have a buckle and strap around them so they stay snug around your ankles

Custom-made shoes for women at Kiwi Enterprises

With an undying passion for sophistication and style, Kiwi Enterprises has been in the premium leather business for over two decades. We are a family-owned and operated business, bringing you a world-class design platform with endless customization options. If you work with us, we will bring you state-of-the-art manufacturing mixed with traditional craftsmanship and attention to detail. From our raw materials to our custom packaging options, we strive to create top-tier leather products that will elevate your brand.