Degender Dance

Check out our new site www.degenderdance.com⁠ !!!  Big title, we know. But stick with us. Last episode we talked about our complicated relationship with dance and how joyful, connective, and freeing it is... also weirdly still full of colonial bs. This time, we're asking: if dance is supposed to be about freedom, why is it still carrying around so much nonsense? From rigid gender roles and maj...

We're back for Season 2! In this kickoff episode, we sit down to unpack our complicated relationship with partner dance. From the intoxicating magic of a truly great connection to the patriarchal overtones woven through modern partner dance scenes, nothing is off the table. We talk about what drew us to build Degender Dance in the first place, what keeps us passionate about it, what we'd l...

That’s a wrap on our first season here at The Degender Dance Podcast! Thank you so much to everyone for joining us in our first year of podcasting- we love our listeners💕🫶🏼 Tune in to check out what’s next and get excited about all the stuff we’ve cooked up for you in season 2 and much more! Season 2 starts with a bang 💥 on June 9th, 2026

How accessible is your dance scene? Is dance ableist? What can disability advocacy do for partner dance? What on earth is going to happen to your dance life when you become older or disabled? If the whole world had access to dance, would it be a better place? In this week’s episode we sit down with Madeline Webster-Perry (she/her), a Queer Lindy Hop dancer from St. Louis, Missouri, and get into it...

This week on The Degender Dance Podcast, we’re hanging out with Adrián (he/him), founder of Queerchata and the force behind one of the fastest-growing Queer partner dance movements in North America. In Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver and Chicago, Queerchata is all about creating spaces for dance without judgement with the help of his teachers, or as he calls them: The Queer...

In this episode, Lou introduces Kate to Contra Dancing for the very first time, starting with a crash course on what it is and its roots of Renaissance country dances to its uniquely American evolution. Lou shares some of the layered history of contra, including how live calling became central to the form. Then we head to Lake City Contra to experience it in real life. We enjoy the sounds of the h...

This week we have the pleasure of talking to Rassamy, a West Coast Swing dancer, DJ, teacher, woman of color, cultural educator and ex Meta user in the greater Seattle area. We dive into her DEI work in West Coast Swing, and what it means to build accessible and justice-centered dance spaces. We hear all about her move away from social media, specifically Meta, as a political and personal choice,...

This week we’re getting into the basics. Why rushing into flashy patterns can strip away the soul of a dance. Why groove > quantity. And why the “basic” step and other foundational groove and technique is actually the skeleton of the dance and every flashy move too. The basics aren’t working? Neither will the advanced move. We also get into teaching beginners, retaking classes in the opposite r...

This week we’re talking with Anne Gaskins (she/ her): a therapist, Salsa teacher and a performer with Latin Fusion company BGC, here in Seattle, WA. Anne works as a therapist specializing in eating disorders and body image and is passionate about making dance accessible and fun for all bodies. Anne schools us with her pearls of wisdom about being a therapist and dancer and how these worlds collide...

In this episode Lou and Kate talk about one of the topics that sparked The Degender Dance Podcast to begin with: why learning to both lead and follow, even a little, makes you a better and safer dancer. We talk about the importance of ELEF, empathy and dismantling the idea that gender = dance role. Let’s get into it!

In YT Supremacy and Dance, Part 2 , Kate and Lou continue their conversation with Tema Okun’s Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture , moving through the second half of the list and exploring how these patterns show up in partner dance spaces. How do these characteristics surface in teaching and dance community and what are the antidotes? How do they live in our bodies and relationships, and h...

On this week’s episode we talk about the Spotify boycott and why we are participating. ICE recruitment ads aren’t the only reason to stop giving them your hard earned money. We talk about how hard the decision is to divest from such an accessible staple and resource for dance teachers and what other options exist out there that aren’t evil fascists stealing from musicians. Seattle, the birthplace...

Creating the Dance Floor You Want to See with Yasmeen Zahar:This week, we are so excited to share an interview with Seattle-based Latin dancer and teacher, Yasmeen Zahar! We dig into Bachata: its roots, its current politics, and why Sensual and Traditional are not the same dance. She talks about noticing what’s missing in a community and choosing to build something that’s deeply needed, and how sh...

White supremacy is interwoven into every aspect of our culture in many ways that are easy to name, and other times in patterns so normalized we barely notice them. In this Part 1 episode, we look at how those quieter, less-obvious and normalized dynamics shape our relationships and our dance spaces. We spend time with Tema Okun’s list of characteristics of white supremacy culture: a framework Lou...

In this episode...well, less of an episode and more of an announcement: we’re taking a little time off. One of the core tenets of capitalism and yt supremacy is that you push no matter what. At Degender Dance, we value slowing down, listening to our bodies, and being in flow instead of chasing productivity. Tune in to hear us regale you with our anticapitalist voices until we are back on November...

In this episode, we talk with Hazel Weakly, a deaf transfemme Lindy Hopper and tech whiz with serious groove and even more serious swivels, about what it’s like to move through dance and disability. Hazel shares how she learned to  hear  the music through feeling and tension, becoming known as a musical switch dancer, and opens up about coming out as trans, plus what a pair of 4-inch heels can do...

In this episode, we kick back and shoot the sh*t about the music that made us who we are. From musical theater favorites to top 40 hits, from Jelly Roll Morton to that chest-pounding movie score mega-hit no millennial can go without, we wander through the soundtracks of our lives. Music is both inexplicably personal and a mirror of where we come from — shaped by heritage, cultural waves, and the t...

Hey dancers! This episode is a call to action: follows are not passive passengers, social dancing isn’t a one-way street and toxic masculinity is tiring AF. From the old dance tropes of “dance dummies,” and the idea of “don’t think, just follow,” the dance world has a lot to unpack. Treating follows like props is just the tip of the iceberg—and it fosters the darker, more psychologically and physi...

Hey dancers! In this episode we dive into what it really feels like to social dance as a genderqueer or queer person — the joy, the tension, the resistance, and the magic. We unpack how traditional partner dancing often reinforces binary roles, and what it means to disrupt that system just by showing up in our full, fluid selves. From the awkwardness of being miscast into “leader” or “follower” ro...

Hey dancers! In this episode, we're diving into somatics—what it is, how it differs from traditional dance training, and why it’s such a powerful tool for reconnecting with your body, soul and wider community! We share personal stories from our own therapeutic and somatic journeys, reflecting on how these practices have helped us push back against hustle culture and rediscover a more grounded,...

Hey dancers! Welcome back to The Degender Dance Podcast. In this episode, we’re diving into a big, messy, important conversation: what it means to be white dancers running a dance business centered around African diaspora partner dance forms. Spoiler alert—it’s complicated, and yes, it’s problematic. We’re talking about whiteness, cultural appropriation, accountability, privilege, and what it mean...

Hey dancers! Welcome to The Degender Dance Podcast . This whole thing actually started in Lou’s Subaru—after dance class, talking for hours- we figured why not hit record! In this little intro episode, you can get to know your hosts—Kate and Lou. We’re dance buddies who love talking about gender, movement, queerness, dismantling the patriarchy, and all the weird stuff in between. You’ll hear how w...