Article on refn of 'uple' ballroom dancg petns wake of April ntt at Massachetts Instute of Technology which gay men Rsell Hailey and Je Guzman took send place Lat divisn's prelimary round; US Amatr Ballroom Dancers Assn requir that petg uple nsist of man and woman; Internatnal DanceSport Feratn says allowg all-male upl alters fundamental nature of sport, which is growg populary and is beg nsired for cln Olympics; photos (M)
Contents:
WATCH: SAME-SEX BALLROOM DANCG AT THE GAY GAM
Same-sex ballroom dancg is one of the most popular sports at the Gay Gam * gay ballroom dancer *
Gail Freedman’s documentary, now playg at the Quad Cema, follows four dancers 2014 as they prepare to pete the ternatnal Gay Gam, which take place every four years. It turned out that same-genr-uple dancg was flourishg ci like San Francis and New York, where gay clubs and dance halls were creasgly offerg LGBT-iendly ballroom, salsa and tango class and socials. This gay untry-wtern dance club offers more than jt le dancg, wh lsons that rporate waltz, two-step, swg and more.
Gay Ballroom. Stephanie Higgs, Director of the film "The Gay Marriage Thg", Belmont, MALiz is an exceptnal dance stctor. )Same-sex social dancg has “been around om at least the time that there have been gay clubs, so the 1950s, earlier maybe, or soire Paris, etc., the 1920s and 1930s, ” said Zoe Balfour, an Oakland, Calif.
”Same-sex upl perform on TV shows such as “So You Thk You Can Dance” and “Dancg Wh the Stars, ” while a gay uple, Carole Privou and Petra Zimmermann, peted at the prtig Blackpool Dance Ftival England, May. “We n dance our own queer Olympics — the Gay Gam is every four years, ” Ms.
GAY MEN CAN DANCE, JT NOT WH EACH OTHER
Last year, the Manhattan Prairie Dogs performed, wearg poodle skirts that nverted to weddg social dancers sometim enunter homophobia, particularly at straight dance clubs, said Stt Lapp, a profsnal ballroom dance stctor Florida. Moreover, they ask, if qutns of gay inty and cln are beg engaged the workplace and the bonds of marriage, then why not profsnal and amatr sport? They were happy -- straight and gay people -- bee they unrstood everythg that we were dog.
Halley have peted ternatnally gay ballroom dance tournaments Europe. )Neverthels, many of those terviewed at the llegiate level say they see this as an equal rights issue for gay men and women: th the vatn to Mr. ''Helen Carroll, ordator of the Homophobia Sports Project at the Natnal Center for Lbian Rights, a San Francis-based advocy group, said she believed that the associatn's stance was lored by the Internatnal Olympic Commtee's pendg review of the sport.
''They've reacted strongly bee they don't want anybody to thk there uld be gay people participatg, gog to a tradnal sport area such as the Olympics, '' Ms. ''Gary Stroick, vice print of the Uned Stat Amatr Ballroom Dancers Associatn DanceSport divisn, said that an crease gay participatn might disurage heterosexual men om participatg.