If you could make more money doing something else, would you stop dancing?
It really depends on what it is or how passionately I feel towards it. I enjoy dancing because it’s a way to escape the everyday stress through an outer body experience. You don’t have to be yourself for five hours on the weekend. You can be whoever you want to be on stage. It’s not really about the money. For me, I like it because in my daily life, I don’t have the time to do things I enjoy, such as discover new music, talk spontaneously to strangers, or really just dance my heart out. You get paid to do what you love. That’s what’s important to me. I will stop once I start working in a career that I care more passionately about.
How is it empowering?
It gives you the chance to feel confident and take control of your own body. Society has unrealistic beauty standards for women. Society expects us to be sexually attractive but shames us if we take on sexual acts. When you are a dancer, you understand more in-depth about how beauty is different for each person who walks in. You see so many shapes and sizes, so many confident women, and you realize that you are good enough. Your body is good enough. When you’re on stage, everybody is looking at you. Everybody wants you, fantasizes you, and it’s hard to feel bad about yourself. You put on a show that might drain your energy but it leaves you glowing, so long as you are mentally prepared.
What made you want to do it?
Feminism. I took a class on the sex industry and read a book called ‘Whores and Other Feminists.’ It opened my eyes in regarding women owning their bodies and feeling empowered by sex work. I think the biggest and most interesting stereotype is that women should not be objectified by their bodies. I think in many ways, women should be able to do what they want with their bodies, whether it be dancing, or pro-choice. Everybody does what they want to because it seems to be the best choice for them. People often go with what makes them happy. I realized after auditioning that I was happy to be on stage and using dance to make a living.
Do you feel degraded?
Absolutely not. You have the choice. Life is what you make of it. You can look at it this way. Anybody in their right mind would make a thousand dollars a night if they could. And you can. You don’t have to do anything you’ll regret. You just need to keep a strong head on your shoulders and realize that you shouldn’t compromise your life decisions on what other people think. Society said it was okay to enslave blacks. Society said it was okay to kill Jews. Society says that men are players and women are sluts. So these preconceived notions about dancing can be right or wrong, but it really is how you handle yourself. Some of the strongest most beautiful women I know are dancers. They are confident and outspoken. Everybody has their own life path, their own shit to take care of. You can’t simply judge someone for making different decisions than you. You haven’t been through what they’ve been through. There’s nothing someone can say that will make me feel bad about what I do. Obviously I chose to do this, which means I’m happy with it.. for now. I’ve thought long and hard about the decisions I make and I am confident in them.
Information about travel dancing?
I recently did a podcast with some detailed information on my background and experiences about travel dancing with @lillianrose on That's So Taboo Episode 4. If you're interested in learning more about me and travel dancing, click the link below.