Queer lindy is swing dancing without regard to the traditional heteronormative dance roles, and with the option to switch roles while dancing. This way of dancing has many names in the lindy community, but we have chosen to use the term queer lindy to connect with other movements like queer tango and queer salsa. But also to expand the LGBTQ+ community within the swing dancing scene and create an opportunity to learn lindy hop for those of us who do not always feel comfortable in the heteronormative couple dance context.
We hope to create a forum for queer lindy dancers to meet, learn and share experiences, as well as an opportunity for the curious to discover queer lindy.
Why we call it queer lindy
In most swing dance communities it is either openly or silently assumed that dancers will define as either women or men, and dance the role corresponding to that gender – women will follow and men will lead. With the term queer lindy we wish to throw that assumption away and welcome everyone who wants to explore a wider spectrum of dance. Practically speaking, this means participants will not be classified as leaders or followers in class, but everyone will learn or practice both. We will also explore the possibility to switch between the two roles. As a result, we hope that everyone will both lead and follow on the social dance floor.
Queer dancing has been an established term for this way of teaching and dancing in Swedish partner dancing for quite some time. Dances like tango, salsa, and folk dancing all have their own queer scenes. In Swedish, the term queer was introduced by feminists and scholars as a term from queer theory, a tool to investigate norms and systems of power. However, the term queer is also used in the Swedish language in relation to gender identity by people who identify as outside/beyond the male/female dichotomy. In both Swedish and English queer is also used as an umbrella term relating to both sexual and gender identities outside the heteronorm. It has been used as a degrading word in English and then reclaimed by the LGBTQ+ community.
We chose to use the term queer lindy to connect with the other queer dancing communities, and to honor the roots of couple dancing outside the heteronorm, which come from LGBTQ+ communities. We appreciate that the term makes clear that lindy hop in many places is actually heteronormative lindy. Heteronormative lindy assumes that people have the same gender identity as was assigned to them at birth, and will dance according to heteronormative gender roles. This reduces people’s identities as well as their options of how to dance and express themselves and whom to dance with. By using the term queer lindy we hope to reach people who feel shut out by the heteronormative lindy community, and people who are interested in this way of dancing.
Gothenburg Queer Lindy Festival is open to everyone who wants to dance queer lindy, regardless of sexuality, gender identity, religion, ethnicity or age. If you have questions, comments, thoughts, suggestions for us – please write us. We actually do want to hear!