Kickstarter for film on same-sex country and western dance

DANCE LIKE NO ONE'S WATCHING is a documentary that explores the world of competitive Country/Western dancing within the gay community.

First of all, thank you for taking the time to watch the video above. As an award-winning filmmaker (Collegiate OSCAR nominated & EMMY winner) whose films have shown all over the world, I am drawn to stories about how people who don't always fit into mainstream culture are able to take elements of that culture and make it their own.

While writing a feature script set within a gay country western bar in Texas (Quick Quick Slow), I discovered “The International Association of Gay/Lesbian Country Western Dance Clubs” and was amazed that something I was writing into my ‘fictional’ work actually existed!

Learn more about this Kickstarter campaign HERE.

7 July 2012 / "Ballroom Rules", Koelner Kino Naechte

(h/t Doerte Lange)

Samstag, 7. Juli 2012, 18:00h Filmpalette Köln
Ballroom Rules
AUS 2012 • 77 Min. • engl. OV • Regie: Nickolas Bird & Eleanor Sharpe

Im professionellen Paartanz herrscht strikte Heteronormativität; gleichgeschlechtliche Tanzpaare werden diskriminiert und bei Wettbewerben nicht zugelassen. Die Deutschland-Premiere BALLROOM RULES dokumentiert das Training schwul-lesbischer Tanzpaare aus Australien, einige davon Anfänger, andere echte Profis. Doch sie alle widmen sich mit großem Eifer und Leidenschaft ihren Choreographien, Kostümen, Rückschlägen – und alle haben einen Traum: bei den Gay Games im weit entfernten Köln Gold zu holen.


Präsentiert von: homochrom & Filmpalette, im Rahmen des ColognePride
Einzelticket: 7,- € / erm. 6,50 €
Reservierung: 0221-122112

Anton Hysén win's Let's Dance; see interview in Sweden's QX magazine

Congratulations to Anton who last night won Sweden's Let's Dance! 

Sweden's QX magazine has published a fun feature on out footballer Anton Hysén. From the English summary:

Anton Hysén: It's only an ass, What's the big deal" 

In QX's May issue, 2012, the Swedish soccer player Anton Hysén poses naked. His behind has created a lot of interest in Sweden lately, so he decided to show it all! After all, what's the big deal!

QX releases it's 200th issue in May. Photographer Magnus Ragnvid and editor Anders Öhrman met the world famous soccer player Anton Hysén to talk about the year of wild activity that has passed since he came out as a gay professional soccer player.

Anton has also had huge success as one of the celebrity dancers in the Swedish version of Let's Dance.

And a lot of interest has been focused on his behind.

So why not let the world see it?

In the interview, Anton Hysén dismisses the rumor that he has given up soccer for a life in TV game shows and the international limelight. In fact his team, Utsikten BK, has moved up one division and he trains two hours every day. On top of that he now trains three hours a day in dance for the Let's Dance show.

His goal is set higher than the Swedish league, Allsvenskan. For him playing for a US soccer team is the main goal.

Keep reading HERE.

Anton Hysén in finals for dance contest:

Out footballer Anton Hysén has reached the finals of Let's Dance, the Swedish version of Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing With the Stars.

The finals are Friday, so cross your fingers! And let's look forward to some same-sex dancing on these shows!

Last day at TIP sports village

Sunday was the last full day at the Sports Village of the TIP Paris International Tournament. The day was focused on dancing, and opened with a screening of Australian documentary Ballroom Rules, which follows a group of same-sex dancers training for and competing at Gay Games VIII in Cologne, 2010.

Les Gais Musette continued the day with a series of open classes and dance sessions in the demonstration area.

FGG board members Marc Naimark and Sonia Abécassis had the pleasure of meeting Barbara and Adam from Eurogames 2011.

In mainstream DanceSport, women aren't taking the lead

While in same-sex DanceSport this is not an issue, for mainstream events, who leads is a matter of great concern. From Canada's National Post:

A Toronto woman says she was kicked out of a modern jive class after trying to lead her male partner, in the latest sign of a push against the traditional gender roles that still dominate the ballroom dancefloor.

Andrea Seto, 25, tried to switch to a lead role during a recent class at Jive Nation Toronto, but said her instructor objected. After repeatedly pushing for an explanation, Ms. Seto says she was asked to leave. She had taken classes with the dance school since January.

“It just seemed like it was kind of sexist…. As a patron paying for a service, it seems I should be the one deciding what I’m learning,” Ms. Seto said.

Her instructor, Nicky Heatherington, said roles are sometimes switched at Jive Nation, but the sudden role change was discouraged, in part because it would complicate things for other students.

“Go to any website — guys are leads and ladies are follow. And when we say follow, it’s just an interpretation. One leads the dance, it’s not an equal thing. These are the steps that we’ve been doing…. Just because guys lead, and ladies happen to be the dance follows, I can’t see how that is sexist. If people want to think it’s sexist, I cannot control what people think.”

In competitions, a couple must consist of a male and a female and the men lead while their female partners follow, said Sandy Brittain, the president of Canada DanceSport, the regulating body for organized amateur competitions in the country.

Official ruling bodies for amateur ballroom competitions — known as DanceSport — also specify that competing pairs must consist of a man and a woman.

If a woman were to lead during a competition, the couple would lose points “because the man always leads,” Ms. Brittain said.

“It’s just traditionally done that way, and that’s just part of the sport.”

In casual classes, a switch-up of roles is fine, she said, but in competition, it is a no-no.

“It would look funny, the man with his arm in the opposite way,” she said.

Keep reading HERE.

Coming same-sex dance competitions

Visit ESSDA's events page for upcoming competitions in Europe and North America. See it HERE.

Week 3 for Anton Hysén: he's damn good!

It's Anton Hysén's third week on Sweden's "Dancing With the Stars", where he danced the paso doble, and did it exceedingly well!

Anton Hysén's second dance

It's Anton Hysén's second week on Sweden's "Dancing With the Stars", where he danced the quickstep.

Interview on Gay Games VIII DanceSport documentary

Melbourne's Joy FM's "Kiss My Arts" interviewed documentary filmmaker Nickolas Bird about his film, "Ballroom Rules," filmed at the Gay Games VIII DanceSport competition in Cologne.

More Kiss My Arts HERE.

Listen to the broadcast below:

Gay Games dancers compete in "Britain's Got Talent"

Soren and Bradley Stauffer-Kruse have competed in many ESSDA and NASSPDA same-sex DanceSport competitions and now perform as show dancers. They are performing on this season's edition of "Britain's Got Talent".


Listen to an interview on the BBC HERE.


NewNowNext profiled the couple before Gay Games VII:

The Gay Games , which kick off in Chicago next month on July 15th aren’t only for sporty folks participating in those events one traditionally thinks of—like basketball, soccer, softball, track and field… There for all manner of skilled and talented artists. Take, for example Soren Kruse & Bradley Stauffer who are the U.K. Ballroom champs and will be traveling from London to go for the gay DanceSport/Ballroom Dancing gold in the Windy City. This smart and charming pair (They’re a couple! Yay!) are the real deal. They’ve been dancing for seven years, they compete in tournaments all over the planet, and back in their current homeland of England, they were the subject of a British TV documentary about the same-sex ballroom circuit. And when they planned their wedding last December it was written up in the London newspaper, The Guardian . Fancy!

Kruse is from Germany, Stauffer is American, and they live in London, so the two are a perfect representation of the global appeal of the Gay Games. And they’re perhaps just about the most debonaire participants traveling to the Games. So, I quizzed them about their big trip ahead (And yes, the fabulous third person tone they responded in is their own. Fierce!). And they used terms like “versatile” and “back-lead” and “top lines.” Oh my…

Keep reading HERE.

Team DC same-sex dancers featured in Washington Blade

Kevin Majoros presents Terry Chasteen and Team DC's Lambda DanceSport DC in the Washington Blade: 


Just like many of us who have competed in the Gay Games, Terry Chasteen, founder of Lambda DanceSPORT DC, experienced a life-changing moment at his first Games experience.

Chasteen headed to Amsterdam in 1998 to compete in same-gender dancesport which was being contested for the first time in the history of the gay games. “I went there with no dance partner,” says Chasteen, “but they ended up pairing me with a gentleman from South Africa.

Without much practice, the duo was able to dance their way into the semi-finals in Latin dance. “Dancesport is huge in Europe and there many same-gender dance organizations such as Equality dance,” Chasteen says. “The ovations the crowds were giving us and the other dancers were amazing and it was definitely a life-defining moment.”

Keep reading HERE.

Melbourne Dance Cats talk on Joy FM radio about Midsumma same-sex dance event in Melbourne

Washington DC dancers prepare for Cleveland 2014

Lambda DanceSport DC team is featured in the Washington Blade in an article by Kevin Majoros. The dancers perform and compete in Dancesport. The article can be read on the Washington Blade web site.

Click here to read the article titled "May I have this dance?".

A look back at the NASSPDA North American Same-Sex Dance Championships

photo Kati Garner

FGG member organization North American Same-Sex Partner Dancing Association (NASSPDA) recently held its championships in Sacramento, California, hosted by Dancing in the River City. Here are a few extracts from a good article in the Sacramento Bee:

The glamour and glitter of Hollywood, the unbelievable grace and beauty of ballroom dance and the amazing athleticism of international sport came together in Sacramento on Sunday.

The North American Same-Sex Dance Championships at The Ballroom of Sacramento was an exciting all-day competition of dancers from across the nation. The event culminated in an evening dance show, “Dangerous Liaisons: An Evening of Espionage and Intrigue,” featuring many of the champions and competitors. The competition was conducted under the auspices of the North American Same Sex Partner Dance Association, or NASSPDA.

From the time the first couple took the floor for the single dance events until the final formation team and show dance events, the competition was a whirl of action, grace and drama.

|...]

For the same-sex dance community, there are only a few welcoming programs among dozens of dance studios. In Sacramento, The Ballroom hosts a thriving same-sex program under the leadership of former world champion Robbie Tristan, and same-sex dancers are welcome at the Mirror Ball Dance Studio in Sacramento.

Dancing in the River City hosted the event as their fourth annual competition and show at The Ballroom. Under the leadership of Cindy Mills and her longtime partner Annette Wegesend, with dancers Robert Aina and Elly Bishop, DIRTC has built a strong organization of same sex dancers who are committed to holding this annual event. Since 2008, DITRC has been able to raise funds which have enabled Sacramento dancers to travel and compete in the Gay Games in Cologne, Germany in 2010 and in the North America Out Games in Vancouver, BC in 2011. The group is raising funds now to sponsor dancers to the 2014 Gay Games in Cleveland, Ohio.

Read in full HERE.

DanceSport and more at Melbourne's Midsumma festival

Dance Cats, whose experience at Gay Games VIII was the subject of the documentary Ballroom Rules, is hosting Australian SameSex DanceSports at Melbourne's Midsumma festival.

There's more sport on offer at Midsumma. See the full program HERE.

4 February 2012 / Same-sex dancing at Melbourne's Midsumma

A message about an event organized on Saturday 4 February 2012 with Dance Cats, a member of FGG member organization QSAM:

Premier Event: ultra queer! A Ballroom and Latin dance extravaganza!

Hosted by the fabulous Luke Gallagher and Kaye Sera, you'll be entertained from the minute you walk into the beautiful St Kilda Town Hall. The glamour and glitz will be dazzling as the same sex couples glide by. The excitement grows and grows on this night of heated competition with a brilliant climax at the end of the night, the Latin American A-grade final! The couples converge from around Australia and NZ to battle it out before the judges and a very vocal audience, so prepare to cheer for your favourite couples.

The dancing ranges from the glamorous Ballroom such as the Viennese Waltz, Foxtrot, Quickstep etc.. to the wild and passionate Latin events with Paso Doble, Cha Cha Cha, Salsa etc.. including New Vogue and Street Latin. Even the audience can get in on the act, with social dancing throughout the night for everyone to enjoy.

You'll witness the nervous beginners in the Novice events, an exciting Teams Match, seasoned champions in the A-grade and some just-for-fun Novelty events (try telling the competitors that!), where men and women dance together - how bizarre..

During the events, our judges circle the floor with clipboards poised as they study the dancers' every move, it's so intense! Audience members can join in too (at no extra charge), register for the Most out-of-time Waltz, but don't forget your tiara..

This event has been a regular on the Midsumma Festival calendar, proudly hosted by Dance Cats Studio for over a decade. Supporters and competitors come from far and wide to congregate for the largest event of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. It's sexy, ultra queer and very glamorous and definitely not to be missed. Bar and Meals available, strictly no BYO.

Info HERE.

15 December 2011 / NASSPDA champs featured in story on same-sex dance fundraiser

photo Boston.com

From the Cape Cod Times, a story on a fundraiser put on by NASSPDA champions:

PLYMOUTH — Kalin Mitov kept his hands low and snapped his fingers twice. Michael Winward ran his fingers through his hair. Then, as "You're Driving Me Crazy," sung by Della Reese, filled the mirrored room at the Fred Astaire Dance Studio on Wednesday, the two dancers glided across the wood floor — apart but in step.

Mitov led, and they turned and turned, at times with their arms flung open, backward, then forward, left then right. Their soft-soled shoes barely made a sound. The two men — both trim, dark-haired and gay — are national same-sex partners ballroom dancing champions.

On Dec. 15, they will perform at Club Purgatory at 11 Carver St. in Provincetown (info: 508-487-8442)to raise money for the "It Gets Better Project," a national campaign to give hope to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people who experience bullying and harassment.

"It's hard to put up with bullying if you don't have a niche," said Winward, 26, who grew up in Lowell and found a haven in dance when he was in high school. "It's a clear connection for me. This is kind of the gayest thing you can do. If you can do this, you'll be fine. Yeah, it does get better."

Keep reading HERE.

"Ballroom Rules" now available for viewing outside of Australia

Ballroom Rules, a documentary about same-sex dancers preparing for Gay Games VIII, premiered on Australian TV earlier this week.

The broadcast was a great success, and now viewers outside Australia can view the film online.


Artscape - Ballroom Rules A group of Australian gay and lesbian ballroom dancers battle homophobia, injury and personal dramas to compete in the world's biggest same-sex dancesport competition.

Ballroom dancing is the ultimate traditional sport. With a reputation for being overtly heterosexual and inflexible rules that specifically bar same-sex couples from competitions, it should be the last sport on earth in which gay men and lesbians would participate. But at a small studio in Melbourne a passionate group of same sex ballroom dancers is defying the rules.

Anny Salerni is the owner of Melbourne's only gay and lesbian ballroom dancing studio, and is the driving force behind the art of same-sex ballroom dancing in Australia. Anny has been threatened in the past by the governing body for ballroom dancing in Australia but she is determined to provide a safe space for her students to dance.

Banned from the mainstream, Anny and her students have limited opportunity to compete. So they must look overseas to find bigger competitions in order to improve. The world's biggest same sex dancesport competition is about to be held at the Gay Games in Cologne, Germany. Anny and her students make the decision to travel half way around the world to take on the world's best same sex dancers.

Same-sex dancers say "It Gets Better"

The same-sex dance community with FGG member organization NASSPDA have made a video for the "It Gets Better" project.

Note the Gay Games VIII medals on those Team San Francisco dancers!

View it below, and visit our "It Gets Better" page HERE.

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