If you've ever wanted to dance but felt you don't quite fit in - literally and figuratively - this club is for you.
Fat Girls* Dance Club is exactly what it says in the name, dance classes that celebrate fat bodies.
Steph Soper FGDC Photo: Supplied
One of the organisers, Steph Soper, told Jesse Mulligan the queer events company Hugo Gurrrl and Co came up with the idea for the club because they wanted to create a safe space for women and gender minorities who don’t feel comfortable in traditional dance classes because of fat-discrimination and marginalisation.
While some people may think the word fat is a negative word, Soper says she sees it as the opposite.
“I feel like I’ve taken it back, when I was younger I would see that as a negative thing, a sad thing to be called but now I’m like ‘yeah, I’m fat’ and it’s not a bad word it’s just a descriptive word of a type of person,” she says.
“It’s really confronting to go to a traditional dance class, even if it’s a beginner dance class for adults, the people there of course will be welcoming, it’s nothing to do with them but it’s the whole narrative you’ve been told your whole life as a fat person, that dance isn’t for you or your body’s not good, that it’s something that you should be ashamed of, you should be losing weight.
“It’s really overwhelming to go in and make yourself vulnerable in a space like dance and so this is for those people who have always wanted to do dance but have just felt, because of what society has told them, that it’s not ok and we’re hoping to empower these people and make them realise that they are wonderful and this is a space for them to just move joyfully.”
There are body positive classes all over the world but the group saw nothing here that really filled that gap.
The classes are in blocks of six (you sign up for all six classes) and the first starts 8 May.
“We’re doing tasters, so every class will be different dance form but later on we want to do like a whole block say of hiphop or ballet, a specialist kind of dance.”
The class is for those who need it, the organisers ask that people think about whether the club is for them and whether they need it.
There will be 25 people per class, and Soper will be in each class so anytime someone feels uncomfortable and overwhelmed they can have a chat and chill out.
“There’s no pressure to do the whole class, you can come in and out, there’s no pressure to do the moves right, we don’t even have mirrors, we’re just about enjoying the movement… it’s just about feeling great and having fun while being supportive.
“We know that this stuff’s hard and we know that everyone’s on a different part of the journey to self love and self acceptance and so we want people right at the beginning of that journey to feel just as safe as people who have been doing this for a while who are a bit more comfortable.”
The classes aren’t about losing weight or health, it’s just about loving who you are and feeling empowered, says Soper.
You can find out more and buy tickets here.
