How dance can be an instrument of freedom for women

“The body is a space of power”, defends the multilingual artist Taisa Machado, 30 years. For the past four years, she has been running dance workshops that currently take place in a warehouse in Lapa, in Rio de Janeiro. There, the recommendation is to roll over. with the name of Afrofunk Riowhat began as a research to understand the axis between traditional African dances and carioca funk ended up becoming a vibrant movement of strength and female freedom🇧🇷

In shorts, a top and bare feet, the women work different moves while listening to Taisa talk about the importance of the act in ancestral cultures. “The aim is to encourage them to get in touch with their body and let it shine”, argues the carioca. “The body is not always ours. It is often taken by the neuroses of the pattern, due to the fact that society does not accept that women feel pleasure. We use the information to bring it back under our control.”

the hostess Valentina de Carvalho, 25 years old, has been attending the workshops (on and off) since Taisa formed the first group. “Even the way I walk down the street has changed,” she says. “I started to feel more confident at parties. It doesn’t matter if they’re looking or not, I’m going to dance how I think it’s cool, that’s how I express myself.” The effect even reached sex life. “I stopped caring if I’m doing it right, pleasing. And it flows much better”, adds Valentina.

430 kilometers away, in the neighborhood of Pinheiros, in São Paulo, the speech is repeated in the Marvelous Corps of Ballet🇧🇷 Created by the actress, businesswoman, dancer and DJ from Santa Catarina Graziela Meyer40 years old, the dance and pole dance studio proposes to respect the “experiences of womanhood” so that everyone feels comfortable regardless of their physical shape, social origin and trajectory.

“I often say that the body is the instrument that tells our story. Everything is engraved on it: who your parents are, if you’ve been broke, if you drink a lot, if you eat little, if you have sex or not. He brought you here and deserves to be celebrated,” she emphasizes. Thus, it shows that there is no skill that makes one student better than the other. When someone has little flexibility, for example, they learn how they can use this trait to their advantage. “Each body has unique abilities. So the dance you do is amazing, the way only you move.”

For Graziela, when someone internalizes this idea, it takes power and confidence to other areas of life. “She won’t allow herself to be mistreated at work, because she’ll know they can’t talk to her like that. She will come out of a bad relationship because she will understand that she is capable of amazing things and that she doesn’t have to submit to her partner.”

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the press officer Ana Júlia Castilho, 28 years old, pole dancing student at Maravilhosas since last year, recognizes this feeling. “If I can stand an hour holding the whole body weight with my hands, I can also face a war”, she says. Despite never having felt inhibited with her own body, she says she was shy, interacting little with people. “I feel like I can talk to everyone, go to different places, be a better company even for myself.” In addition to attending regular classes on Saturdays, Ana Júlia participates in the maraviplus, pole dancing workshop for fat women. “Observing your body in a space where other people go through experiences and sensations similar to yours is rewarding.”

Turning Point

Graziela’s relationship with her body was not always guided by freedom and love. At age 8, she went on her first diet. “I heard my whole life that nobody likes a chubby girl and that, in order to be loved, she would need to lose weight”, she says. From 2012 to 2015, after gaining 10 kilos in a period of unbalanced eating living in the United States, the dancer developed an obsession with diet and exercise.

“Fitness bloggers were at their peak, and I copied everything they did,” she recalls. She even took lunchboxes to her grandmother’s house for Christmas. On New Year’s Eve, while her friends were enjoying supper, she went for a run so she could drink sparkling wine on New Year’s Eve. She didn’t allow herself to deviate from the rules she had created. The encounter with pole dancing happened when she was looking for a physical activity that would help her reach her unattainable goal of an extremely thin and strong body.

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Everything changed when he took a class with a teacher considered non-standard. “I looked at her and thought, ‘Poor thing, I’m never coming back.’ And then when she started moving I saw what her body was doing around the bar and I was fascinated.” In order to be able to hang upside down on the pole dancing bar, you have to crush your thigh on the pole. Folds are formed, cellulite becomes more visible. “Until you find yourself doing an amazing move and you feel like a super person for pulling it off. And then only that matters, ”she points out.

Taisa, in turn, has been going to funk parties since she was 14. She just didn’t know, at the time, that the hobby would transform her life. “I never imagined that I would create a methodology that would help the female audience to understand their own body and the culture of the favela”, she shares. “Funk gave me everything I have today. I conquered the opportunity to speak, to travel, to meet people and to break barriers of class and religion.” Although the traditional workshop mixes rhythms, including dancehall, from Jamaica, and baikoko, from Tanzania, it’s the pancadão that dominates the Friday nights. “We talk about sexuality, and the class ends up getting hot. The girls leave excited”, says, laughing, Taisa, who named the workshop forbidden workshop🇧🇷

Despite the explicit theme, care and respect guide the course. “I curate music, just like my job as a DJ. When I think that the sound, instead of praising female pleasure and giving horny, attacks the woman and causes disgust to the ears, I don’t play it. That’s why I prioritize MCs”, she explains.

beyond the waddle

It’s not just while the music is playing that feminism permeates the classes. In the studio in São Paulo, for example, the children of the students are welcome when the mothers have nowhere to leave them. “By excluding a child, you exclude a mother”, argues Graziela, who interrupts classes to pay attention to the little ones.

“If someone thinks it’s bad, we understand that we’re going to lose it, but that’s okay because that’s what we believe in.” Another precaution is maintaining plurality among its employees, ensuring that at least 50% of them are non-white and/or LGBT women. “We prioritize hiring those who would not be well received in the job market and in dance”, she says.

Taisa, on the other hand, is very proud of the network of trust that was born in her studio. “We go to the beach, parties, birthdays. It has happened that one girl found a job for another. There was a woman from Minas Gerais who moved to Rio and sought out the workshop to make friends,” she recalls. “We create a safe and creative environment, where people feel comfortable, sensualize without dispute. This opens up a channel for us to really connect.”

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