A slender woman runs across the stage and jumps into the arms of her partner; he lifts her into a series of positions then gently places her back on stage. A reviewer will comment tomorrow about the technicality of the piece. The audience will comment on the dancer’s bodies, how fit and what lovely shapes. In a studio nearby, women practice similar technique. They too are working with partners and training weekly, but these women weigh anywhere from 200 to 300 lbs. These dancers are not typical, but they are beautiful and they love to dance; they are Big Dancers.
In 1992, Lynda Raino, the artistic director of Lynda Raino Dance, was working on a creative collaboration with a local painter and large woman. The woman suggested Raino offer classes that catered to a large physique. “She’s the one who said ‘I’d love to dance, but I’d never take a class with those skinny bodies. Why don’t you have a class just for large women?’ said Raino. “It never occurred to me. It was a very innocent idea.” Together the two women created a sketch and placed an advertisement in a local paper attracting the first Big Dancers.
Trudy Norman and Susan Ritchings are two women from the original travelling troupe. Together along with seven other women, Norman and Ritchingstravelled as far as San Francisco to perform.“We got a bit of notoriety and attention; we were accepted, ” said Ritchings. “In San Francisco it was pretty much sold out. We weren’t the only ones on the bill but it was well received.”
Although the San Francisco performance was done in the nude, the women felt comfortable being on stage. Raino emphasized how Big Dance was a journey for its participants, who did not begin the class with confidence. “When they began dancing they came up the stairs shy and scared, said Raino. Wondering what anyone was going to say about them and could they possibly belong?” said Raino.
Ritchings expressed how the idea of a community and nurturing environment helped her embrace dance. “Lynda was really nurturing and encouraging,” said Ritchings. “She made beautiful choreography for us.” Whether it was taking time out of class to let the women share their stories of living in a large body or being able to shed tears in a safe space, Raino listened to her dancers and grew with them. “She had to modify what she did. It was a mutual learning proces.s” said Norman. “She learned as much about teaching large people as we did about dancing.”
“I had always wanted to dance, but had never felt okay about doing so,” said Norman, “I felt way too big to be going to a dance class.” The shape of the dancers world encourages the negative feelings large women like Norman can have towards dancing. Dance evokes ideas of thin women and people stereotype large women as being less capable. “It’s a cruel art form that way,” said Raino. “It has not embraced all body types.”
The key thing Big Dance taught Raino was to see dance differently. When these dancers created shapes there was a huge arm, giant breast or big stomach that made Raino see line differently. “It was so much richer than the thin,” said Raino. “You saw it differently, you saw it with new eyes,” said Raino.
Today Raino and Miranda McConnell, the new Big Dance instructor, are finding it hard to attract women to the classes, as many women find the name Big Dance to be off putting. “I talk to women on a regular basis and I get lots of great positive feedback,” said McConnell. “It’s just when you cross that line of actually separating the two from dance to a specified dance.” McConnell believes that were the classes called “skinny dance” there would be a line up of women wanting to join, but putting the label of “big” on the classes makes things more difficult.
“I don’t know the right kinds of words to reach them, but I will not fail,” said McConnell. “I have to find them. I have to figure out a way to get them to say ‘It’s okay, this is me’.” Norman sympathizes with McConnell. She believes that large women have trouble being in their bodies, contributing to their hesitation to participate in Big Dance. Although this may be the case, Norman believes that dance is best way for large women to learning to manage and be in their bodies.
The name Big Dance didn’t stop Susan Ritchings from participating in the experience. “I was 40 at the time, so I had been used to living in a large body,” said Ritchings. “Big Dance didn’t necessarily bring to mind big women, it was just kind of an expansive big idea.” Ritchings got involved in Big Dance because she had always wanted to try dancing. Having been athletic in her youth, playing both tennis and grass hockey, she believed Big Dance would be a fun place to start the dance experience. Norman was not affected by the name choice either; instead the experience of seeing women of her size helped her join Big Dance. “I went up the stairs to her studio and saw several large women who were about my size and I knew I was in the right place,” said Norman.
McConnell has been teaching the art of belly dance to women in Victoria through her belly dance studio, Cerise Fantasy Belly Dance. McConnell originally danced in her mother in laws, belly dance studio but decided to leave to create Cerise Fantasy. “ I teach the art of belly dance,” said McConnell. “The best way I can describe the difference is they teach you to perform for the crowd, I teach you to perform for yourself.”
McConnell builds her classes on a foundation of community. She keeps class sizes small, so that the women can feel a support system and not be afraid to experiment, learning about themselves through dance. McDonnell wants to create a safe and supportive space for her dancers. “A place where they can say ‘This is about me,” said McConnell. “In those moments when you’re on stage it has to be about you, you’re dancing, and about the love you have for the people you’re with”. This way if a student messes up or a costume malfunction occurs they can just smile and keep going.
McConnell’s repertoire for Big Dance classes will consist of a fusion of hip-hop and belly dance. The main goal is to get women to enjoy their bodies for their abilities and to celebrate being a woman through dance. To dance not just for health purposes but also for the soul, as McConnell is very focused on women’s journey and experience while taking her classes.
In 2010 the Canadian population was 34 million people, according to Statistics Canada; of these 34 million, 5.4 million women reported that they were obese or overweight. Spaces like Big Dance in the artistic landscape create areas for these women to feel included in a world that is stereotyped for the thin body. Big Dance classes are currently on hold until the next wave of women walks the Yates Street steps to Raino’s studio. “I would love to see it alive and kicking again; to have a new generation of young women,” said Norman.
For more information on Big Dance classes go to www.lyndarainodance.com. You can also call the studio at 250-388-5085 or email lyndarainodance@gmail.com.