UC Irvine

Autoethnography as a research method was used as a creative approach to dance-making to grapple with uncomfortable and relevant cultural issues, like that of Queerness, Brownness, Transness, and Latinidad. Gender and identity issues were explored by writing and performing multiple parts of a soloist’s identity in the accompanying a 50-minute contemporary dance work performed on April 29, 2023. In this paper and the performance personal stories became a case study, focusing especially on the intersections that challenge a performer who may not cleanly fit into a box, and is seeking to understand where they fit in in the current field of contemporary art spaces. The literature on gender, dance, and masculinity was used to inform both aspects of the project. The music collaboration of the dance researcher’s father became the backbone of the performed work to focus on one aspect of new gender horizons, that of men dancing in high heels. It aimed to expand my own relationship with masculinity while weaving a personal narrative into the work, which can ripple into the community to address current or contemporary issues outside the dance spaces.