Why is it girls make better dancers than boys?

In any club, party or dancehall (God this shows my age!) girls always look more at ease, relaxed and free to express themselves. Men look awkward, unsure and frankly, embarrassed! In my male mode I couldn’t dance to save my life! But put me in a short floaty dress, with too much makeup on, high, but not too high heels and crank up my stereo playing rock and roll music (That’s what your parents liked many, many years ago!) and I became a dancing queen. Ok, I only have limited moves, a dodgy knee and bad taste in music but I do try my darlings!

So apart from the fact that dancing enables girls to flirt with boys, allows them to show their personality and basically have lots of fun, what other benefits are there? Well, dancing is good low impact exercise, gets your heartrate up (Ignore this bit if you have a dodgy ticker!) It also loosens up your hips and joints. Men are notorious for having rigid hips with no flexibility. Watch the judges on ‘Strictly’ that criticise male celebs for having no “figure of 8” hip movement in the Latin dances.

So, when I am in “Angie” mode I like to dance. I am on my own, headphones on and watch myself in a full-length mirror. The first time I was very self-conscious. I got a large gin and tonic, and it became a bit easier. I could feel the beat and tapped my foot to it, I then stood there and wondered what else I could move. I don’t imitate anyone; I just move various bits of my body to the beat. I don’t care what I must look like, but it would be nice if it looked a bit ‘girly!’. As someone who dreamt of being in ‘Pans People’ dance group (ask your dad who they were!) I had an inkling of what to do. To be fair, they were crap dancers but at least they could shake their bits about and had gorgeous costumes and heels! I became quite good a dancing, which surprised me! Plus, it was a good excuse to dig out my old LPs from the 1970’s (younger readers should ask parents what LPs were).

Could I dance in a modern club to modern music? No. Could I dance in a retro club playing 1970s music? Yes. Could or would I go to a festival? No, or yes if it was ‘status quo’ or similar.

The feeling of freedom that comes from moving your body to a rhythm is ancient as native dancing to a guy beating a log with a stick. Why? I have no idea, just in our DNA or genes or something, I just do it! In place of a stick and log, think drum and bass with a couple of Gibson or Fender Guitars, creating tribal rock and roll music for middle aged trans girls like me to dance! Rock and roll are meant to be danced to; it is it’s ‘Raison d'être’ as the French say. It is not meant to be listened to on the bus or a train. Dancing started as a means of attracting a mate, and still is as far as I know.

 For trans girls it is a way of expressing our inner femininity and by loosening our bodies, enables us to walk and carry ourselves in a realistic girlie manner. Anyway, Trans-girls and real girls try dancing on your own, in the dark with a friend, in your bedroom, in a club, anywhere! Just pop a frock on, some big heels, have a drink and shake your ass!! You may actually enjoy it!

 Angie

If you would like to find a trans support group in your area, check out Trans Unite website here.