#furvana

So many dance styles have stemmed from a desire for community, a sense of belonging, and an expression of solidarity. Therefore, I believe it's important to retain the "community" aspect of dance as an art form, to prioritize supporting one another's unique forms of expression.

The competition, as the primary in-person format for fursuit dance performance and viewing, is indeed exhilarating, but I feel that it's important to remember that we're all artists first and foremost; art is subjective, so there's a reductive aspect to numerical scoring.

To adapt a post I previously read about sports: competitions are not meant to be fair. They're meant to reward the participant with the greatest advantage. "Advantage" can mean access to classes, disposable income, ample free time, being able-bodied, etc.

We can try to make competitions fairer, but we can only go so far, as they are unfair by definition. I don't think we should try to change or eliminate competitions, but I do think we should remember that dance, as a form of art and community, goes beyond competition.

I believe when we lean too much into the "competition" aspect and start elevating "elite" dancers, treating scores and placements as an objective measure of quality, and overemphasizing "progress" and "potential," we undermine the vital "community" and "art" aspects of dance.

As a disabled dancer, I've had people (dancers and non-dancers alike) tell me to my face that I need to dance differently to conform to competitive expectations, or directly ask me why I don't place as much as dancers with different physical capabilities.

I don't think it's a universal experience, or that it's unique to the fursuit dance scene. But it is a regular experience for me and I believe it's a product of what I perceive as unhealthy overemphasis on competition, for participants and audiences alike.

I also believe that, as different individuals, in addition to coming from different backgrounds, we all thrive in different environments. I don't deny that a highly competitive environment can be optimal for some, perhaps even many, dancers.

At the same time, I feel that such a competitive environment is inherently exclusionary to disabled or otherwise less privileged dancers. I have had SO MANY people, often other disabled performers, tell me they quit fursuit dance because the scene made them feel SO unwelcome.

Where is the "community" in such an environment? Isn't community supposed to be about celebrating the individuality, the unique artistic perspective and experience, each dancer brings to the scene? About welcoming all participants, regardless of skill level?

This past year, I was fortunate enough to take a couple of dance classes. I felt more support, joy and community in one lesson in a studio full of strangers than I have typically felt as a disabled fursuit dancer, and I thought, why can't the furry dance world feel like this?

I feel like the message to be true to yourself, to celebrate your achievements, to not care what anyone else thinks, is there, but the fursuit dance environment I've experienced as a disabled performer is too often counterproductive to actually accomplishing this.

To tie it back to the initial post, this dance encapsulates all the frustrations I've articulated in this post as well as the triumph, as tentative and ever-changing as it is, in identifying and expressing the meaning and value I find in fursuit dance.

Going forward, I'm going to do my best to make the fursuit dance community around me more welcoming, encouraging, and inclusive, for the sake of disabled dancers like me, and many others. I'm not going to be perfect, and I have a lot to unlearn, but I'm going to try my darnedest.