This week we’re talking with Anne Gaskins (she/ her): a therapist, Salsa teacher and a performer with Latin Fusion company BGC, here in Seattle, WA. Anne works as a therapist specializing in eating disorders and body image and is passionate about making dance accessible and fun for all bodies.Anne schools us with her pearls of wisdom about being a therapist and dancer and how these worlds collide and dovetail as inherently relational modalities. This interview blew our mind! Join us for the banter and the aha moments as we cover topics ranging from deep listening in social dance to body stigma in dance spaces🪩

In this episode Lou and Kate talk about one of the topics that sparked The Degender Dance Podcast to begin with: why learning to both lead and follow, even a little, makes you a better and safer dancer. We talk about the importance of ELEF, empathy and dismantling the idea that gender = dance role. Let’s get into it!

In YT Supremacy and Dance, Part 2, Kate and Lou continue their conversation with Tema Okun’s Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture, moving through the second half of the list and exploring how these patterns show up in partner dance spaces. How do these characteristics surface in teaching and dance community and what are the antidotes? How do they live in our bodies and relationships, and how do they shape learning, connection, and conflict on the dance floor?We explore what it means to dance, teach, and organize in ways that support shared power and care, rather than defaulting to habits that have been normalized but rarely named. Dismantling white supremacy culture is an inside job, and it begins with noticing just how pervasive these characteristics are.Join Degender Dance as we share lived experiences, open questions, and the sometimes uncomfortable nuance of this work.

References & Links• Shahem “5hahem” McLaurin: https://www.5hahem.com/• Tema Okun’s website: https://www.dismantlingracism.org/• Short video of Okun speaking: https://youtu.be/kJg2LJihb64• Easy-to-read handout: https://overcomingracism.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/HANDOUT-SHARED-Characteristics-of-White-Supremacy-Culture-original-1.pdf• Original list: https://www.whitesupremacyculture.info/uploads/4/3/5/7/43579015/okun_-_white_sup_culture.pdf

On this week’s episode we talk about the Spotify boycott and why we are participating. ICE recruitment ads aren’t the only reason to stop giving them your hard earned money. We talk about how hard the decision is to divest from such an accessible staple and resource for dance teachers and what other options exist out there that aren’t evil fascists stealing from musicians. Seattle, the birthplace of Degender Dance, is one of the bigger cities that launched this boycott with many local musicians opting out and removing their music. Hell yea! Oh also when you cancel, there’s hilarious/desperate surprise waiting for you. Tune in to hear us chop it up!Indivisible Boycott:https://indivisible.org/cancel-spotifySeattle Musicians Boycott:https://www.knkx.org/jazz/2025-09-05/seattle-musicians-boycott-spotify-ai-ghost-musicians-ceo-daniel-ek-defense-investmentsOur screenshots from canceling:https://drive.google.com/open?id=1g3RMrHWmRMylYN5gtaUnT7NrfloNeEee&usp=drive_fs

Creating the Dance Floor You Want to See with Yasmeen Zahar:This week, we are so excited to share an interview with Seattle-based teacher of Traditional and Modern Bachata, Afro-Cuban, Salsa On2 and On1, and Salsa Caleña, Yasmeen Zahar! We dig into Bachata: its roots, its current politics, and why Sensual and Traditional are not the same dance. She talks about noticing what’s missing in a community and choosing to build something that’s deeply needed, and how she’s doing exactly that with Traditional Bachata in Seattle. Yasmeen brings culture, accessibility, and queer-forward care to Seattle’s Latin dance spaces through Traditional Bachata, creating classes where dancers feel joy, representation, and ease instead of self-critique. We’re pumped for you to hear our chat with Yasmeen and the ways they’re weaving community care and Dominican cultural roots into every part of their teaching. Tune in!

White supremacy is interwoven into every aspect of our culture in many ways that are easy to name, and other times in patterns so normalized we barely notice them. In this Part 1 episode, we look at how those quieter, less-obvious and normalized dynamics shape our relationships and our dance spaces.We spend time with Tema Okun’s list of characteristics of white supremacy culture: a framework Lou first encountered through Shahem “5hahem” McLaurin’s 2021 Is It White Supremacy? series. Lou shares a bit about the origins of Okun’s work and why it continues to resonate. We touch on how we personally see these cultural habits show up in partner dance communities and along the way, we talk antidotes and possibilities for building dance spaces that feel more grounded, more collaborative and healthier for everyone. This conversation is just the tip of the iceberg with a Part 2 coming soon!

References & Links

• Shahem “5hahem” McLaurin: https://www.5hahem.com/
• Tema Okun’s website: https://www.dismantlingracism.org/
• Short video of Okun speaking: https://youtu.be/kJg2LJihb64?si=sZgDDGTIyX4jtqEt
• Easy-to-read Printable list https://overcomingracism.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/HANDOUT-SHARED-Characteristics-of-White-Supremacy-Culture-original-1.pdf
• Original list from Okun https://www.whitesupremacyculture.info/uploads/4/3/5/7/43579015/okun_-_white_sup_culture.pdf

In this episode...well, less of an episode and more of an announcement: we’re taking a little time off. One of the core tenets of capitalism and yt supremacy is that you push no matter what. At Degender Dance, we value slowing down, listening to our bodies, and being in flow instead of chasing productivity. Tune in to hear us regale you with our anticapitalist voices until we are back on November 25th, 2025!5, 6, 7, 8!

In this episode, we talk with Hazel Weakly, a deaf transfemme Lindy Hopper and tech whiz with serious groove and even more serious swivels, about what it’s like to move through dance and disability. Hazel shares how she learned to hear the music through feeling and tension, becoming known as a musical switch dancer, and opens up about coming out as trans, plus what a pair of 4-inch heels can do for leads! Lou and I also chat about our own limitations and disabilities: the funny, messy, and sometimes frustrating ways being visibly disabled changes how people treat you, and the myth of the “normal” body. 5, 6, 7, 8!