How accessible is your dance scene? Is dance ableist? What can disability advocacy do for partner dance? What on earth is going to happen to your dance life when you become older or disabled? If the whole world had access to dance, would it be a better place? In this week’s episode we sit down with Madeline Webster-Perry (she/her), a Queer Lindy Hop dancer from St. Louis, Missouri, and get into it. Madeline is a consultant and trainer in disability employment and is passionate about disability inclusion, accessibility and fostering dialogue in dance spaces. The truth is, partner dance (along with the rest of the world) caters to a narrow demographic. In this conversation, we hear Madeline’s perspective on what can be done to make communities accessible and more diverse, the value of disability advocacy for everyone and about how sometimes you just gotta be a squeaky wheel. Check out Madeline’s IG @stlfemme and on FB at Madeline Webster-Perry.

We also discuss her work with Charting The LifeCourse; check it out here https://www.lifecoursetools.com !

This week on The Degender Dance Podcast, we’re hanging out with Adrián (he/him), founder of Queerchata and the force behind one of the fastest-growing Queer partner dance movements in North America. In Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver and Chicago, Queerchata is all about creating spaces for dance without judgement with the help of his teachers, or as he calls them: The Queer Avengers of Bachata and Salsa. We get into his dance journey, how his Queerness shows up in the way he moves and teaches, and what it’s been like building a Queer-centered dance community from the ground up. Adrián brings a whole other layer to the conversation with his background in tech, including diversity and inclusion in tech work at Google and YouTube, and we talk about how that tech savvy and business brain shapes the way Queerchata runs and grows across multiple cities.We chat about what it really means to run a dance business rooted in diversity and inclusion, and how Queerchata reimagines partner dance without binary gender roles, and centers Queer connection, and joy. This conversation is part dance journey, part behind-the-scenes business nitty gritty, part real talk about community, identity, and building something that actually feels good to be in and all Queer audacity. Of course, we also had to talk about the April Weekender coming up in late Apri 2026 in Seattle, what makes it special and why you will want to be there (if there’s still tickets)! 🌈Learn more about Queerchata and snag the Seattle Weekender tickets here: https://www.queerchata.com/product/weekender 🏳️‍🌈Follow the Queerchata IG @queerchata

In this episode, Lou introduces Kate to Contra Dancing for the very first time, starting with a crash course on what it is and its roots of Renaissance country dances to its uniquely American evolution. Lou shares some of the layered history of contra, including how live calling became central to the form. Then we head to Lake City Contra to experience it in real life. We enjoy the sounds of the hall, the live band, and Kate gets to step into the long lines for the first time. While we’re there, we get a wonderful interview with organizer Sherry Nevins, who talks about community and the shift toward degendered language in modern contra spaces. She explains why the terms “Larks and Robins” matter and how they helped make the dance more welcoming. After dancing (and a lot of eye contact), we sit down to debrief. Kate reflects on what it felt like to try Contra for the first time, what was surprising, what was challenging and joyful, both grateful we now what a Bouzouki is! Special thanks to everyone at Lake City Contra, Sherry Nevins, caller Elizabeth Monica and the band Old Sock for helping us twinkle our toes!