Features / queer dance
Finding identity and celebrating queerness through joyful movement
“One of the big questions that I have had in the last couple of years is what queer movement means for me.”
“It’s an ongoing question that I have.”
is needed now More than ever
For Bristol-based contemporary dancer Tim LYTC, expressive movement has played arguably the most significant role in the journey of understanding their identity.
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Tim began training in classical ballet at three years old. As they grew and trained, their skills flourished. But under the surface, the well-documented body image pressures that often accompany classical ballet training started to take their toll.
“It was a kind of a love-hate relationship that I had with ballet. It gave me a lot of skills and abilities physically; I learned to do a lot of things that people who haven’t trained in any form of dance couldn’t.” Tim says.
“But along with the training came a lot of body shaming. So I had a lot of body image issues.”

Tim LYTC is a queer movement artist. Photo: Nicky Ebbage for Bristol Trans Portraits
Tim’s disillusionment with classical ballet was growing in other subtle, more intangible ways too; the binary rigidities of the form grew increasingly uncomfortable to them.
“There was also this very strong sense of gender binary within the dance training because of the way that different roles are structured- the stories that are being told in classical ballet performances are so gendered and so binary.”
“You’re told “this is a male role. And these are the moves that only male dancers will do. And this is the female role. And you only go en pointe if you are dancing a female role.” ”
“There was a lot as I was growing up that I didn’t understand. I couldn’t really articulate what was bothering me.”
It wasn’t until they moved to the UK at the age of 17 that Tim began to discover the full joy and freedom that dance could bring them.
“When I came to the UK and started looking for more ways to express myself and ways of moving, I came across more somatic based approaches. I also started training in more contemporary and modern dance styles; compared to the ballet training, it was much more free and expressive.”
“I began to think that there was something seriously wrong about the way that I was taught how to move.”

Tim’s love of movement has allowed them to understand their gender identity better. Photo: Ibi Feher for Occupy and Adapt
This new-found sense of freedom in dance allowed Tim to explore their gender identity and the relationship between their physical form and their own gender.
“Dance was always a thing that brought me a lot of joy because of how alive it made me feel. When I’m dancing, there’s this kind of state of being genderless, or being all of gender.”
“It’s almost like I’m just this energy, like gender isn’t something that comes into play; it’s not something that I need to think about.”
“It’s interesting how I can feel both so connected to my body and yet so not connected to connotations that might be associated with it.”
“This is the kind of joy that I want to bring to other queer folks as well, particularly trans and non-binary folks”
Tim was recently awarded a collaborative grant from Bristol Pride and Bristol-based performance art organisation MAYK; part of this funding is being used to develop a live performance to be shared with the public at a later date.
The lifting of Covid restrictions has finally given Tim the opportunity to share the beauty of joyful, honest movement for queer people through a series of workshops on joyful movement. Tim recently hosted their first in-person workshop with QueerSpace Bristol, and plans to hold more in the future.
“The participants were so committed. I feel very, very privileged that they trusted me and the process that I brought to the space. I want to keep doing that.”

Tim innately understands the connection between gender and movement. Photo: Nicky Ebbage for Bristol Trans Portraits
These workshops are a guided free-form exploration of movement that allows participants to connect with their body in a way that many may not have felt comfortable enough to do before.
“What I do in these movement workshops are different exercises or activities that come from different approaches that I’ve learned. Some are specifically honed in to different body parts, a specific joint for example, and thinking about how you can choose a different way of moving.”
“Some of it is a bit more based in your imagination; sometimes I tell people to imagine they’re a sea sponge moving in the bottom of the ocean, or a range of different things.”
“And you can take what you want and leave what doesn’t work for you, you know?”
“Spreading that joy through movement is like a little bit of like a taster for folks that might have been told that they can’t dance or that they can’t move, or that they move in a weird way; they can find what is true to them, and what’s comfortable for them.”

Tim has begun hosting workshops on joyful movement for queer people. Photo: Ibi Feher for Occupy and Adapt
The breaking of existing patterns of movement in relation to gender is an important part of the process for Tim, who innately understands the role in which patterns of movement are gendered in a way that may not make sense for many queer people.
“Queer movement is something that in a way challenges the societal norms that have been put on you as a person.”
“We have such a complicated history with the way that our bodies are viewed. And then there’s another layer of internalised things that society has told us about how you’re supposed to present yourself- and that includes the way that you move.”
“I felt like it was always like a performance in a way- like I could take on these ways of moving that I could see my peers engaging in”

Tim aims to share the joy of queer movement with as many people as possible. Photo: Nicky Ebbage for Bristol Trans Portraits
So, what exactly does queer movement mean for Tim and their future as a creative?
“Queer movement can mean different things for different people, but for me, it means moving in a way that feels the most organic to myself, to my body, and in a way that brings me joy.”
“It’s where I don’t have to care about what other people think.”
For updates on Tim’s work, including future joyful movement workshops and performances, follow them on Instagram and Twitter
Main Photo: Nicky Ebbage for Bristol Trans Portraits
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