Sue Katz
Sue Katz and Vicki Klein dance at the first LGBTQ Ball, a fundraiser for Southall Black Sisters in honour of Katz’s 45th birthday (1992, The Lighthouse).
My career as a leader in partner dance started in elementary school when I insisted on taking the “boy’s role” in American square dancing. My teacher Miss Bocchichio – the only name I recall from those days – got so frustrated with my refusal to follow, that she threw me out.
In the 1960s, the mafia-owned gay bars were the only places we could dance with women in community, and I always led when doing what we called the lesbian two-step. It was more rub-a-dub than steps. But when the police were about to raid, the barmaid would set off a red flashing light and the couples would instantly break apart and change partners so that by the time the cops burst in, it was only men and women dancing together.
When the women’s liberation movement started, followed by the lesbian liberation movement, dancing cheek-to-cheek with another woman became part of the celebration, part of our future. I think I seduced every girlfriend I ever had in my 20s by leading her with confidence and competence.
Fast forward to London in 1989. There, a former champion Ballroom and Latin dancer started teaching in the basement of the London Lesbian and Gay Centre in Farringdon. Ralf Schiller created something dazzling – a crowded room of serious dance students who wanted to choose their own role in the dance. We didn’t want biology or gender restrictions to get in our way. We didn’t want dance traditions to limit us either. Within a few years I would be performing with my dance partner, a 6’2” gay man, a former champion, and my follower. I was 5’4”.
In 1992, for my 45th birthday, I decided to organize a Charity Ball to be held at the London Lighthouse, then the largest center in the world for people living with HIV/Aids. I asked Ralf if he would choreograph a performance piece for the night that would bend gender in every direction. Ralf, Wonnita, Brian, and I presented several pieces – including a rhumba and a jive – to the surprise of the large crowd. We got an ecstatic ovation. This was the first known degendered Ballroom & Latin dance team.
My Ball was a fundraiser for Southall Black Sisters, which since 1979 had been challenging violence against Black and minority women and girls. The rest of the night was filled with waltz, rock-&-roll, and Bhangra music. From that performance by the four of us, Ralf developed the famous, award-winning Pink Dancers, a troupe which has traveled all over Europe and inspired countless other queer dance teams. Role switching (lead/follow) has now become popular, but I don’t switch. I am now 76, still dancing a couple of times a week, and still leading