Some male dancers in Jamaica face discrimination. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer

Queer. Gay. Funny. Homosexual jibes are nothing new to male dancers in Jamaica, still con-sidered a virulently homophobic nation. And those are the publishable terms.

Patrick Earle, a dance teacher at St Catherine High School, says he is disappointed that the art form attracts jeers and sneers from critics who erroneously tag him and other male dancers with the gay label.

"As soon as persons get to know me or come in contact with me, all that notion is put aside because they start to know who the person behind the dance really is," Earle told The Gleaner recently.

Upfront criticism

Popular moves like the 'Gallis' Swing' and 'Dah Way Deh' elicit whoops of approval for Jamaican men in dancehall sessions, whose hip-swivelling gyrations and beam-balance poise challenge every law of biomechanics.

But say leotard, pirouette and plié, and a rasping volley of anti-gay invectives ensue.

Earle said that though he has never faced upfront criticism, snide remarks are never far way.

"People will not come to me and say I am homo but they do it behind my back. I think the problem is a lack of knowledge because persons who are educated don't do these things," he said.

Earle said, however, that he believes a larger percentage of male dancers are gay compared to the prevalence of sex minorities in other occupations.

He said the stigma had caused some parents not to enrol male students in dance for fear of homosexual inducement.

'Unfortunate' label

Hall

Orville Hall, artistic director for Dance Xpressionz, said broad-brushing male dancers was unwarranted, unfortunate and illogical.

"The reality is, there are gays in every sector of society, so why persons choose to taunt dancers?" Hall, a heterosexual, lamented.

Hall, a judge in the popular television show, Dancin' Dynamites, said he has been pelted with slurs from misguided gay bashers.

"It's a different thing once persons see me. They get to realise the type of person I am, so they dismiss those thoughts," said Hall, whose craft straddles both formal and popular dance genres.

"Dancing is one of the things I give serious thought to and there is no way I am going to give it up," he argued.

Hall said the dancing divide was caused by a cultural double standard, pointing out that the leotards worn by classical dancers were similar to the body-hugging attire donned by men at dancehall sessions, who are praised as 'gangsters'.

Changed perceptions

The wall of public perception is a tall climb, he said.

"I meet persons who said they hear that I am gay and they see me on television and used to ask why I do it. But when they meet me, they changed their perceptions," Hall said.

In the meantime, Kenroy Rowe, dance teacher at Clan Carthy Comprehensive High School, said although he loved his career, he sometimes harboured regrets.

He said the effeminacy exhibited by some professionals fuelled the belief that all male dancers were gay.

"Sometimes I feel like I want to withdraw from dancing because of the way some males who are part of the system operate. But is just my love for it keeping me in it," Rowe told The Gleaner. "Sometimes, you have to really wonder, because the way I see some of the guys (dancers) behave in the eyes of the public, persons must bash the entire profession."

Positive attitude

Omar Williams, a high-school student in St Catherine, said although schoolmates sometimes mocked him, he always tried to maintain a positive attitude.

"If I follow the negative things that persons say about me, I would not continue, but I love dancing and I won't give it up," Williams argued.

Some of the slurs that pepper Williams are 'gay guy' and 'homo guy', making him the butt of jokes among his peers.

He, however, said he has grown bolder over time and intended to take dancing to a higher level.

"I want to do dancing, even though when you dance you are labelled as being gay. I won't allow them to change my mind from what I want to pursue," Williams said.

Ignore condemnation

Another student, André Palmer, said dancing was a form of artistic self-expression and he ignored all attempts at condemnation. A professional career is in his sights.

"I don't see why persons should associate it with homosexuality. Not because I have the talent to dance means that I am going to be attracted to men," Palmer told The Gleaner. "I am not afraid of being stereotyped and I don't fear the stigma that is attached to males who dance because this is just another profession."

nadisha.hunter@gleanerjm.com

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Members of the National Dance Theatre Company in performance. St Catherine dance student André Palmer says he does not fear the stigma that is attached to males who dance because, to him, it is just another profession. - File