Episode 105: Open role dancing and changing perceptions - Juliet McMains

My guest today started dancing at age 3. During her childhood, she took up ballet, modern, jazz, and tap. Her passion for dance continued to evolve, and she would go on to spend several eventful years as a professional ballroom dancer. She won a good number of championships, and retired from competition in 2003 (the same year she earned her PhD). A few years later, she relocated to Seattle, Washington. Although she had experience with Argentine Tango at various moments in her life, it took some time to develop a passion for that dance. When that happened, she found herself making multiple trips to Buenos Aires. While in BA, she not only immersed herself in studying the dance, but also came away with a number of eye-opening experiences. Today, she is a professor in the Department of Dance at the University of Washington in Seattle, where she teaches studio and academic classes. As an educator, she specializes in cross-cultural topics involving dance, and has published numerous articles and books on tango, ballroom, salsa, rumba, and swing. And she has a lot of other exciting ideas in the pipeline... Let's meet Juliet McMains... More on Juliet here: Website: www.julietmcmains.com U of Washington page: https://dance.washington.edu/people/juliet-mcmains Help support Joe’s Tango podcast – You can make a secure donation here: http://bit.ly/2T4woBP