QUEER DANCE-OLD TRADITION BECOMES MODERN GENDER ISSUE

In Sweden couple dancing as intangible cultural heritage faces new challenges as it meets a modern society with needs and political intentions of today. Old traditional couple dancing - which has been preserving old gender patterns while those patterns have changed in the society in general - is now about to change since people outside the heterosexual norm use traditional couple dances in a new way. The queer dance movement has grown stronger in Sweden since it first occurred about ten years ago. For some dancers it seems to be about stepping outside the heterosexual norm when dancing, for others queer dance seems to be a part of a broader political activism,, not only concerning dance.