Note: This handout is intended for teachers to use as guidance when the students are filling out the charts and is not a handout for students. Each item in the chart below can offer many talking points and class discussions. Learn about the inspiration for these concepts and their relationship to emotions at our Addressing Oppressions through Drama and Dance resource, focusing on san(e)ism.

The rows do not have any intentional relationship to each other. Each column represents a list of possible topics that students might generate or that you may wish to discuss with them. Consider redirecting students from “eating disorders” to “body surveillance/fatphobia”, for example, to help students understand eating disorders as a form of mental distress in response to oppressive pressures.

Feelings

Access

Unmet Access Needs

Freedom

(Re)claiming Wholeness

Pressures

Oppressive Pressures

  • Joy
  • Liberation
  • Vulnerability
  • Frustration
  • Empowerment
  • Insecurity
  • Self-consciousness / Fear of being judged
  • Connection / Belonging
  • Jealousy
  • Isolation
  • Exhaustion
  • Relief / Release
  • Body-environment mismatches
  • Lack of representation
  • Barriers to embodied participation
  • Inequity
  • Colonial or Eurocentric bias
  • Language needs
  • Time and space needs
  • Communication needs
  • Gendered spaces or roles in choreography
  • Assumptions about comfort with touch
  • Being witnessed
  • Honouring limits and rhythms
  • Self-expression
  • Improved self-esteem
  • Building trust through collaboration
  • Honouring the body-mind's signals
  • Community healing
  • Claiming rest
  • Exploration & play
  • Connecting
  • Celebrating body diversity
  • Establishing consent and access intimacy
  • Perfectionism
  • Burnout / grind culture
  • Beauty standards / body image norms
  • Body surveillance & fatphobia
  • Competition & performance anxiety
  • Racism & cultural exclusion
  • Lack of mental health support
  • Capitalist productivity pressure ("usefulness")
  • Ableism & 'ideal' dancer bodies
  • Emphasis on self-control
  • Silence around mental distress
  • Emphasis on Eurocentric technique