Exploring Swing Dance

RESEARCH TEAM

Our team combines sociological inquiry, literary and media studies to explore masculinity, partner dynamics, and social change within UK swing dance communities.

LEAD INVESTIGATOR

RESEARCH ASSISTANT

Dr. Matthew Hall

Dr. Sarah Wingrove

A Teaching Fellow in Criminology at Bath Spa University, previously a Lecturer in Sociology and Criminology at the University of Surrey, and former Research Fellow on a NORFACE/Horizon 2020 project ‘Comparing Intersectional Life Course Inequalities amongst LGBTQI+ Citizens in Four European Countries’ (CILIA-LGBTQI+). His current research covers areas from same-sex swing dance and queer generational identities to hate crime and extremism. Matthew is also a keen ‘leader’ and ‘follower’ in West Coast Swing and Modern Jive.

Sarah Wingrove is an interdisciplinary scholar, working across sociology, media studies, and gender and sexuality studies. She earned her PhD from the University of Surrey in April 2025 and works in the Department of Sociology as an Associate Tutor. Sarah has contributed her research to the Journal of Lesbian Studies, Modern and Contemporary France, and the Women’s History Network alongside her work with Dr Hall. She specialises in qualitative research pertaining to community practices and behaviours.

— RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

A structured overview of the qualitative methods, video-elicitation techniques, ethical standards, and analytical frameworks guiding our investigation into MDM experiences and dynamics.

Who took part?

What did taking part involve?

How was video-elicitation used?

40 heterosexual-identifying men took part in the study between January and august 2025.

Participants:

• Were aged 24–62

• Regularly danced with other men in classes and/or at social events

• Came primarily from West Coast Swing and Modern Jive, alongside five Lindy Hop dancers

• Often had experience of other dances, including salsa, bachata and blues

• Lived across different parts of the UK, although most were based in Southeast and Southwest England

• Were approximately 90% White British, with around 10% identifying with Eastern European or East Asian ethnicities

Participants were recruited initially through online advertisements within dance networks and subsequently through snowball sampling, where participants recommended the research to other dancers. Each participant received a £30 voucher as a thank-you for their time.

Each participant completed an in-depth online interview lasting approximately 60–90 minutes.

Interviews were conducted using Microsoft Teams, with:

20 interviews conducted by the Lead Investigator
20 interviews conducted by the Research Assistant

The conversations explored participants’ experiences of dancing with other men, including their thoughts about gender, masculinity, sexuality, physical contact, institutional practices and dance roles.

Video elicitation was an important part of the research.

Participants were invited to bring videos of themselves dancing with other men or examples of all-male dance partnerships on YouTube that they found interesting or inspiring.

Researchers and participants watched and discussed these videos together. This helped participants describe aspects of dancing that can be difficult to put into words, such as:

• How particular movements feel

• Masculine and feminine styles of movement

• Physical closeness and intimacy

• Leading and following

• How gender and sexuality are communicated through dance

Video discussion typically occupied around the first 30 minutes of an interview.

How was the information analysed?

Researcher reflexivity

Interviews were transcribed and then analysed using thematic analysis with NVivo software.

The researchers looked for recurring patterns and themes across the interviews. Some themes reflected topics the researchers had planned to explore, while others emerged unexpectedly from participants’ accounts of their experiences.

This allowed the research to examine how dancing with other men can challenge, reproduce and reshape conventional ideas about masculinity and heterosexuality.

The researchers also considered how their own identities and relationships with the dance communities might influence the research.

The Lead Investigator is a gay man and an experienced member of some of the dance communities studied, while the Research Assistant is a lesbian woman and was more of an outsider to these dance scenes.

These different perspectives were reflected upon through fieldnotes, discussions between the research team and throughout the analysis process.

Ethics and confidentiality

A note about representation

Protecting participants’ privacy was a priority.

Participants were informed about their right to withdraw, and names and identifying information were removed from the research data. Interview recordings were destroyed after the accuracy of the transcripts had been checked.

All names attributed to quotes and discussions about participants use pseudonyms.

The research received a Favourable Ethical Opinion (FEO) from the University of Surrey Ethics Committee.

The researchers recognise that the sample was not ethnically diverse and did not include dancers under the age of 24. These are important limitations when considering how widely the findings can be applied and a limitation of relying on snowball sampling.

However, the sample captured experiences from 40 men across several UK dance communities, providing rich insights into an increasingly visible but still relatively under-researched form of male-male social activity.

Initial qualitative analysis of the interview data has revealed six thematic areas surrounding how heterosexual MDM understand and renegotiate gender norms, their dancing practices, and wider swing communities.

1. Wider social change and swing dance communities

2. 'Degendering' as a decoupling of partner dance from heterosexual courtship

3. Motives for learning to follow

Participants all agreed that same-sex dancing is becoming increasingly accepted within their dance scenes, reflecting wider changes in attitudes towards gender and sexuality. Many participants described society as more open and accepting than in the past, and felt less concerned about how others might perceive their own sexuality. However, these changes were not uniform; some participants reported greater discomfort dancing with other men in venues with predominantly older clientele, pointing to both generational and regional differences. The research also suggests that changing attitudes within wider society may be only part of the story. Dance communities can lend themselves towards role flexibility when given the freedom to do so (see theme 2).

Participants described a strong emphasis on keeping partner dancing separate from sex and romance. Through sustained involvement in their dance scenes, this becomes an embodied understanding of how to create a safe and respectful dance environment. Dancing confidently with other men can signal that a dancer understands these boundaries and does not sexualise the interaction, helping others feel comfortable on the dancefloor. Some participants also described using same-sex dancing to challenge inappropriate behaviour, for example by inviting men who had danced inappropriately with women to dance with them and discern their motives for partner dancing. Same-sex dancing can therefore be more than just an inclusive practice: it can help reinforce shared values of safety, respect and mutual enjoyment.

Men’s reasons for learning to follow in partner dance were varied, combining practical, social and personal motivations. Many participants said following helped them become better leaders by understanding their partners’ experiences and the subtleties of lead techniques, while others initially learned to follow for teaching purposes or to balance roles in classes. Beyond these practical explanations, men also described following as an opportunity to be more playful, explore different ways of moving and to step outside of traditional expectations of masculinity. Dancing with other men also created valuable opportunities to connect with male friends during social dance events - especially when there is little opportunity to be off the dancefloor. Overall, following offered participants opportunities for skill development, friendship and greater freedom of expression.

4. Navigating discomfort (own)

5. Navigating discomfort (others)

6. Concerns about 'authenticity' in gender performance

For many participants, becoming comfortable dancing with other men was an ongoing process shaped by ideas about masculinity, sexuality and physical intimacy. Some initially experienced uncertainty around physical closeness, anxiety about how invitations to dance might be interpreted, or trepidations about whether another dancer could have a sexual interest in them. Comfort often depended on familiarity and experience of the other dancer and, importantly, a trust and shared understandings of personal boundaries. Participants reflected openly about how their feelings had changed over time. Some stressed that earlier discomfort was not explicitly about the sexuality of other male dancers, but about maintaining control over physical boundaries and responding to occasions when those boundaries felt challenged.

Participants also described navigating other dancers’ reactions when dancing with men or taking the follower role. Some encountered male leaders who were hesitant or unwilling to dance with them, occasionally leaving them without a partner during class rotations. This could take the shape of an aversion to any form of physical contact with another man. Others described instances of women interrupting dances between men, apparently assuming that female followers should take priority or assuming that the dance was not meant to be taken seriously. Men who followed could also encounter frustration and verbal comments at events where women already significantly outnumbered male leaders, with some female followers viewing men choosing to follow as worsening this imbalance. These experiences show how traditional expectations about who should lead, follow and dance together can continue to shape social dance spaces.

While participants generally supported making partner dance less gendered, they held different views about how men should dance with other men. Some enjoyed adopting more traditionally feminine movement and styling when following, while others preferred simply “dancing like blokes” and resisted expectations that same-sex dancing should deliberately subvert the gender expression of a male follower. Across these perspectives, 'authenticity' was particularly important. Participants valued dancers whose movement felt consistent with their individual style, whether masculine, feminine or somewhere in between. Exaggerated or comedic performances were sometimes viewed less positively. Overall, participants valued freedom of gender expression, provided it felt genuine rather than shaped by expectations about how men dancing together should look.