Embodied Coming-out Stories

This paper looks at how a clinician can use dance/movement therapy-based choreography and performance to promote protective factors for the queer community using coming-out stories. Rich literature already exists around coming-out and embodied narratives. The literature around coming out encompasses themes around identity, effects of oppressive systems, activism, and social connections. These themes can become risk or protective factors based on an individual's contexts and experiences. Interestingly, choreography and performance literature show that therapeutically embodied narratives promote identity development, activism, empowerment, and social connection through externalization and expression. The literature reveals that the goals or desired protective factors around coming out align with the outcomes of using choreography and performance therapeutically. Because no current literature ties these themes together, my project aims to fill the gap through a workshop and choreographed presentation. The workshop was developed using elements from the literature and included an introduction, warm-up, safe-space anchor, choreographing your coming-out story, performance, and a debrief. From the four attendees, themes arose, such as empowerment, catharsis, expression, peace, and connection to the queer identity. The responses from the attendees demonstrate that the workshop created space for protective factors surrounding coming-out stories to blossom. In the future, this work can be brought to the larger queer community to increase positive impact on the mental health. It can also be brought to dance/movement therapists as a tool for working with the LQBTQIA+ community.