Hayden Moon, a dancer at the Callanan Academy of Dance in Sydney, Australia, was instrumental in making changes in ensuring that every person involved in Irish Dance is treated with respect and dignity and protected from discrimination, harassment and abuse. This is his story.
From the very first dance class, Irish Dancers are taught to turn out, stay up on toes, and keep arms firmly at their sides. However, the style of dance between the male and female sections in competitive Irish Dance are vastly different.
Most transgender dancers strive to compete with the gender they identify as and re-learning technique can be challenging. Dancer Hayden Moon originally competed in the women’s competition bracket but later moved to the male section. During this process, Hayden felt discriminated against by some in the dance community. Today, he feels fully supported by the Callanan Academy but it was quite a complex process getting to this point in his dance career.
Chelsea
