The Ask Me to Dance Project

Psst. Looking for information on our fundraiser? Head over here.

What We’re Doing

Men don’t always lead. Women don’t always follow. And plenty of people aren’t men or women. So why do we use gender presentation to pick our dance partners?

The Ask Me To Dance Project wants to de-couple the traditional association of gender and dance role by providing dancers a visual reminder and communication tool: wristbands. AMTD encourages dancers to wear wristbands that say "ask me to LEAD" or "ask me to FOLLOW" (or both!).

Wristbands are provided at a reduced rate to events so that they’re easily accessible to attendees.

Why It Matters

You might be wondering why this matters. After all, we can just assume that men lead and women follow, and then if anybody is an exception to the rule, they’ll tell us. Right? Why should you have to bother with wristbands?Quick gut check: if every time you were asked to dance, your partner specifically positioned their self in the role you had been expecting to do, how would you feel? Would you be excited to go out dancing again?

If your options are to mark yourself as different by adding something to your outfit that no one wears or do extra work each night to get your role correctly identified until you’re known to the community...what do you do?

How to Participate

The first set of wristbands were distributed at North Star Blues and Blues Muse. If you want some wristbands, for your own scene or event, you’re in luck! Until Wednesday, March 15 at 7 p.m. CDT, you can donate to our fundraiser campaign, and we'll send you a set of 200 wristbands.

Get Wristbands!