{"id":29892,"date":"2016-07-19T11:11:45","date_gmt":"2016-07-19T14:11:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=29892"},"modified":"2016-07-27T17:22:56","modified_gmt":"2016-07-27T20:22:56","slug":"rio-das-pedras-dance-class-empowers-women-residents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=29892","title":{"rendered":"Unconventional and Inspiring, Rio das Pedras Dance Class Empowers Women"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas\"\"<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“The women here are warriors,” say countless residents\u00a0of Rio das Pedras<\/a>, a favela neighborhood in the West Zone<\/a> of Rio de Janeiro, and Flavio Moraes\u2019 dance<\/a> class is one of the few spaces where women can be recognized as just that. Twice a week more than 30\u00a0women fill up a room at\u00a0<\/em>the Start Academia gym to\u00a0receive more than just a workout; they gain self-empowerment and solidarity with other women.<\/p>\n

A resident of the neighboring West Zone favela\u00a0City of God<\/a>, Flavio has been leading dance classes for over 32\u00a0years. At the age of three, Flavio enrolled in theater and ballet lessons and pursued\u00a0a career as a classical ballet dancer\u00a0as well as a professional actor. His work with ballet and theater, both of which he continues to this day, led him to teach dance classes at gyms in Rio das Pedras, one of Rio’s largest favelas, and Freguesia, a middle-class West Zone neighborhood.<\/p>\n

\"Flavio<\/a><\/p>\n

Flavio’s\u00a0work with dance as a form of empowerment for women began with his perception of gyms as obsessed with the idea of losing weight. \u201cI began to notice that inside gyms there is a lot of sexism<\/a>\u00a0among the professionals themselves,\u201d he explains. Flavio realized\u00a0that common phrases heard in the gym such as \u201csummer is coming\u201d and \u201cyou have to be sexy\u201d may prevent a woman from accepting herself\u00a0if she\u2019s outside of\u00a0male-imposed\u00a0standards of beauty and desirability.<\/p>\n

Instead, Flavio\u2019s classes became a form of group therapy out of necessity. Among the women who attend his classes, Flavio says, \u201cthere are many women that are victims of domestic violence<\/a>, and other women that aren\u2019t victims of domestic violence but are slaves to domestic work\u2014women who wake up at dawn, work late, care for their children, and also their husband.\u201d Identifying with each others’ stories, the women in Flavio\u2019s classes form bonds with one another\u00a0and in this way, \u201cthe class [begins] to lose its boundaries as a dance class.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Flavio<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI think often we professionals at the gym forget that we need to be catalysts\u00a0for change in people,\u201d says Flavio, who believes in\u00a0using the platform of his dance class as an opportunity for education. By bringing articles to class and promoting\u00a0messages of self-assurance, Flavio hopes those who attend his class \u201clearn to respect themselves, learn to respect their freedom\u2026 and learn to love themselves above anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

From the clothes he wears to the strategically chosen music, Flavio works\u00a0to make women feel safe and able to let loose within each class. He often dresses up in makeup, heels, and short dresses to make outside eyes fall on him instead of on any wrong dance moves made by his students. With regards to music, Flavio \u201conly stretches to Brazilian music, because while [the group] is warming up [he] wants them to think, \u2018I identify with this.\u2019\u201d At the beginning of class, Flavio avoids funk<\/a>\u00a0and pagode<\/a> which often \u201chave sexist lyrics.\u201d<\/p>\n