About
Since 2020, Dear Queer Dancer has provided its services and programming online to meet the accessibility and safety needs of everyone in the LGBTQ+ community. Through centering our services online, we have been able to build community with queer dancers across the world, many of whom are not “out” to their families or workplaces for safety reasons. Our online programming creates a safer method of engagement for many LGBTQ+ people across the world, while simultaneously creating more access for LGBTQ+ people with disabilities.
Some of our greatest learnings about the importance of our work as Dear Queer Dancer have been on the topics of accessibility, convening, and relationship building. We learned that true accessibility centers people who are immune deficient, disabled, have low incomes, and exist in multiple oppressions. We deepened our understanding of how many queer and trans people have bravery exhaustion from being the only ones in the room, in the family, or in their dance company. We leaned into our relationships with owners of queer dance studios and LGBTQ+ dancers to understand their needs as COVID-19 was shifting and changing.
QueerDanceCon is our holistic response to the needs of the dance community. We shifted our programming in 2021 and 2022 to be convening-based because providing a space for LGBTQ+ people to feel safe, seen, heard, and inspired by one another is the most important service we can offer to the wellbeing of the community.
In 2023, we are expanding on the success of QueerDanceCon and continuing to respond to the needs of the dance community and the best accessibility practices for COVID-19. Rather than have one global, digital dance convention: we will have a global digital dance film festival (Queer Dance Film Festival) and an in-person, Bay Area QueerDanceCon, with On-Demand recordings available after.
Sarah Taborga (she/they)
Founder
Dance was Sarah’s first love, justice was her second.
Upon realizing that her passion for dance could live in unity with her queerness, and in collaboration with her organizing—she created Dear Queer Dancer to be a wellspring of liberation, power, and expansion for the LGBTQ+ community.
Dear Queer Dancer put on the first annual QueerDanceCon in 2021 which brought together LGBTQ+ dancers, choreographers, theatre directors, arts administrators, somatic practitioners, and dance movement therapists to network, inspire each other, and build creative opportunities. The entire event was held virtually!
Their background includes being a community organizer, dancer, and filmmaker. Sarah received her B.A. from Mills College in Public Policy and her M.F.A in Cinema from San Francisco State University. Her video work has been leveraged by social justice organizations like Advancement Project, The Utility Reform Network, and Just Cause/Causa Justa to win progressive campaigns.
Sarah’s “2020 PSA” video was featured on the Oprah Winfrey Network in the program, Where Do We Go From Here? Sarah’s documentary, “Dear Queer Dancer,” aired on PBS in July 2021.
Paolo Catane (he/him)
Program Director
Paolo’s work background includes project management, digital marketing, and communications. He graduated from San Diego State University with a B.S. in Marketing and has worked with multiple nonprofits and advertising agencies, including San Diego Habitat for Humanity, FCB West, and Ayzenberg.
He found dance at a young age and it unlocked a path of self-discovery. Paolo was part of a competition team based in San Diego called 220 Second to None, and credits that experience as one of the things that gave him the confidence to come out of the closet.
Paolo joined Dear Queer Dancer to combine his work experience, love for dance, and desire to empower the LGBTQ+ community. He hopes to spread positive change and create safe spaces through dance, in the same way it did for him.