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I am Deaf and I love raves - I wish more people felt welcome in the dance world | Anna Seymour

Being a Deaf professional dancer can feel isolating – but my experiences in clubs made me realise I could create a dance space that would welcome everyone

After too many experiences of being excluded or subjected to unwanted attention, sexual harassment and assault, I had come to view those spaces as dangerous and unsafe. It wasn’t until I was in my 30s that I had a series of epiphanies that shifted my feelings about raves, as well as my body, my sense of self-expression, freedom and sexuality, as well as my desire for connection. It was two weeks after Hurricane Irma so we descended some wet stairs into a dripping cave; I felt like I walked straight into a scene from Dirty Dancing.As we danced and moved together, there was a sense of a collective, pure joy, a swirling mass of slippery floors, sweaty skin and salsa.

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