Dance to resist: emotions and protest in Lindy Hop dancers during October 2019 Chilean rallies

Abstract

ABSTRACT On 18 October 2019, a mass revolt began in Chile against the results of the neoliberal political and economic system. In the context of strong repression by the police, different artistic manifestations appeared as an expression of opposition to the government. This included concerts, performances, street theater and dance as political action. In this article, we present the case of a community of Lindy Hop dancers to explain the meaning given to dancing in public spaces as a protest action during this Chilean social crisis. Using an auto-ethnographic approach, we show that hoppers redefined their dance practices in public spaces as an act of resistance to state violence, from a political and an emotional perspective. However, these actions generated conflict within the hopper community, and the legitimacy of such practice was brought into question.