Dances and Genders: Ethnography in a Dance Group with Travestis and Trans Women in Sao Paulo

Abstract

This paper aims to portray the possibilities of existence and performativity based on observation and participation in a dance workshop in the Transamigas group, aimed at travestis and trans women in the city of São Paulo. During the meetings and conversations with the participants, there was a common speech about the search for the body of a “real woman”, which meets the discourse and biomedical technologies that provide a status of legitimacy of certain bodies and experiences. The paper shows that practices, technologies and policies must be rethought to consider the multiplicity of trans and transvestite experiences.