Cuban dancer and choreographer Juan Miguel Mas used to belong to a traditional dance troupe, but he rarely made it on stage because of his weight. “I created a character for myself to play, Giant Baby, and that was the first and only time I was allowed on stage,” he says. “I needed more opportunities to perform.” In 1996, he’d decided he’d had enough, and created Danza Voluminosa, a dance troupe especially for people who didn’t fit the mold of traditional dancers. Mas’ goal wasn’t just to use larger people to recreate the same old dance moves; he wanted to “create an aesthetic starting from their bodies that were more soft, more wide.” Keep reading »
