Beth Spotswood: ‘Fat’ people can dance, too, and be proud of it

The audience was hours away from being welcomed inside the Laney College theater in Oakland, but backstage, the performers of emFATic DANCE were already having a fantastic time. Seven dancers, all of whom self-identify as “fat,” pulled on flesh-colored dance tights and applied bright eyeshadow. Water bottles and lipstick tubes were scattered across a table, and one performer adjusted her blonde acrylic wig until it was just right. The dancers, clearly close friends, shared hilarious intimacies and asked about each others’ kids. That brightly lit space, crowded with laughter, was filled with wisdom and hairspray.