October 18, 2022

Embracing to change the world, with Alex Pacheco Castillo

26 minutes

Queer tango teacher and change maker Alex Pacheco Castillo talks about why inclusion is not the same as belonging and what she's doing to foster community in her hometown of Mexico City.

Producer/Host: Liz Sabatiuk | Music: “Bailemos” written by Cholo Mamona and Reinaldo Yiso and performed by Susanita Peña | Image Credit: Tango Queer Uruguay

Show Notes

Download the free eBook Alex and I contributed to, Queer Tango Futures: Dancing for Change in a Post-Covid World.

Watch Facebook Live interviews with Gonzalo Souto, Alex's first teacher, and Alex herself (in Spanish).

Alex credits Leticia Nieto with introducing her to many of the ideas that shape her approach to tango, including the distinction between inclusion and belonging. Learn more about Dr. Nieto's 2010 book Beyond Inclusion, Beyond Empowerment.

Here are links to sources of the statistics mentioned: >70% of women in Mexico have experienced some kind of violence; >70% say they feel unsafe in their daily lives; >1,000 women in Mexico were murdered for gender-based reasons in 2021, a 137% increase since 2015; at least 461 people from Mexico’s LGBT+ community died between 2017 and 2021 from violence presumed to be related to their gender identity or sexual orientation.

Read a transcript of Alex's episode here.

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By Liz Sabatiuk