It doesn’t get more traditional than ballroom dance. The earliest renditions were recorded towards the end of the 16th century, originating with the Viennese waltz.

Obviously, the art form has evolved over the last 600 years. But an activity that dates back to the Renaissance era doesn’t always stress gender fluidity.

James Repetti is taking a different path. A 20-year ballroom vet, Repetti prefers to be the follower, a traditionally female role. When he was learning ballroom as a child, he didn’t break from the norm. But he always wanted to…

 “I was always drawn to the female role, and was always teaching my partners how to do it better,” he said. “They were always like, ‘You’re a better girl than me, James.’ And I was like, ‘I know.'”

After dancing competitively from age-10 through college, Repetti suffered a serious back injury. He was forced to halt his own dancing career, and focus on coaching. During that time, he developed a close relationship with one of his students, Justin Cabot-Miller.

When Repetti returned to the stage himself a couple of years ago, the chemistry was right. Finally, he would follow.

Competing in same-sex competitions around the world, Repetti and Cabot-Miller own a lot of hardware. Repetti is 7-time U.S. champion, and 4-time world champ. They recently competed at the 2024 EuroGames, which were appropriately held in Vienna, the home of the waltz.

Freshly jet-lagged, Queerty recently caught up with Repetti to chat about his favorite competitions, staying loose and the joys of following. Here’s what he had to say…

QUEERTY: What do you love about ballroom?

JAMES REPETTI: There’s so much! For one, I like doing something and having something to work towards. As much as dance is my passion, the competitive aspect of it allows me to take it more seriously. Having something to work towards keeps me going. It’s like having a goal post to reach. 

But more recently, I’m the follower in the partnership, which is traditionally the female role. I love that. I’m the kind of person in my life, I’m taking control of everything. But as the follower, you have to step back, and accept that someone else is going to do something. It’s a nice way to step back and relax and be creative. I really like the ability to take that step back. I like being able to express myself, listen to music, experience that, and let the audience see what I’m doing.

I’m curious about being in the following role! Did you come to that naturally?

I started as a child; and during my childhood, obviously, I was the leader in the man’s role with a female partner. That was the only world I understood. But I was always drawn to the female role, and was always teaching my partners how to do it better. They were always like, “You’re a better girl than me, James.” And I was like, “I know.” I always appreciated that. I was good as a leader, because that’s what I learned and that’s what I spent my time doing. But something inside of me was always inclined to that role in ballroom. Whenever I watched professional couples dance, I only watched the women. I barely watched the men. It’s always been more intriguing to me.

A year or two after college, I had to stop dance due to some really serious back and other body injuries. Had to stop dancing for seven years. Then two years ago, I got back into it, and was lucky enough to have Justin. He’s a friend of mine. He was a student, actually. He and I bonded and got really close. He was training with me every day, and moving up to a higher level very quickly. We were best friends, and decided to dance together. I was really excited to get back into dancing, but also to do it in the follower role.

One detail I left out was, in the seven years I wasn’t dancing, I was coaching full-time, and working with a lot of college students. I was pushing my students to get a lot of same-sex dancing happening. Getting back into dancing, I was thinking, “I’m spending all of this effort getting my students more comfortable with this idea, I need to get more comfortable with this idea.” It’s been great ever since. 

What’s one thing about being a professional dancer that people don’t know about?

There’s a huge misconception amongst non-dancers when they look at a professional dancer, everything looks so easy and simple. They’re like, “I could do that. It’s really easy.” They don’t realize all the effort that’s behind making it look effortless. I think it’s the idea that something can look extremely simple, but be extremely complicated. It’s like looking at the face of a watch. It’s just the little thing spinning around. But if you go inside the watch, there are so many little things happening that make that happen. 

How do you stay so agile and loose?

That’s a good question! I dance all the time, so that certainly helps. I live in the studio when I’m not sleeping, and it’s rare when I am. I’m always teaching, I’m always dancing. I try to make sure that I get daily stretches in. It’s all making sure I take care of my body. I also work with a functional movement therapist to make sure everything I’m doing is functioning the way it should, so I’m not hurting myself when I’m dancing. Just making sure I’m always doing things in a way that’s not going to injure my body, even if it looks good. And focusing on strengthening, so I can do more.

What’s your favorite style of ballroom?

Honestly, it changes depending on the time of the year. Right now, Latin is my favorite. It’s the one where Justin and I were working really hard leading up to the EuroGames. This year, we started competing in the European circuit more, and that’s where Latin is a lot more competitive. We’ve been putting a lot more energy there, and like most things, the more you do them, the more you end up liking them… or disliking. But thankfully, I like them!

What was your favorite part of the EuroGames?

I love going to same-sex competitions, because the atmosphere is so different from regular competitions… as in “mainstream.” At same-sex comps, everyone is going there to experience and support same-sex dancing. Whereas if you go to a mainstream competition, there’s going to be a lot of people in the audience who are super supportive. But there’s also going to be a lot of people who don’t give a sh*t. Or maybe they’re not supportive of same-sex dancing. You don’t know what’s going on in people’s minds. But there’s definitely also the feeling of, when you’re in a mainstream competition, being one or two of the only same-sex couples at the event, there’s a different feeling of sticking out. Not that I mind sticking out, but it’s different than being in a group of people who are all the same, and here for the same purpose, and not sticking out like a sore thumb for a change.

I think every gay person can relate to that in some way. What’s been your favorite competition?

Last October, we competed at the Gay Games, which hosted the world championships. That was a lot of fun! It was our first time doing this competition, and we were fortunate enough to win four world championship titles. That was very exciting. As a kid, it’s the kind of thing I always dreamed of, that I would one day be world champion. I didn’t think it would actually happen. But it happened, and it was surreal. It was definitely a memorable experience.

Help make sure LGBTQ+ stories are being told...

We can't rely on mainstream media to tell our stories. That's why we don't lock Queerty articles behind a paywall. Will you support our mission with a contribution today?

Once Monthly Annually

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated