Why I never became a dancer

1995
Emin, Tracey
Like the majority of Tracey Emin’s works, Why I Never Became a Dancer is autobiographical. Emin recalls her teenage bid to leave the seaside town of Margate, where she had grown up, by entering the British Dancing Championship. However, as she danced, she was humiliated by a group of boys chanting ‘Slag, Slag, Slag’. In the video, her final words are ‘Shane, Eddy, Tony, Doug, Richard ... This one’s for you’ as she dances away from the small town world. She recalls: ‘As a fifteen year old girl I had outgrown not just my home town but also the men in it. I’m NOT A SLAG, just loved sex, that’s all.’
  • Artwork Details: running time: 6 minutes 40seconds
  • Edition: 1 of 10
  • Material description: Single screen projection and sound (shot on super 8 transferred to DVD)
  • Credit line: © the artist.
  • Theme:
  • Medium:
  • Accession number: ACC65/1997

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