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About ten women are gathered in a dance studio in Paris’s 20th arrondissement, wearing high heels and confidently following their coach’s instructions. The participants have signed up for this “heels” dance class offered by Bouge Avec Elles (Move With Them), an organization that provides multisport activities exclusively for women.
The coach is a volunteer, as are all the instructors at this organization, one of whose goals is to make its classes accessible to as many people as possible.
Feeling at ease
Alexandra, one of the participants in this class, is a regular: she has taken part in almost all of the different activities. “As soon as I heard about the Bouge Avec Elles project, I was immediately interested. It’s great to have a space dedicated just to us. The girls from the organization do everything they can to make us feel comfortable; they are very attentive to everyone’s needs and feelings,” she says.
She came back for the high-heel dance class precisely because it was a class that allowed her to try something new without having to endure the pressure of male scrutiny.
“I was pretty nervous at first because it’s not at all the kind of dance I’m comfortable with. But I still had a great time! If it hadn’t been for this opportunity to do it just with other women, I don’t think I would have ever signed up,” she shares.
She came back for the high-heel dance class precisely because it was a class that allowed her to try something new without having to endure the pressure of male scrutiny.
Beyond the sports activities, the organization also seeks to build connections among the participants by organizing small get-togethers after class. “I also really enjoy these moments when we get together for a drink or a coffee,” Alexandra continues. “It makes it easier to chat and build even stronger bonds. It’s a bit like we’ve always known each other, even though we may have only met an hour ago.”
Bouge Avec Elles was founded in February 2026 by five young women between 22 and 26 years old, all master’s students in information and communication, specializing in media, communication, and sports, at Panthéon-Assas University in Paris, to address a genuine need: providing safe spaces for women where they can express themselves freely.
Between dance, running, hiking, and even martial arts, the organization strives to offer a wide range of activities open to all, whether amateur or simply curious, as professionalization is not among their objectives.
An initiative that reflects a genuine desire
Although this project started as part of a university assignment, it stems above all from an observation. For instance, a 2005 survey conducted by the statistical research organization FLASHS on gyms shows that 46% of women would support the creation of single-sex spaces. According to the organization’s president, Jade Cheung Kivan Yeun, the reasons include “inappropriate behavior, persistent staring, a lack of freedom and self-confidence, or even the fear of being judged.”
Some sports are more affected by this phenomenon than others, particularly those often associated with a certain masculinity, such as soccer or basketball, where it’s all the more difficult to notice the presence of women, according to the organization’s president—except when it comes to women’s teams.
“We’re all athletes, and we’ve all experienced inappropriate comments from men. It was high time we said to ourselves, ‘It’s up to us to create this project,’” says Carmen Castro, one of the co-founders.
In terms of popularity, the organization struggled in its early days before gaining recognition and being able to bring together around twenty women for a single class. The first participants were mainly friends and relatives of the founders, before the organization gained traction on social media, sparking the curiosity of a wider audience. They are now able to fill their classes to capacity. “We’re meeting a need,” Jade asserts.
“We’re all athletes, and we’ve all experienced inappropriate comments from men. It was high time we said to ourselves, ‘It’s up to us to create this project.’ ”
Criticism that validates the project
That said, this initiative has not been without its critics. The two members say they have received inappropriate comments on social media criticizing the very idea behind their organization, accusing them of prioritizing a certain feminist “ideology” at the expense of “normal” sports practice, where no gender theory should be applied. Among these sexist comments is one from a young man who wrote: “If women aren’t in the top 100 athletes, it’s not because of gender but because of their skill level.” Another tries to be provocative: “Well, if I comment, I’ll get banned, right…?”
Others are even more problematic, directly targeting the bodies of the women who appear in the videos, thus reproducing the very patterns of domination that the members are trying so hard to dismantle. These criticisms remain, however, a minority and insignificant in light of the success of Bouge Avec Elles, which now offers more than eight full courses and continues to provide women with a wide variety of sports activities.
