Why Dancer Dasol Kim Is Outspoken About Her Psoriasis Journey
Photo by Bryan Berrios
For dancer and choreographer Dasol Kim, movement is her artistic expression, as well as her stock and trade. Having fallen in love with dance at age six, Kim has spent her life training her body to execute every imaginable mode and range of physical expression. As a “doer of all things movement,” her body is her instrument. And bodies, as we know, are living things susceptible to unexpected biological developments — all of which aren’t exactly convenient or comfortable, even if they are as common as psoriasis.
Kim was diagnosed with guttate psoriasis in 2016. It’s a rare form of the autoimmune disorder that presents as small, drop-shaped lesions. In Kim’s case, those lesions are small, oval-shaped rashes visible all around her torso and arms. And considering how a dancer’s attire can include lots of skin on display, there’s no hiding them. “Since I, myself, didn't really know much about psoriasis at the time, I felt like it was a condition I had to hide to myself and to the world,” Kim shares with Allure.
While something like a skin condition may not necessarily prevent a dancer from dancing, the lived experience of having a visible skin condition is made that much more fraught by the stigmas surrounding its misconceptions. For Kim, one impactful misconception she recalls was that her peers believed her psoriasis to be contagious. “I remember some of my peers, when I first got diagnosed, were afraid to come near me,” she says.
Stigmas can make having a common skin condition an isolating experience, even in one’s own body. Having worked hard at her craft, it was disheartening for Kim, who felt that her skin condition obscured her talents. “I could try to be the best dancer I could be,” she says, “[but] it wouldn't matter since my body wasn't pleasant to look at.” Dancers' bodies are often held to stringent physical ideals that include their aesthetics as much as their physical capabilities and artistry. And while it shouldn’t, psoriasis’s stigma may potentially elicit a more critical eye from viewers and judges. Having a performance-based job is stressful enough without having to worry about being misjudged for a common skin condition.
One way Kim found to get ahead of those concerns has been to own her skin — on her terms. She is public about her psoriasis on her social media, talking openly about something that affects many people in the dance community. “I had taken a photo of myself in a tank top, my psoriasis visible, and I decided to post it on Instagram,” Kim says. “It was the first time I publicly announced I have guttate psoriasis. And I think that was the first time I truly accepted it for myself.”
Kim talks openly about her psoriasis in hopes that it helps others to talk about their bodies with confidence, as well. Doing so was a way for her to take accountability for her body on her terms, in all its fullness, she explains. “I got tired of hiding not only to the world, but to myself. That's when I realized this is my skin, this is my home. I need to nurture [it], I need to give it love.”
Accepting her body not only gave her a sense of empowerment, but also freedom from feeling as though she had to hide. “I think the aspect of having people witness it is a way I can proclaim to the world: This is who I am,” Kim shares. “I feel very seen, very visible, and yet at the same time, I feel very untouchable and invincible.”
Our skin is our body’s most superficial layer, and because of that, it bears the brunt of so many outside influences. It protects us physically, but we can sometimes forget its vulnerabilities to unseen forces, too. “When I’m performing, I’m reminded that my body is my home. And when I’m performing, I’m the most connected to my body; I’m the most connected to myself,” she says. Kim says she sees herself and her skin as a reflection of her mother, her grandmother, her future 75-year-old self as a dancer, and even her six-year-old self who fell in love with dance to begin with.
“As a dancer, my body is always at the gaze of someone else,” she says. “We spend our lives in front of a mirror trying to perfect something that seems so unattainable — this perfect body, this perfect view — and through my psoriasis journey, I've learned that this perfect version of myself or [my] body had already existed.” Self-love journeys don’t always have pleasant catalysts, but Kim’s psoriasis acceptance led to her realization that the perfect body is the one she has.
Read more about psoriasis:
Now, watch Tyla get ready for her first Met Gala:
You can follow Allure on Instagram and Twitter, or subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on all things beauty.
Originally Appeared on Allure
