Step Out of Line is the autobiography of Dirk Heidemann, a dancer, choreographer, entertainer, and judge known from several dance shows. In this personal account, Heidemann looks back on the experiences that shaped both his career and his life.
His story moves from childhood and youth through life in divided Berlin and the fall of the Berlin Wall to his development in the world of dancesport. He writes about dance school, training, competition, television, performances, and a career that took him far beyond Germany.
The book also addresses deeply personal chapters of his life, including family and friendships, relationships, his coming out at the age of 17, LGBTQ activism, and the years when AIDS had a devastating impact on communities around the world. His travels and experiences in places including America and China provide further perspectives on a life spent crossing cultural and personal boundaries.
Later chapters deal with illness, recovery, the COVID period, and Heidemann’s reflections on dancesport. Step Out of Line is therefore more than a story about dancing: it is a personal autobiography about choosing an individual path and living life on one’s own terms.
Contents & Key Topics
Different from Other Children
- Childhood and early experiences
- Mentors
- Family and personal influences
Last Subway to West Berlin
- Life in Berlin
- Looking back at East Berlin
- November 9, 1989 – Wind of Change
- The fall of the Berlin Wall
Like an Old Pair of Shoes
- Dance school
- Creativity
- Early conflicts and experiences in dance
- Family relationships
What You Always Wanted to Know About Sex
- Life in Berlin
- Dancing in line
- The dilemma of a dancer
- LGBTQ activism
- The Pink Ballroom
- Dancing with the Rainbow
The Last Dances
- Personal challenges
- Protection and responsibility
- Dancing with death
- Resistance
Dirk on Tour – Once Around the World
- Television in Germany
- Dancing stars and Vienna
- America
- China
- International experiences and adventures
Life in the Fast Lane
- Illness and recovery
- From wheelchair back onto his feet
- The COVID years
- Looking toward a new beginning
Afterword for Dance Enthusiasts
- Reflections on dancesport
- Olympic dancesport
- Resistance and change
- Personal observations on the dance world
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