Growing up in Winnipeg, visual artist Dayna Danger experienced conflicting identities. With Tio’tia:ke, Métis, and Saulteaux/Anishinaabe heritage, the 34-year-old Montreal-based artist described feeling “really ostracized” as she was raised in Polish Roman Catholic traditions.
Danger, who prefers the pronouns they and them, is also proudly Indigiqueer.
As a photographer, Danger strives to create a world in which people can exist freely without having to conform to gender and sexual norms.
“I’m really interested in BDSM culture—and that plays a lot into my work as well,” Danger told the Straight by phone.
That’s on display in the beading of leather fetish masks featured in some of Danger’s photographs, as well as in the creation of other tools commonly found in dungeons. Danger’s art blends sexuality and Indigeneity in ways that startle and challenge viewers.
One example on her website shows a naked Indigenous woman holding giant moose antlers over her genitals. There are other images of women with what appear to be long horse tails protruding from between their legs or their butts.
This year’s Vancouver Queer Arts Festival will feature Danger in its online Kindred Spirits community art showcase from this Saturday (July 24) to August 13.
Danger was one of the faculty members for the Kindred Spirits digital artist residency in May and June, which offered online mentorship to young, Indigiqueer artists.
Danger noted that their art has been influenced by how pornography manipulates bodies through the lens for pleasure.
In addition, Danger is drawn to “performance photography”, in this regard having been inspired by Winnipeg artist Lori Blondeau.
“I say that she did the fur bikini before Kim Kardashian did,” Danger quipped, referring to Blondeau’s Lonely Surfer Squaw. “And she’s Métis too.”
Danger enjoys building items for many of their photographs so as to “have sovereignty over the narrative of being an Indigenous person”.
Sometimes, Danger’s photographs incorporate the type of bold and surprising imagery one might expect in Vancouver Indigenous artist Dana Claxton’s juxtaposition of the modern with the traditional. Danger augments this with high-fashion, over-the-top sexuality that might remind some of the work of the Felliniesque U.S. photographer David LaChapelle.
Then there are elaborate symbols and cues placed in many photographs, along with different shades of lighting, to create a narrative. One photo on Danger’s website shows a woman on the edge of a bed, dressed in sexually provocative lingerie but with a fake beard on her face. Her disinterested male partner is far off to the side, ignoring her, sending a message that he’s likely far less heterosexual than people might initially think.
According to Danger, the Kindred Spirits project reflected the huge need to mentor two-spirit and Indigiqueer young people who want to express themselves through their art.
“It became this really great support where we were able to talk about the different topics that come up and are concerning in our communities.”
At the interview’s close, when asked if there were any final points they would like to mention, Danger responded by emphasizing the importance of making space for Indigiqueer and two-spirit people to make art together to benefit the rest of the community.
“I feel it can become an inclusive thing where it’s not just about us having our own space but making space for all of us to exist together in safety,” Danger stated. “I would really love to see more support, especially from Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, to advocate for that to happen.”
To learn more about the Queer Arts Festival in Vancouver, visit the website. It runs from July 24 to August 13.
This weekend Miss604 is proud to sponsor the Queer Arts Festival, kicking-off Saturday, July 24 and running until August 13 at various venues across the city and online. The Coquitlam Summer Concert Series is also launching online, and the Chilliwack Sunflower Festival starts on Monday. There’s a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks but first, your list of things to do in Vancouver this weekend is right below:
CBC reporter and former Olympian Karin Larsen and viaSport CEO Charlene Krepiakevich look ahead to the start of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. We get a tour of Bobbi Kozinuk’s sound art installation “Language as a Virus,” and QMUNITY co-executive director of programs and services Anoop Gill discusses maintaining connections in queer communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Summer swiftly moves along bringing more activities and adventures to us each week.
Stage: The Arts Club Theatre returns to the stage, with I, Claudia opens Thursday. Running until August 15th at the Newmont Stage at the BMO Theatre Centre.
Festival: The Mission Folk Music Festival 2021 – Folk at Home gets underway this Friday, July 23. The festival features three main stage concert showcases online Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and it’s all free!
Dance: Kokoro Dance’s 27th Annual Wreck Beach Butohperformances with set, costumes, and lighting provided by Mother Nature, will take place July 24th and 25th, on Wreck Beach at the foot of the #4 Trail just west of the UBC Museum of Anthropology
Kokoro Dance Wreck Beach Butoh Photo: Robert Seaton
Pop-Up: Vancouver non-profit, Instruments of Change, is bringing Infectious Gratitude to neighbourhoods around Vancouver in a series of free pop-up shout out events happening this summer.
EXTENDED: The success of the stunning Imagine Van Gogh: The Immersive Exhibition at Vancouver Convention Centre, has meant it has now been extended to September 7, 2021 giving you even more time to see this amazing spectacle of Van Gogh’s masterpieces
Arts:Queer Arts Festival (QAF) is returning for 2021 with Dispersed – it’s not easy being green, opening July 24, 2021 and running until August 13 wth a hybrid digital and in-person suite of visual art, performance, music, literary and workshop events in a dispersed format across the Lower Mainland
Gallery: Interior Infinite, The Polygon Gallery’s first feature exhibition curated by Assistant Curator Justin Ramsey, is on view from until September 5, 2021. A group show exploring carnivalesque expression as an act of resistance against the status quo, featuring a group of 15 international artists whose works span photography, video, performance, and sculpture, including Nick Cave, Dana Claxton, Zanele Muholi, Aïda Muluneh, Skeena Reece, Yinka Shonibare CBE (pictured above), Sin Wai Kin, Carrie Mae Weems, and Zadie Xa.
Drink>: Until August 1, Vancouver Foodster Iced Summer Drink Challenge cools your palate as participating cafes are rolling out their best iced summer drinks to complete for the title of favourite Iced Summer Drink.
Hawaii: For a limited time, until August 15th, take a trip to the tropics as Fly Over Canada presents Hawaii from Above, a soaring, sense-awakening journey over islands.
Mystery: Green Thumb Theatre and BC Summer Reading Club are asking youth to help solve, the Misadventure at the Lighthouse an original script, created especially for BC Summer Reading Club participants, and the program’s 2021 mystery theme: ‘Crack the Case!’.
Markets: For your farm fresh produce and supplies Vancouver Farmers Markets at Riley Park, Trout Lake, Kitsilano, West End and Mount Pleasant are now open until the autumn with Downtown opening this week and False Creek market opening soon.
Rides: Playland is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday to provide plenty of thrills and fun for the whole family.
Outside: Get out and enjoy Push Walks, from PuSh Festival unique audio walks with artists through the urban spaces that have given them inspiration, listen and walk to one of the six Walks now available where you find your podcasts.
ArtWalk<: Get out and about exploring North Van Arts’ North Shore Culture Compass, to find sights, or public outdoor art
2021 Queer Arts Festival (QAF): Dispersed — Vancouver’s QAF announces its first hybrid format festival in it’s not easy being green, opening Jul 24, 2021.
Vancouver BC, Jun 8, 2021 | Vancouver’s premiere artist-run, multidisciplinary roister of art and culture,
QAF is back for its lucky 13th year in QAF 2021 Dispersed: it’s not easy being green, running Jul 24 – Aug 13, 2021.
Join QAF for a three-week eco-apocalyptic exploration of queer experience and artistic expression in the face of an ongoing pandemic and marginalization. For the first time, QAF’s suite of visual art, performance, music, literary and workshop events will be presented in a dispersed format across the Lower Mainland—from the depths of the Sun Wah Centre and rooftop overlooking historic Chinatown, to Mountain View Cemetery, False Creek and QAF’s usual stomping grounds, the Roundhouse Community Arts Centre. Following the success of last year’s online festival, QAF will also have a streaming component on queerartsfestival.com.
Event highlights include: Jeffrey McNeil-Seymour and SD Holman’s visual art curation; a fabulously punk Japanese folk music and dance performance from Onibana Taiko and Alvin Erasga Tolentino; and a reimagining of
Annea Lockwood’s 20th-century classic, Piano Burning, where fire becomes a vehicle for reclamation and decolonization (yes, we are burning a piano).
After a digital-only festival last year, the easing of COVID restrictions allows Vancouver’s premiere artist-run festival to return for its first hybrid format festival. For its 13th year, QAF 2021 Dispersed: it’s not easy being green, runs July 24 – August 13, 2021, presenting a suite of visual art, performance, music, literary and workshop events in a dispersed format across the Lower Mainland; venues include the Sun Wah Centre and rooftop overlooking historic Chinatown, to Mountain View Cemetery, False Creek and QAF’s usual stomping grounds, the Roundhouse Community Arts Centre.
Following the success of last year’s online festival, QAF will also have a streaming component on queerartsfestival.com. Starting everything off is ArtParty! the Festival Opening Gala at Sun Wah Centre in Chinatown on Sat Jul 24, 7 – 10pm. The Gala launches Dispersed in champagne style with DJ O Show! Other festival highlights include; it’s not easy being green: Curated Visual Art Exhibition, from Saturday July 24 – Friday August 13 co-curatored by Jeffrey McNeil-Seymour and SD Holman; a punk Japanese folk music and dance performance from Onibana Taiko and Alvin Erasga Tolentino, Saturday August 7th; and a reimagining of Annea Lockwood’s 20th-century classic, Piano Burning, where fire becomes a vehicle for reclamation and decolonization (yes, we are burning a piano), August 8th. The festival closes Friday August 13 with Glitter is Forever, the festival closing from the Sun Wah rooftop with DJ O Show and a final chance to see all the art @ QAF 2021.
For the full QAF line-up, schedule and to buy festival passes, visit queerartsfestival.com
estival season is underway in Vancouver, minus the communal feasts that have been a hallmark of events like Greek Day on Broadway and Italian Day on the Drive. Damn that pandemic!
However, there is still plenty of sizzle coming at you virtually during the next couple of months, plus some events with a live component. Here are some highlights.
Last week, we told you about Embodying Power and Place, which is a monthlong artistic representation of chapters in the final report of the National Inquiry Into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. On June 15, the festival will present Dances With Our Ancestors, which includes pieces by Christine Friday, Maura Garcia, and Rebecca Sadowski.
This one has it all: musical, theatrical, and literary events, plus a walking tour of the Punjabi Market, all spaced out over the course of a month. Two highlights? Seven-time Grammy-nominated sitarist and composer Anoushka Shankar next Saturday (June 19) from her home, followed a week later by Indian tabla master Zakir Hussain. Book lovers won’t want to miss Booker Prize–nominated novelist Avni Doshi in conversation with Scotiabank Giller Prize–winning short-story writer Souvankham Thammavongsa.
Vancouver has emerged as a globally respected centre for contemporary dance in the 21st century, no small thanks to its breadth of talent. At this year’s Dancing on the Edge Festival, there will be commissioned works by Ouro Collective, Raven Spirit Dance, Billy Marchenski, Immigrant Lessons, Generous Mess, Rob Kitsos, and Meredith Kalaman. That’s in addition to presentations by dance artists Wen Wei Dance, Radical System Art/Shay Kuebler, Rachel Meyer, Lesley Telford/Inverso Productions, CAMP, and others.
The Snotty Nose Rez Kids, Tonye Aganaba, Helen Sung, Jill Barber, and DJ Kookum are just some of the featured acts at this grand music festival. And if you’re eager to see how the future of jazz might look like in a world of growing racial consciousness, be sure to check out Irreversible Entanglements, featuring the vocals of spoken-word artist and activist Moor Mother, a.k.a. Camae Ayewa.
In normal years, the Powell Street Festival is held over the B.C. Day long weekend in Oppenheimer Park in the heart of Vancouver’s old Japantown. But this is no normal year, so the 45th annual event will be free throughout July before it ends with a bang on July 31 and August 1. That includes a “flash mob” performance of the Paueru Mashup Dance in Oppenheimer Park, opportunities to listen to durational taiko drumming from the rooftop of the Japanese Language School, and Randall Okita’s virtual-reality film The Book of Distance at the same location.
From the comfort of home, people can watch on-demand streaming of Dub This Road with British hapa singer Denise Sherwood and Vancouver’s Sawagi Taiko and Onibana Taiko. Other on-demand shows feature Kazuma Glen Motomura and Sammy Chien; Jody Okabe, Rup Singh and director Aya Garcia; and Shion Skye Carter and Skye Carter.
Famous fathers Jim Cuddy and Barney Bentall will share songs and family stories with their musician sons, Devin Cuddy, Sam Polley, and Dustin Bentall. For those missing the Vancouver Folk Music Festival this year—and who might not have been in the mood to drive to Mission anyhow—plenty of folk acts are available in your living room.
This year’s QAF is billed as Dispersed: it’s not easy being green, featuring a curated visual art exhibition at the Sun Wah Centre in Chinatown. This year’s fest also includes Bobbi Kozinuk’s interactive Language as a Virus: Queer Isolation Stories (from July 24 to August 13), as well as Queerotica literary readings curated by Josie Boyce (August 2) and music and dance with Onibana Taiko and Alvin Erasga Tolentino (August 7).
This one is pretty straightforward. Artists are hired to make the blank walls of buildings look far more beautiful. The neighbourhood becomes more appealing. Everyone’s happy, including the property owners, whose land is now in a hip area.
The festival also serves a useful social purpose. For example, the VMF’s Black Strathcona Resurgence Project is offering a tangible reminder of the Black community, centred in Hogan’s Alley, which was deliberately displaced by the white establishment and largely erased from popular memory when the viaducts were built. The new murals going into the neighoburhood are one way to counter this erasure and remind Vancouverites of what once existed in our city.
Online and in-person events are planned for the largest Latin American festival in B.C. and the U.S. Pacific Northwest. We’ll provide more information when it becomes available.
Last year, Carnaval Del Sol put on an impressive virtual festival on fairly short notice, thanks to its large contingent of community volunteers and to help from the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival programming director Christian Sida.
IT’S WHAT everyone in the performing arts community has been waiting for: announcements from theatre companies that stages will reopen.
The first out of the gates have released plans to host audiences not just outdoors, but to invite up to 50 back indoors again this summer.
In the wake of recent news from provincial health authorities that venues will be allowed to welcome indoor audiences by June 15, Arts Club Theatre Company unveiled a summer season of two solo shows alongside an audio play starring Carmen Aguirre.
I, Claudia, Kristen Thomson’s award-winning tween story, starring Lili Beaudoin, will play to limited audiences at the Newmont Stage from July 22 to August 15. Beneath Springhill: The Maurice Ruddick Story, a musical celebrating the singing coal miner who kept crews spirits alive after the Nova Scotia disaster of 1958, will greet a live crowd at the Granville Island Stage from August 5 to 29. Aguirre’s audio play Mala, written by Melinda Lopez, is available September 1 to 28. Tickets for the shows will go on sale on June 16, at artsclub.com.
Artistic director Ashlie Corcoran said in a press announcement about the Art Club’s summer lineup, “Once the province announced the plans to lift restrictions, which included allowing limited indoor gatherings, we celebrated the news. Then we got busy doing what we do best—creating live theatre! And all this will be done in the most stable, safe way possible.”
July 8 to 17, the Dancing on the Edge festival has confirmed it will host limited, live events in the Firehall Arts Centre and its courtyard (Immigrant Lessons), at Russian Hall (Rachel Meyer), and at the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Chinese Classical Gardens (dumb Instrument dance).
The Queer Arts Festival (July 24 to August 13) also released news that it would be hosting in-person outdoor events later this summer, including the Onibana Taiko and Alvin Erasga Tolentino Japanese folk-punk and dance show at the Mountainview Cemetery in August.
Meanwhile, the Massey Theatre revealed a full 2021-22 season that kicks off in November with concerts by Martha Wainwright and Bill Henderson. The new year will see touring shows like comedian Shaun Majumder’s LOVE in February.
“We are so proud to have made it through this pandemic as an organization. We’ve pulled together one of our most exciting programs ever to bring people back to cultural experiences,” said Jessica Schneider, the theatre’s executive director,in the announcement.
Recently referred to as “A Showcase of Resilience in the Digital World”, the 12th Annual Queer Arts Festival (QAF) continues their digitally re-imagined festival through the weekend with headline performances from critically acclaimed artists such as avant-drag collective The Darlings and internationally acclaimed dancer/choreographer Noam Gagnon in his re-imagined This Crazy Show. With high expectations for audience attendance at these performances, organizers have advised to register early while “digital seats” are still available.
Throughout the run of the festival (July 16th – 26th), the global audience is invited to head over to the online QAF HUB qafonline.ca to soak in the arts from the safety of their own queer bubble. The HUB has proven to be a popular hangout with audiences, where they can register for events, sign up for limited edition souvenirs or catch shows they may have previously missed. But with the festival ending July 26th, time is running out to take part in:
● The Curator tour, Wicked: Curated Visual Art Exhibition and the Pride in Art Community Art Show: galleries can all be viewed online at any time throughout the festival. Just head to qafonline.ca!
Mail Out Art! Renounce your allegiance to nation and gender borders atElektra KB‘s “Cathara Autonomous Territory” digital checkpoint. Part of the Curated Visual Art Exhibit, visitcatcheckpoint.digital and sign up for a limited edition free C.A.T Stateless passport to be mailed to your home. Exclusive to QAF attendees: apply online ends on July 26th!
The WICKED-ness wraps up on closing night July 26th with our Glitter Is Forever: Pajama Party, the final marathon binge of the performances featured throughout the 2020 Queer Arts Festival!
Glitter is Forever: Pajama Party Program Schedule QAF’s Closing Binge-fest | Sunday July 26, 4PM – 1 AM
Get your dress jammies on and grab a drink(s) for the binge-worthy worldwide broadcast of the entire Queer Arts Festival! With guest hosts and surprises, Pajama Party attendees have one last chance to feast their senses on all the stellar performances of our featured 2020 artists and Interact with friends on the QAF online HUB!
Binge-fest Part 1: Readings and Conversations | 4:00-7:00PM (PST)
● Underground Absolute Fiction: An immersive play-meets-punk-concert, inspired by the Polish “home theatre.” Written by Anais West and co-produced by Queer Arts Festival and The Frank Theatre.
● A Night of Storytelling: Curated by Danny Ramadan, readings by local, national, and international writers.
● A Conversation on Queer Mentorship: Hiromi Goto and Erica Isomura explore the nuances of intergenerational mentorship as queer POC writers.
Booty Break: DJ Set from DJ O Show | 7:00-8:00PM (PST) Things are just getting warmed up at the Party, so let’s have a stretch, shall we? DJ O Show will get your PJ’s playful with an hour of high energy dance!
Binge-fest Part 2: Burlesque, Drag, and Dance | 8:00-11:00PM (PST)
● Too Spirited: Embrace your too-muchness with bombastic burlesque brought to you by the badass babes of Virago Nation.
● The Darlings, Uncensored: Experience the unexpected with genre-bending non-binary avant-drag collective, The Darlings: Continental Breakfast, PM, Rose Butch, and Maiden China.
● This Crazy Show: In his Swan Song, contemporary dance legend Noam Gagnon sashays the fine line between pain and pleasure in a fetishization of something glamorous and beautifully twisted: a monster beautified.
Binge-fest Part 3: Midnight Movies: VIVO Media Art Screenings | 11:00 – 1:00AM (PST)
● Rupture Probe: Recent queer shorts rupture normative notions of gender, pleasure, and activism.
Return to Sodom North: 90s Queer Video Out & Uncensored. Time travel with the Vancouver Queer media artists who raged back against the malignment and suppression of queer lived realities and representations of desire. Curated in partnership with VIVO Media Arts Centre.
Queer digital platform Revry creates their own spin on Freaky Friday with the new body-swap comedy series, Life is Easy. The New Zealand-based web series explores the complexities of race, gender, sex and the true meaning of being “woke” in 2020.
The show follows Jamie-Li (played by Chye-Ling Huang), a straight Chinese-Kiwi woman, and Curtis (Cole Jenkins), a gay white man. (Get it? Jamie Lee Curtis played Lindsay Lohan’s mother in the 2003 version of Freaky Friday.) The pair’s friendship seemingly transcends race, gender and sex. They think they’re “woke”—that is, until they wake up in each other’s bodies, upending the way they see others, each other and themselves.
Written by Huang and Jenkins, the series of eight 15-minute episodes premieres July 19 at 5 p.m., with a repeat screening at 8 p.m. PST on Revry’s Live TV Channels; the full season is on Revry Premium on July 17.ADVERTISEMENT
What to read:
It Is Wood, It Is Stone by Gabriella Burnham
Gabriella Burnham, a Brazilian-born author now living in New York City, is set to release her debut novel, It Is Wood, It Is Stone, in which romantic entanglements between women address class and colourism, sexuality and divisive histories. The novel follows an American woman named Linda who moves to São Paulo, Brazil with her husband for work. As Linda builds relationships with other women, she is pushed to reflect on both her privilege as a white, affluent woman travelling abroad and her evolving sexuality.
The novel is available for pre-order now and will be released on Amazon on July 28.
What to listen to:
“Teenage Dreamer” by Velvet Code
Toronto’s Velvet Code.
Toronto-based electronic musician Velvet Code releases their new single, “Teenage Dreamer,” on July 24. The song is meant to be an empowering LGBTQ2 summer anthem to connect with those navigating through tough times. The song’s release will be accompanied by a music video, shot entirely while in self-isolation.
With influences like Laidback Luke, Dada Life, Avicii, David Guetta and Calvin Harris, Velvet Code’s music can be described as ’80s and ’90s-influenced EDM. The electronic artist is currently in the midst of developing an inclusive LGBTQ2 record label, which is expected to be announced later this year.
Both the “Teenage Dreamer” song and music video will be available to stream on July 24, with the latter viewable on YouTube.
What to look at:
This Crazy Show
Canadian dancer Noam Gagnon performs his newest piece, This Crazy Show, for Vancouver’s annual Queer Arts Festival. The LGBTQ2 arts festival is entirely online this year (continuing until July 26), and is organized around the theme of revolution in honour of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. With This Crazy Show, the contemporary dancer wants to examine how precarious and ambiguous identity can be, exploring different gender roles and how the imaginations of children shape their identities.ADVERTISEMENT
Gagnon addresses the perpetual quest for love by revisiting the worlds of childhood, real and imagined, through a bionic woman superhero metaphor.
This Crazy Show streams July 25 at 7 p.m. and July 26 at 2 p.m. PDT on the Queer Arts Festival website. Tickets for the event are by donation and people can RSVP through Eventbrite.
Too Spirited, an Indigenous burlesque show performed for the Queer Arts Festival, was an amazing reminder of why burlesque is so invigorating to watch: it’s all about getting on stage to take ownership of your body, turning vulnerability into confidence. Sparkle Plenty, the emcee, guided viewers through numbers performed by the all-Indigenous group, Virago Nation. Too Spirited was streamed on Queer Arts Festival, with an interactive chat on the side to cheer the performers throughout their numbers. The attendees were enthusiastic and matched Sparkle’s upbeat energy.
While Sparkle Plenty spoke, an ASL interpreter helped communicate her words. I don’t often see ASL interpreters at shows which made me really appreciate this attempt to be inclusive and make burlesque more accessible.
“Tonight, it’s about highlighting and celebrating our resilience. Our sexy, powerful resilience!” Sparkle Plenty began.”When we hear stories about Indigenous women in the media, the main stories that are being shared are of our suffering or being a caricature. We wanted to show that we’re more than this: that sexuality is fun, and most importantly, a healthy expression of ourselves!” While she spoke, Shane Sable, another performer, cheered in the live chat. Not only was it endearing to see performers support each other, but in this case, it helped the show reach beyond the screen. Sparkle Plenty’s words were powerful ones, and prepared me for the bombastic, beautiful displays of sexuality that I was about to witness. These acts also made me happy about having the option of tipping each performer.
The first number was performed by RainbowGlitz, and Sparkle Plenty introduced her performance as commentary on tradition through a colonial lens, and true tradition that embraces being naked. RainbowGlitz entered the stage in a crow costume, shuffling to an insistent drum beat. Then, hiding behind a stage prop, she dropped the crow head and reappeared in heels to the tune of Demi Lovato’s “Sorry Not Sorry.” She proceeded to strut and writhe on stage, a complete 180 to the first half of the performance. By the time she left the stage, she was confidently exposing her breasts. Admittedly, not hearing the audience’s cheers after each performance was unusual, but I could hear the other performers encourage the stage performer which felt heartwarming.
Next, Sparkle Plenty performed in a long coral number, slowly stripping her gloves with a brilliant and sassy smile. What I loved about Sparkle Plenty’s performance was that she stripped her hair extensions, and was handed a second ponytail by a person off stage, proceeding to dance wildly with her hair extensions. Her glee was contagious, and I found myself beaming as I watched her. She later said in an exasperated tone, “The moral of the story is, ‘pin your damn wig in’.”
What really made a lasting impression was the third number, performed by Lynx Chase. The song in the background was considerably slower, which showed off Lynx’s control as a pole dancer. I watched in awe as she wound down the pole, seemingly glued to it by her waist and thighs. Every movement seemed smooth and intentional, and I was absolutely mesmerized. In addition, I was struck by Sparkle Plenty’s comments after Lynx’s performance, “Pole dancing has become more popular in the mainstream, and we’re seeing people try to brand it as ‘sexy fitness.’ Never forget that strip culture was birthed by black strippers and sex workers, show your fucking gratitude!”
The show was filled with incredible performances and commentary, with a notable theme of 70s style costuming. Watching the performers embrace their body unabashedly served — as burlesque often does — as a wonderful reminder for me to be more kind to my own. I highly recommend checking out the video recording here if you’re looking for a fun way to spend your night and to support some gorgeous and talented Indigenous babes. Queer Arts Festival will also be streaming the show for a second time on July 26, and will be offering a variety of other events until the festival closes on July 26.
| The non-binary quartet are about to offer their most ambitious performance yet
| Queeries is a weekly column by CBC Arts producer Peter Knegt that queries LGBTQ art, culture and/or identity through a personal lens.
There are few folks pushing the boundaries of drag quite like the four members that make up The Darlings. A multidisciplinary performance collective featuring Continental Breakfast (Chris Reed), P.M. (Desi Rekrut), Maiden China (Kendell Yan) and Rose Butch (Rae Takei), the Vancouver-based quartet turn conventional drag upside down by exploring the “genderqueer, non-binary, and trans experience through the use of movement, poetry, performance art, theatre, and immersive installation.”
During the past few months, The Darlings lit up our dire existences (and apparently offended Facebook censors) with “Quarantine I” and “Quarantine II,” two innovative performances they put together from their respective self-isolations. And now, they’re coming back together for the first show they’ve worked together in person since February — and their most ambitious presentation in the two years since forming. Streaming as part of the Queer Arts Festival’s 2020 virtual edition, the hour-long filmed performance promises to be a highlight of our new digital festival realities, and you can watch it from anywhere this Friday, July 24 at 7pm PT.
In anticipation of the performance, The Darlings chatted with CBC Arts about their process, which they also had documented through a short film produced by CBC’s Creator Network that was directed by Eric Sanderson. You can watch the film just below and then scroll further down to read a bit about The Darlings’ plan to take over the world (whenever the world once again becomes safe to take over, that is).
Watch
The Darlings: Live from Quarantine
2 days ago
11:35
This film follows non-binary drag performers Continental Breakfast (Chris Reed), P.M. (Desi Rekrut), Maiden China (Kendell Yan) and Rose Butch (Rae Takei) as they get ready to perform together in person for the first time since the start of the pandemic. 11:35
Tell me about The Darlings and how you all came together.
Rose Butch: We’re a multidisciplinary non-binary drag performance collective, and as a group we’re turning two this year! Before we started performing as The Darlings, we would work with each other at different shows and parties around town; [we] admired each other as performers and we’ve always gotten along as friends. We all come at drag from different viewpoints that all somehow intersect — PM is a trained dancer, I’m a theatre artist, Continental Breakfast is a comedian and actor, and Maiden China is a writer and activist.
PM had gotten the four of us together to work on a photo shoot with Sean Alistair, who’s an artist that we’ve ended up collaborating with quite a bit, and brought up this idea that they had with Breakfast about the four of us putting together an immersive night that didn’t follow the conventional format of drag shows as we knew them — where we could do riskier and more experimental stuff that we all seemed to be drawn to in our performance anyway.
Our first show went up in a DIY warehouse space to an audience of 89 people, just after Pride in 2018. We had no idea what to expect. But the energy was electric, the support was there, and we knew we were onto something.
Rose Butch. (Maya Ritchey/Queer Based Media)
What is The Darlings’ mission and what do you aim to express through your art?
Maiden China: I always aim to express vulnerability and a keen sense of emotional intelligence through my work, while challenging hegemonic systems of power and oppressive ideals. I believe art is inherently political.
Rose Butch: We aim to challenge and employ the conventions of drag as a medium, using elements of lip sync, dance, poetry, visual art, physical theatre and spoken word to explore narratives of queer, trans and non-binary experience. Thematically, we work a lot with relational dynamics, intimacy, and nostalgia, queering and reclaiming memories. Currently, our mission is to provide the world with some much-needed queer escapism and catharsis.
PM: I think our biggest mission is to be seen and heard — loudly at that. We want to force-feed our audiences pure queerness and make them question every construct they may have about what they “think drag looks like.” Drag is such a beautiful thing, but there isn’t just one way to do it. Drag can cross mediums such as poetry, theatre, dance, live music…The Darlings aim to not be stagnant and never be comfortable, and continually push and express what it is to be non-binary in many different avenues.
Maiden China. (Maya Ritchey/Queer Based Media)
The Darlings recently faced censorship from Facebook due to a live performance they deemed “inappropriate.” Can you tell me a bit about that and how you feel about it now?
Rose Butch: We totally thought that we’d really toned down our content to make it Facebook-friendly the first time around, so when we were flagged and taken down for “inappropriate content” during our Quarantine II show after we’d deliberately tried to check every box we could think of, it was so frustrating.
At a time when there was so much uncertainty around queer community spaces and loss of opportunity as performing artists, having even a digital platform pulled out from under us was disappointing to say the least. We released a video addressing the censorship, and took a step back from self-producing online content as a collective for the time being. Looking back at it now seems like so long ago, even though it’s literally been three months. Honestly, it’s hard not to see the censorship as targeting a group mostly made up of queer and trans POC — if it had been a group of artists with a different set of privileges, would they have been met with the same response?
PM: Being virtual has posed many challenges. It really made us converse and talk about why queerness is censored. We weren’t breaking rules, and we made sure that our content could be viewed by all generations. The fact that our show was taken down felt quite homophobic to say the least. People make it hard on artists — not just queer artists — to showcase anything out of the normal. What we do is uncomfortable, and people see that as being wrong. Queerness is often seen as being wrong. But, if you have a brain inside that head, you should be able to see that art is art, queer or not. In blocking our voices, it made us re-route and re-imagine how to work over quarantine, and how to overcome these obstacles. Art will not stop being made, and it just challenged us to continue making it. Look at us now! Unstoppable.
PM. (Maya Ritchey/Queer Based Media)
What can we expect from the performance at the Queer Arts Festival?
PM: You can expect a whole lot of non-binary energy! We hope to take the viewers on a rollercoaster with this show. We paired up with Queer Based Media, and all I can say is the footage is hot. Hopefully you will shed a tear, laugh, and feel emotionally exhausted at the end of the hour!
Rose Butch: This has been the first time we’ve worked on a show in person since February, and the fact that one of our members (me) is physically distancing within the group has played into the creation process, so that’s something that you may pick up on. The QAF have also provided us with ASL interpretation, and we’ve been excited to collaborate on a show that’s more accessible to everyone. You can expect fantasy, lots of big feelings, and, in the spirit of Pride, some good old-fashioned resistance.
Maiden China: This is the largest project the four of us have ever worked on. Coming out of the restricted circumstances of the initial phases of quarantine that led us to create Quarantine I & II, we are all so thrilled to be back in a physical space together and pushing our boundaries with regard to our form. Rose, PM, and Continental blow me away every time they perform, and this Queer Arts Festival film is a testament to their creative excellence.
Continental Breakfast. (Maya Ritchey/Queer Based Media)
Where do you want to take The Darlings into the future?
PM: I would love for The Darlings [to be] on ice or in outer space. That would be ideal. But for now, I think we want to really work as a collective on creating great content, and hit as many stages as we can. I (personally) would love more opportunities to tour with this amazing group of individuals. They are my best friends, and whenever we get out of the city it feels like what we are doing is stretching farther then our limbs can here in Vancouver. Touring makes what you do feel so impactful.
Rose Butch: Hopefully back to performing for live audiences as soon as it’s safe to do so. And then, the world???
Maiden China: Stages across the world. On a major streaming platform. At film and theatre festivals abroad. I want The Darlings to be household.
Lynx the trans-identified Toronto based vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, and producer Lynx has a major love of pop music with an edge and has an indie heart making his style truly stand out. Follow him http://www.randomorder.ca www.facebook.com/randomorder www.randomorder.bandcamp.com www.twitter.com/randomorderband
Rainbow Glitz Part of the troupe TOO SPIRITED – Indigenous Burlesque with Virago Nation Performing at the 12th Annual Queer Arts Festival July 17th
From their website viragonation.ca www.instagram.com/randomorderband www.smarturl.it/RandomOrder_Spotify
Anais West is a queer actor, playwright, and producer, as well as a settler of Polish descent. She is the playwright of Underground Absolute Fiction, which has a reading at the Queer Arts Festival, in association with the frank theatre. Underground Absolute Fiction is an immersive play-meets-punk-concert, inspired by the apartment theatre of 1980s Poland. It invites audiences into a secret meeting at a post-Communist home. There, they join a queer punk band and Lena, a Polish-Canadian settler. Follow online.
Danny Ramadan is a Syrian-Canadian author, public speaker, and LGBTQ+ refugee activist. A Night of Storytelling at the Queer Arts Festival is back for its fifth year and once again hosted by the much-beloved Danny Ramadan, this time around as a new online experience. Spend a night in with the talented LGBTQ2+ voices of the CanLit scene. Follow him online.
