June may be Pride month, but the “Chicago Trans Movement Festival and Queer Pride Cabaret” proved that celebrating the queer community within the dance world cannot be confined to a mere thirty days. Produced by Such Creatures, Synapse Arts, Reminiscent Circus, and Karma Carnelian at Aloft Circus Arts on July 17-19, a weekend of classes and programs culminated in a performance rife with grandeur and flair, confidence, sparkles, and a feeling of oneness. Despite the name, it was made clear early on that all members of the LGBTQ+ community were represented and welcomed.
Hostess GoldGrrl guided us through the program, and she provided all the levity one would expect in a show about celebration and unity. Aerialists Annen Hermanson and Eliza Blaise opened with “Lyra.” Entering through the crowd, they smoothly make their way over to a single hoop suspended in the air, their faces lit up with bright smiles. Their legs split and their limbs weave into abstract shapes hanging high in the sky. It’s a marvel to see both bodies occupy such a small space and still execute such large, grand movements.
Princess Zazina followed with more aerial splendor, suspended on a length of elegant turquoise silk and wearing white fabric, a soft vision in contrast to the sharp message of the piece. It didn’t simply focus on mental health (a popular topic in dance recently) but specifically its relationship in the history of queerness, how only after centuries of persecution did science finally stop saying something was wrong with a person who was not heterosexual. Unlike the joyous smiles of the previous duet, Princess Zazina had an expression of paranoia. She remained controlled, elegant, and even daring—Multiple times, she executed drops only to catch herself in the silks—to compose a work that is both insightful and imaginative.
For safety reasons, one cannot name this next performer aside from their pronouns; however, one can say that their work was an excerpt from a piece choreographed by INSÉKTA, titled “MATADORA.” A lone figure enters and sits on a chair, arms folded. From this moody demeanor, they stand and transform into a pageant queen (Ms. Venezuela to be exact). They strut, wave, and smile at the audience before contorting their body as the music becomes distorted. Removing an article from their costume, they expertly incorporate it into their choreography by humorously stuffing it into their top and bottoms, then bouncing and shaking the newly enlarged body parts. In contrast, they also wrap the garment around their face, their breathing becoming labored, as creepy fun-house-sounding music wriggled from the speakers.
“Feral Fruits” features dancers Luke Virgilio and Emil Holt in the most technical modern dance performance of the night. To light but funky music, the duet showcased movement that’s not just joyous, but also intimate, vulnerable, and sensual. Many moments leave one awestruck, as when one dancer stands on the other’s shoulders while the latter transitions smoothly to standing on their knees. When the pair dance on a chair together is when their tenderness and sensuality really shines; they trade off straddling one another, removing their tops, their foreheads connected—They seal the deal with a passionate kiss, queer love at its finest.
In “Incubator,” Rodney! wearing a shirt that read “I was born today” and draped in a long white garment, entered the space with a pedestrian walk. They laid the garment in a circle on the ground, a simple but powerful gesture due to the historical and cultural significance of dance and music circles for people of color (think freestyle-dance “cyphers,” drum circles, or the capoeira roda). As they remove the shirt from the circle, a new message appears—“What came first”—and they break out of the circle and into a bass thumbing strut that blossoms into a blend of West African and house dance styles. Rodney! ends up shirtless and pushed to exhaustion, and one is drawn to observe the articulation of their spine and the breath in their arms. “Incubator” is an ode to life, embodied in an aesthetic that is femme and powerful.
A final aerialist, Kaitlyn Andrew, had the audience erupt in laughter by appearing in country-clown fashion. The overalls and cowboy hat come off (the latter revealing a tiny cowboy hat that remains worn) as she takes to the skies. Their sexy ringmaster costume sparkled as she defied gravity, contorting her body into intricate yet gorgeous shapes.
Closing the performance was powerhouse Sunny Haelstorm, who positively commanded the stage, accompanied by the music of Kevin Aviance’s biggest hit (if you know, you know). Haelstorm appears wearing flashy jewelry and a blue robe with a giant pink flower but soon strips down to a sexy silver two-piece while catwalking. shaking their booty and getting down and dirty! The climax occurs when they reach into their white go-go boots to pull out a pair of rainbow fans with a long train and waves them freely in the air, creating phenomenal patterns as the colors fly in the bright lights. The colors of the rainbow flowing through the air was an ideal way to close a night of unapologetic queer pride and unity, filling one’s queer heart to the brim.
“Chicago Trans Movement Festival and Queer Pride Cabaret” was an evening of works that were light and fun but also challenged concepts of cisgender, white heteronormativity, and pushed back against a world that has a longstanding history of trying to erase queer visibility. The collection of creatives that shared their experiences through their art did more than make the queer community proud, they became its collective voice.
For more information, check out the event page by clicking HERE.
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