This is the summer of “Trans Audacity,” with multiple festivals by and for trans, non-binary, gender non-conforming and neurodiverse movement artists taking place this season. On August 1-2, co-producers Such Creatures, Reminiscent Circus and Synapse Arts present their inaugural festival, Chicago Trans Movement Fest & Queer Pride Cabaret, featuring workshops by leading movement educators the first day and thrilling performances the second. The event takes place at Aloft Circus Arts, a beautiful cathedral-turned-circus gymnasium in Logan Square, considered by many to be a sanctuary for queer artists.
The festival is another step towards Such Creature’s goal of “expanding the scope of queer and disabled artistic narratives through movement experiment and performance.” Formed in 2020 by Luke Greeff and Ashaand Simone, two trans and gender non-conforming movement artists, as a platform for their artistic work, it soon became apparent that they could do more. “We’ve seen a ramp up of targeting the trans community,” says Greeff, “cutting off our access to resources—not just art but healthcare, legal, etc.—the urgency has become clearer and clearer.” Greeff says that the festival is both an outlet for artists as well as an entry point for gender non-conforming folks who have no somatic experience but are interested in learning to use a combination of dance and circus arts as an outlet for joy, euphoria and empowerment.
The Queer Pride Cabaret is an evening of fierceness, virility, “fuckery,” joy and difficult conversations. The diverse lineup was curated by Greeff Kristi Alyssa, co-producer and founder of Reminiscent Circus, to bridge the gap between dance, burlesque and circus arts—like clowning, juggling, aerial dance and acrobatics. Performers include Greeff, Alyssa, Kai Tide, Princess Zazina, Benjy Radinsky, Sunny Haelstorm, Zack Herzig and Dawn Heilung and hosted by the bombastic “Master of Chaos” and embodiment of the punk ethos, Goldgrrl. Behind the spectacle of the performers lies a deeper message. “The goal is to show a diversity of experience, not one note or type of identity,” says Greeff on how the lineup is like a metaphor of the lived experiences of queer folks. “It’s not all fun and games but also not all tragedy.”
Cabaret has an interesting reputation in the dance world, both as a historic platform for artists and as a kooky offshoot of traditional theater practices, but Greeff sees things differently. “I see cabaret within the concert dance world,” says Greeff, “and the circus world as well, where queer artists are asked to water themselves down, or to mask themselves as more palatable or agreeable or easier to resonate with for cis, straight audiences, mostly coming from cis, straight curators. With Queer Pride Cabaret, we wanted to act in opposition to that, and say, ‘No, really. You want to juggle dildos? Please, we invite you to juggle dildos on our stage. You want to make a political piece that is also slightly clowning and a little bit of puppetry? We love that. We don’t ask our performers to fit a certain mold or to prove themselves worthy of a specific audience; we are creating work by queer folks for queer folks.”
The workshops on the first day of the festival provide an opportunity to sample from a smorgasbord of dance and circus skills. Some of the class titles are straightforward—“Absolute Beginner Trapeze” with Glenna, “Vogueing 101” with D Chameleon—others are more enigmatic, like “Anarchist Apparatus,” where Lulu Walkowicz explores how equipment used by circus performers to execute acrobatic and artistic acts can be used in nontraditional and creative ways. A good way to start the day is to limber up with “Gender Bending: A Somatic Flexibility Workshop,” conducted by Raven See, who uses contortion and flexibility practices to explore the limits of each individual body. “Contortion is an inherently queer practice,” says See, “that questions our ideas of ‘what is a normal body?’ and ‘how should a body move as expected by our society?’ or ‘what is a superhuman body?’ or ‘a subhuman body?’ I think that contortion queers all those expectations and allows all of us to ask more questions of what our bodies are capable of.”
“Trans Dance Connect,” hosted by Reign Drop, is a contemporary dance class designed for trans folks and their allies who are either returning to dance after time off or are trying something that they may have always wanted to do. “There are so many dance spaces that are very exclusionary,” says Reign Drop, “especially to trans and gender nonconforming folks, whose bodies don’t look the way people think a dance body should look, specifically in more traditional spaces.” “Trans Dance Connect” creates an environment that is non-ableist and body-positive that is also trauma-informed (understanding that experiencing traumatic events can have lasting impacts on individuals). The class begins with a verbal check-in and Laban movement analysis on the floor, then a “reclaiming” of ballet and modern technique, followed by a cathartic, emotional dance combination and concluding with the pull of a tarot card to inspire an improvisational prompt.
Although the goal of the festival is to “create work by queer folks for queer folks,” that does not mean the event is exclusionary. “We invite ‘accomplices’ to join us, even if you do not identify within the queer or trans community,” says Greeff. “We want you to be here; we want you to uplift and elevate our art leaders; we want you to partake in this community. This is not an exclusive event, and the community involves you, too.”
While political hacks and pot-stirring online “influencers” seek to ostracize trans, non-binary, gender non-conforming and neurodivergent people from society, the Chicago Trans Movement Fest & Queer Pride Cabaret brings people together to celebrate their shared humanity and the unique traits that makes each individual special.
Chicago Trans Movement Festival & Queer Pride Cabaret runs Aug. 1-2 at Aloft Circus Arts, 3324 W Wrightwood. For tickets, workshop schedule and more information, click the event page here.
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