| Description |
The following writing is a collection of thoughts and explanations of my choreographic thesis project, which was a practice in combining two unique art forms: Drag and modern dance. In this process, I was asked, "Do you have a point of view beyond ‘Drag is good?'" My ideas revolving around my project have shapeshifted and upon reflection of my process and the resulting performance, I have found that in addition to being "good," Drag can be a powerful tool to examine our daily performances of gender. This thesis describes my creative process in combining Drag and modern dance elements, culminating in the performance of my evening-length work "We Gender: And So Can You!" I approached the art forms through the lens of an ex-Mormon invested in queer and feminist theories. I wanted to explore modern dance and Drag because I find the two art forms as transcendent and liberating of the restrictive discourse in which I was raised. Here I illustrate my identity as a repressed homosexual before I discovered both modern dance and Drag. I also investigate self-expression through modern dance. Following my discussion on modern dance, I lay out my creative process of nine performance pieces and discuss the performance at Metro Music Hall in Salt Lake City on March 24, 2017. |
