QUEEN with Monique Jenkinson: The art of drag and the performance of femininity with legendary Drag Queen, FAUXNIQUE
Julie and Casey sit down with legendary San Francisco dancer and drag performer, Monique Jenkinson, aka FAUXNIQUE, to talk about performing femininity, both through drag and not, finding authenticity through practices of artifice, and the journey of a Good Dance Student to nightclub performer, and get some San Francisco Dragucation. *Note- we use the “c***” word a LOT in this episode, so take care for sensitive ears.
TOP TAKEAWAYS
Drag is not (just) men in heels—it’s a rich, smart, funny, scrappy performance tradition that uses the body and artifice to access larger themes.
Other kinds of drag performance of femininity include the good girl persona, and the world of ballet.
Your curiosity is a prelude to discovering your wants—conditioning can make wants hard to identify, curiosity allows you to find them, lose them and find them again. Owning your curiosity, desires, and wants is crucial
Practices of artifice can be a version of authenticity
Balance is the answer to binaries—balance allows for dynamic movement and change between points.
Your strut is the embodiment of your energy as you enter a space, whether that is virtual or physical, and being with your right to be seen with the willingness to contribute what you have.
Please join us next week for a Strut Workshop with Monique 4/28 4pm PST/7pm EST. Details are HERE: https://vitalvoicetraining.com/labs
Find Monique at http://fauxnique.net
ODC June Performance: https://www.odc.dance/festival
Other People and Events Mentioned in the episode:
Heklina: https://www.dragtimewithheklina.com/
Juanita More https://juanitamore.com/
TrannyShack https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468563/
Prince “Cream” https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468563/
PJ Harvey Sheela Na Gig: https://youtu.be/Sjxr_No-yuY
Ana Matronic and Scissor Sisters https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scissor_Sisters
About Monique Jenkinson: "I am an artist, performer, choreographer and writer. I made herstory as the first cis-woman to win a major drag queen pageant and subsequently my solo performance works have toured nationally and internationally in wide-ranging contexts from nightclubs to theaters to museums — from Joe’s Pub, New Museum and the historic Stonewall in New York City, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, ODC Theater, The Stud, CounterPulse and de Young Museum in San Francisco, and in Seattle, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Provincetown, London, Edinburgh, Berlin, Zürich, Paris, Reykjavik, Rome, Catania and Cork.
I have created space for kids to dress drag queens at a major museum and created college curricula. I played the DIRT (originated by Justin Vivian Bond) in Taylor Mac’s Lily’s Revenge and Eurydike in Anne Carson’s ANTIGONICK. I engaged in public conversation with Gender Studies luminary Judith Butler and RuPaul bestie Michelle Visage within days of each other. I am currently writing a memoir.
Honors include residencies at Headlands Center for the Arts, Tanzhaus Zürich and Atlantic Center for the Arts, an Irvine Fellowship and residency at the de Young Museum, GOLDIE and BESTIE awards and 7X7 Magazine’s Hot 20. I have been nominated for the Theater Bay Area, Isadora Duncan Dance (IZZIE) and Herb Alpert Foundation awards and have received support from San Francisco Arts Commission, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, CHIME, Center for Cultural Innovation and the Kenneth Rainin and Zellerbach Family foundations."