I. The Festival
When I left Mexico City and arrived at Salt Lake City in 2020, everything was closed there and here. No restaurants to go to, no museums to visit, no shows to attend. The virtual events were the only option; though none were as fulfilling as experiencing things live. I knew about Queer Spectra Festival and was curious to have the opportunity to go, but life happens… I missed the 2020 and 2021 editions. So, in 2022 I obligated myself to attend, and writing a review was the perfect pretext to do so.
Photo by Rogelio Peña.
On May 21, I had the chance to attend the first of two performance showcases at Sunset Studios. This festival is more than shows, exhibitions, panels, and workshops. It is an experience built for everyone. From the very first moment I stepped into the building, I realized that this organization has meticulously taken care of its mission. They had created a space where everyone felt welcome: a happy, bright vibe floating around the room, with many smiles and a feeling of belonging.
Interestingly, Queer Spectra has been one of the most diverse cultural/art events I have had the chance to attend. Based on past experiences, not even institutional spaces like UMFA, UMOCA or Finch Lane Gallery, have achieved such a gathering of BIPOC people, white people, LGBTQIA+, visually or/and audition impaired, and other identities together in the term of a full day of activities, excited to share, talk, witness, create belonging — to listen and be listened to. This is remarkable.
II. Videoart/Videodance
G Y P S U M by Jessy Christ was a beautifully poetic and elegant videodance; unfortunately, the light filtrating in the space killed the sublime visual experience this work was offering. For the rest of the videos, the organizers did magic to cancel some of the extra light affecting the projection, but this first work was the victim of a show happening in the middle of the afternoon.
Bits and Parts by arin lynn is a cute, fun, and magical work that shows the video skills of the artist through a feeling of joy and cheerfulness that so many times goes missing in contemporary art. (I say that especially for myself, acknowledging this lighter tone does not come naturally to me.) Having the artist as the video's protagonist, interacting with animated forest animals and traveling to space in an animated rocket, stole laughs and smiles from the audience. While watching, I questioned how extreme art (and more specifically, the art market) has defined what fine art is. What is contemporary art? Is it defined by the solemn colonial standards of the art world. Is this art? Is it not? Who says so? I loved this work for making these questions bursting into my mind
Is Collector’s Box by Ali Lorenz and Mia Martelli a dance film? Multimedia film? Performance video? For some reason, the video brought me a feeling of nostalgia. The images took my mind to the eighties and nineties video aesthetics. I believe this work was edited digitally, but the effects, the pop sound, and low-tech image references threw me back to those lost decades. Though a little long for my taste, the work’s interesting visual effects and artistic choices left me wondering how the collaboration worked between these two unique and different minds.
III. Performances
Sunshine, All the While by Nick Weaver is not foreign to me. I’ve watched it in the past in its online version. Weaver’s piece presented a duet with a ladder, a very attractive element to me. A space inhabited by two bodies collaborating with physics to build the illusion of partnering work. Transparent, straightforward, and honest, this short work uses elements like video, sound, and objects to catch the viewer’s attention to the internal feelings of the performer. There is no doubt that Nick is quite a performing arts creature. He’s a fascinating mover, and I am very curious to know more about the evolution of Nick’s work in the future.
Nick Weaver with his ladder. Photo by Rogelio Peña.
Finally, the last piece, Our Right Hearts by Eliza Kitchens, Hunter Hazard, and Becca Speechley, is a bizarre work. And I use this word with no disrespectful. I adored the odd feeling it caused me; we need to feel uncomfortable more often. The three performers wear dresses and carry a robot toy and Christmas lights wrapped around a pole that, further along in the piece, will hold a glass disco ball. Sound starts. Julie Andrews’ voice caused a flashback to my early teen years. (Yes, this cultural reference colonized a portion of the urban middle class in Mexico.) I got to know Andrews’ films because my lesbian friend (that had not yet accepted her own sexual preferences then) introduced them to me. What I experienced through the singing, dancing, manipulation of portable LED lights and a song by Taylor Swift was una ofrenda de amor — a loving offering building community. The performers made a community of three, but also built a community with us, the viewers. This was the perfect piece to end the program. This festival is doing fundamental work in for Salt Lake City.
Our Right Hearts featured Eliza Kitchens, Hunter Hazard, and Becca Speechley. Photo by Rogelio Peña.
Originally from Mexico City. Stephanie García holds a Contemporary Dance AA and BA from the National Classical and Contemporary Dance School of the National Fine Arts Institute (INBA), studies in Cultural Management from Universidad de Guadalajara, and a Cultural Management and Cultural Policies Diploma from the National Arts Center (CENART), the Organization of American States (OAS), and the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM) in Mexico. She is a performer, choreographer, performing arts director, cultural manager, producer, and Co-founder and Co-Director of Punto de Inflexión Dance Company and PROArtes México. Stephanie has danced with several of the most important choreographers and venues in Mexico, performed in eleven countries of America, Europe, and Africa, and choreographed more than twenty original dance/multi-/inter- disciplinary pieces. She was co-founder and co-director of Sur Oeste Arte Escénico for ten years. A beneficiary of programs like IBERESCENA grant (Iberoamerican Performing Arts Fund), Prince Claus Fund (Netherlands), and seven times awarded by Mexico's National Culture and Arts Fund grants from 2006-2019. With seventeen years of dance and arts administration experience, Stephanie has been considered by the press to be one of the most prominent dancers in Mexico. Garcia is currently an MFA candidate and Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Modern Dance program at the University of Utah.
loveDANCEmore was thrilled to present Stephanie’s work in last October’s Sunday Series, curated by Jorge Rojas.