A DANCE FILM A DAY
Since COVID-19 has largely closed venues and clubs, Salazar converted their closet into a performance space and adapted their art pieces to broadcast online. Although their work is usually political, Salazar decided at first to shift their tone because of the pandemic and make people laugh. “I just had these absurd performances where I’d dress like a squid and dance around, or prance around like a tiger to a Lady Gaga song,” they say. “So, it was really fun to get to experiment with a different facet of drag.”
Despite the sometimes silly performances, Salazar’s art still carries a political message. As part of their Toronto Pride series, they did a piece about the popular 1999 house hippo commercial – a public service announcement to educate children about critical thinking and not believing everything on TV. “Even when I make something silly, suddenly the politics appear,” Salazar says. “My best friend always laughs at me for that.”
Currently, Salazar is working on a new piece as one of Buddies’ artists-in-residence. Their vision is to create a canon of shows in the world of Gay Jesus, writing a series of poems and transforming them into scenes and environments for the stage. “I’m looking to eventually engage with creating a really badass collective of Trans and BIPOC performers to bring the world to life,” they say.
Salazar also says that Buddies allows for creative expression that doesn’t conform to a “very intense gender performance,” unlike roles they studied as a student at Randolph College for the Performing Arts. “What they represent for me is a space where I didn’t have to edit myself. And I think that for Queer people, safe spaces are so pivotal for us.”
Continue reading about Salazar in an online Q&A >> thedancecurrent.com/column/manifesting-politics-into-drag