San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
MY DRAG PERSONA DRAWS INSPIRATION FROM SELENA
“Con tanto amor.” Selena Quintanilla-pérez left us on March 31, 1995, about four years before I was even conceived. Though she physically is not here anymore, her legacy will influence generations to come. My love for Selena and all of her achievements has always been something that I’m proud of. It continues to inspire me.
I was born in San Diego and grew up in a Mexican American household with a family where Spanish was the only language that was ever spoken. However, I had to deal with learning English at school. It was a struggle to say the least. I remember watching TV one night with my family when I was about 8 years old and seeing the 1997 movie “Selena.” I remember hearing the songs playing throughout the film and thinking about how I had heard them at so many of our family parties. Seeing this beautiful but tragic story about a Chicana woman, a Mexican American individual who struggled with her intersectionality, really resonated with me at such a young age. Growing up, I learned more and more about her story — about her being a legendary force and about her being a simple human being. All of this I had to learn from watching videos online, as well as asking my parents and other older relatives how Selena was viewed by the public back in the 1990s. They always had positive things to say about her: her music, her fashion style, her confidence, her moves on stage.
I could go on for hours talking about all of her incredible talents. All of it has inspired me in developing my drag persona: Lady Blanca.
My drag persona draws from many Mexican American, Mexican and Latinx artists and influences, one of them being the iconic Selena. She carried herself with so much grace on and off the stage, and was simply a kind person, both of which I try to emulate. I believe that her kindness was always her strongest attribute and that whenever she smiled, the world became a much happier place. She was truly a beacon of hope for so many Mexican American people who didn’t feel included in conversations. Having that kind of representation, especially the way that she put her culture in the forefront of every single thing she did throughout her career in the face of racism and xenophobia, was — and is — so inspirational to myself and many others.
Off and on for the three years that I have been doing drag, I have done impersonations of Selena as well as numbers inspired by Selena. But I don’t think anyone can ever nail all of her mannerisms or duplicate her gracious soul. Impersonating someone of her caliber is tough, but it isn’t something that I’m afraid to do. She was fearless, she never backed down from any of her creative business dreams. Fun fact: I auditioned to be in the “Selena: The Series” show on Netflix in 2020 as a background actor, but I couldn’t make it to the taping at the last minute.
Every time I impersonate Selena for any of my shows, people scream, vibe and sing along, even if they don’t know her lyrics in Spanish. They instantly recognize the purple aubergine color jumpsuit from her famous last concert at the Astrodome. My favorite songs to perform are always a medley of her iconic hits: “Como La Flor,” “La Carcacha” and “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom,” as well as her deeper cuts like “Quiero Ser” and “Tus Desprecios.” I love when people decide to stand up and get all emotional as if Selena herself was in front of them! It is always exciting not only for the audience but for myself to reciprocate that energy as if Selena was singing straight to them. I try to give them an experience that they might have never been able to encounter.
Nearly 27 years after her death, Selena’s legacy is as strong as it’s ever been, with the show that was released in December 2020 on Netflix to the hopeful release of a new album this year. Selena will always be my biggest inspiration for my art as Lady Blanca. En mi corazón siempre será “Anything for Selenas.”