Essays

Getting Our Flowers Now: Ageing Trans and Queer Bodies in Gardenia (2010) and Gardenia — 10 Years Later (2021)

Authors

  • Heunjung Lee University of Alberta
  • Xavia A. Publius University of Alberta

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21827/ejtp.6.42248

Keywords:

gender fluidity, ageing, transgender, intersectionality, dance dramaturgy

Abstract

This contribution illuminates the fluid gender and age identities performed in the Belgian theatrical dance piece Gardenia (2010) and its re-staging, Gardenia — 10 Years Later (2021). This dance piece blends and contrasts bodies of different ages and genders by staging older trans, queer, and gender-non-conforming drag performers alongside younger professional dancers. Its choreography and dramaturgy centre around tableaux, (un)dressing, and lip-syncing, invoking a plethora of queer gestures and images that play with temporality. The two authors converse about the fluidity and stillness enacted on stage and interrogate how Gardenia highlights non-linear trans life courses and counters normative ideas of gender and ageing by exploring the intersections of age, gender, and race.

Author Biographies

Heunjung Lee, University of Alberta

Heunjung Lee is a PhD candidate in performance studies at the University of Alberta. She is also a dancer and dramaturg and teaches undergraduate drama courses. Crossing performance studies, age studies, and dementia studies, her research investigates cultural constructions of ageing and people living with dementia and explores counter-narratives and empowering concepts in performance practices and theories.

Xavia A. Publius, University of Alberta

Xavia A. Publius is a PhD candidate in performance studies at the University of Alberta. She studied music and LGBTQ studies at Colgate University (BA) and women’s and gender studies at the University of Northern Iowa (MA). Her current research focuses on autoethnographic explorations of gender, sexuality, and fandom ethics. She is also a composer, drag performer,  and fanfiction author.

Published

2023-06-14

Issue

Vol. 5 No. 2 (2023): Fluidity Matters

Section

Essays

Copyright (c) 2023 Heunjung Lee, Xavia A. Publius

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.