Drag performer Black Benatar will host a "black magic salon" at Brava's Theater Center Cabaret, 2481 24th St., on Thurs., April 19, at 7:30 p.m. Co-sponsored by Brava! for Women in the Arts, a professional arts organization dedicated to supporting the work of women, the LGBT community and other underrepresented voices, and BACCE, which focuses on the black arts scene, the event is part of the ongoing series "So Soul San Francisco Black Arts Salon."
Black Benatar was created three years ago by Beatrice Thomas, a queer woman of color, as a "social justice drag queen," she told the B.A.R. in a recent telephone interview. Thomas, who says she is a "millennial" but declined to state her age, works full-time as a performance artist, consultant, and producer.
As host of the cabaret, Black Benatar will introduce the performers, who will include acrobat Toni Cannon, comedian Dominique Gelin, actor Steven LeMay, choreographer Zoe Donnellycolt, musician Jade Way, and dancers Whirl We Blues, Tarin Griggs, Jenna Chen, and Kaitlin Duffey.
"Honestly, I have no idea of the specifics of each performance," she said. "It's our first time in the cabaret space, and I'd like to think of it as an out-of-the-box event. We will all be surprised." Thomas said Black Benatar will be performing "some black magic" that she is learning with a magic "mentor."
When Thomas was creating her drag persona, "One question I asked myself was, how big and over-the-top do the makeup, hair, boobs, and butt have to be before it becomes a weapon? How exaggerated do the tropes of femininity have to be before people become intimidated?"
Traditionally, said Thomas, to be "palatable," women are encouraged to project an image of "softness." But that form of femininity "invites people to put their hands on you or make comments that may not reflect fullness of your person. So I decided to create the kind of woman I wanted to lift up."
Black Benatar is "big-bodied to the extreme," she said. "Her derriere measures somewhere between 48 and 60 inches in span. The two to three inches of padding on her breasts create the body of a diva. A diva is a female archetype that allows a woman to be a woman of size who is large and proud," she said. "Think of Patti LaBelle or Aretha Franklin."
In mainstream society, "heavy men" can wield power, but women are prized for their youth and slender body. "I wanted to harken back to celebrate the bodies of large women."
The upcoming salon, which will include people who identify as queer and transgender, will have people of all colors "in a context centering on brownness. It's a flip of the usual," she said, "and is not about exclusion."
Thomas said Black Benatar has performed on the Main Stage of San Francisco Pride, at the deYoung Museum, and at the faux drag queen competition at Oasis. She was recently given an "arts enabler award" by the Arts for a Better Bay Area organization for her advocacy of queer arts.
BACCE's Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe, who coordinates the "So Soul San Francisco Black Art Salon" series, said future salons include May 17, "Black on Black: High Crimes & Misdemeanors"; and June 21, "Sugar Shack Remix."
Info or tickets ($10-$25): www.brava.org.