Leave it to CounterPULSE: if anyone could create a new hybrid art form in San Francisco, it's probably them. CounterPULSE created Frolic, a cabaret that fuses drag with circus arts and burlesque. CounterPULSE director Jessica Robinson says, "Along with New York, San Francisco has been a leader in the recent burlesque renaissance. As the queerest city on earth, the home of clubs like Trannyshack, San Francisco has long been a mecca for drag queens. SF also houses the San Francisco Circus School, which means we have incredible circus talent right here in our backyard. What these art forms have in common is the suspension of disbelief, they have a magical quality. At their highest level, they require a huge amount of training and preparation. Together, I think they are particularly revealing of San Francisco's unique zeitgeist.
"These art forms are often considered popular entertainment, normally performed in bars, clubs or circus tents. We're bringing them into the theater context, and we have chosen artists who intentionally blur the lines between high and low art. Having attended mainstream dance and theater performances for years, I've found that some of the most exciting stuff is actually coming from bars, clubs and alternative venues."
Robinson has curated an eclectic group of artists for this year's show, and everything is big, big, big. One of the headliners will be the Twilight Vixen Revue (SF Bay Guardian's "Best Burlesque of the Bay"), a troupe of queer-identified showgirls led by Cherry Lix. "We are modern girls recreating the style of the Golden Age of burlesque Broadway showgirls," Lix says. "It would be great if audiences would watch us and feel transported to a different time when live theatre was the best entertainment money could buy, where people fell in love with elaborate costumes, smiling showgirls, precision movement and the beauty of real bodies."
Also featured in this year's program is Eat Cake Productions, an aerial clowning company that utilizes trapezes, physical theatre and humor to examine social issues. This year the company eats cake as part of the performance, combining issues of body image, discarded clothing and a lot of humor. Choreographer Lauren Steiner says, "We had a blast examining the politics of our own undeniable individual body-image issues, and reformulating things with a sense of humor. We pride ourselves on being not quite circus, comedy, dance or theatre, but rather a hybrid of all of them. The audience will be impressed by how far we will go to make them laugh, at the same time relating to the content of what we're doing, and feeling less critical of themselves as a result."
One of the highlights of this year's performance will be the return of Fauxnique (aka Monique Jenkinson), the first faux drag queen to win the coveted Miss Trannyshack title. Actually a classically-trained contemporary and ballet dancer, Jenkinson will be working en pointe with opera singer/drag queen Katya Smirnoff-Skyy. Seeing these two artists collaborating is one of the program's most anticipated moments.
Also appearing in Frolic this year will be trapeze artist Emily Leap (Circo Zero) presenting a new work, and gothic drag artist Raya Light tackling the more intense issues of Abu Ghraib. The men will be represented by the all-male burlesque troupe Boylesque, making their CounterPULSE debut, and aerial contortionist David Garcia, suspended by fabric. Garcia is over 6 feet tall, so the effect will probably be dramatic. This year's hosts will be the punk pop duo Dreamboat, Where Are You? (Jessica Fudim and Carrie Baum). Combining elements of vaudeville, humor and punk, Fudim and Baum have carved out their own unique style of cabaret. Fudim is another classically trained contemporary choreographer; last year, she won Best of Fringe. Her creative partner Baum is a talented local musician and composer (Exit Sign, a Rock Opera).
Summing up this year's program, Robinson concludes, "When we set out to create Frolic last year, we thought it would be fantastic to put together a hybrid production, one that could showcase the diverse talents of some amazing underground performance artists. This year, the artists in the program are actually combining these forms in their individual pieces. It makes the acts harder to categorize, and the result is greater than the sum of its parts."
Frolic - SF's Annual Circus Drag Burlesque Festival at CounterPULSE (1310 Mission St. SF). Dec. 14-16 at 8 p.m. Tickets ($20): (800) 838-3006. For more info, see www.counterpulse.org .
Fauxnique (aka Monique Jenkinson). Photo: Peter Z. Jones