Drag Summit Workshop with The Illustrious Pearl
2022/9/26: 8pm
2022/9/28: 11pm
Lyric, fleeting, & visceral: drag is poetry. Like a poem, drag is a living expression, and the persona you paint, stitch, and dance into existence must come from the spirit. Join me in this 4-day introductory course where we connect with our drag persona through poetry writing, playful group movement, and multi-media collage. We will focus on the core of our character—the heart of our expression—by studying our inspirations, by centering our power in vulnerability, and by supporting each other in performance. We will bring our hearts into our drag; our drag will live in the world.
This course includes two "field trips" and two in-studio days.
Day 1) Field Trip, 9/26th 8PM-11PM, Mahanttan: We will go to a Legendary bar for a real drag show/competition in NYC (you must be 21+) where we will learn how to be in drag community.
Day 2) Studio day, 9/27th 3-5:30PM, Greater New York Area: Writing day—crafting your drag persona. Reviewing inspirations, themes, ideas, obsessions, amazements. This session will be host at Accent Sisters, brand new speakeasy Chinese bookstore/gallery based in the new chinatown---Jersey city.
Day 3) Field Trip, 9/28, 1PM- Evening, NYC: We will go on a multi-store shopping trip where I will show you my favorite places to shop for drag in NYC (makeup, stones, feathers, fabrics, etc). Please bring a shopping list.
Day 4) Studio day, 9/29, 3PM- Evening, Greater New York Area: Show day, putting it all together and supporting each other through it.Hopefully this will be a good opportunity for you to prepare a portfolio to set off your drag career.
NOTE: This is a beginner-friendly drag class focused on creating & exploring your drag persona through writing and playing. While I will touch on/offer feedback on technical elements like makeup and hair, this class is primarily focused on character work. Happy to adjust and talk, depending on the demand!
This course will be taught in English.
Artist Bio
Wo Chan who performs as @TheIllustriousPearl is a poet and drag artist. They are a winner of the Nightboat Poetry Prize and the author of Togetherness (2022). Wo has received fellowships from MacDowell, New York Foundation of the Arts, Kundiman, The Asian American Writers Workshop, Poets House, and Lambda Literary. Their poems appear in POETRY, WUSSY, Mass Review, No Tokens, The Margins, and elsewhere. As a member of the Brooklyn-based drag/burlesque collective Switch N’ Play, Wo has performed at venues including The Whitney Museum of American Art, National Sawdust, New York Live Arts, and the Architectural Digest Expo. Find them at @theillustriouspearl.
