October 11-20, 2018
Presented by Joe Goode Performance Group, Girl is an evening-length collaboration between contemporary choreographer Monique Jenkinson (in the guise of her drag queen persona Fauxnique) and electronic composer Marc Kate.
Girl questions masculinist power by speaking to the feminine in everyone with the questions: “Who is the girl in you?, What could you tell her?” As title and theme, Girl carries a single-word critique pointing to the trivialization of women girl. The work draws on horror tropes, especially that of the “final girl” to address power, fear, violence, control, gender, difference and redemption. Despite a potentially bleak outlook as the performers confront the horrors of the world bouts of nihilism and feminist rage they’re also invested in hope.
Jenkinson brings her drag queen persona, Fauxnique, into the contemporary dance realm to challenge and play with discourses that essentialize Woman. She uses drag, dance, vocalization, and sound synthesis to embody tensions and harmonies within and around the gender binary.
Adhering to the principle of sound as a bodily, choreographic element, composer Kate manipulates his and Fauxniques spoken and sung vocals in real time and space, using the manipulated vocals (othered through synthesis) as elements in a score that he improvises live.
This is the first full collaboration between Jenkinson and Kate, life partners whove been together for decades. Their history of intimacy will be a subtle motor under this work.
Review in The Free Audience by John Wilkins
“Girl is fascinating and wonderful, a fragment of philosophy….”
Preview in SF Chronicle Datebook by Claudia Bauer
“Through a performative crucible, they will evoke themes of violence, fear and control, and ultimately forge a burnished, modern heroine.”
Interview on KALW with Jen Chien
Preview in SF Weekly by Peter Lawrence Kane
Preview in Bay Area Reporter by Sari Staver
Video Preview by Melissa Lewis
Poster photo by RJ Muna. Poster design by Kevin Clarke. Performance photos by Melissa Lewis.
