IDKE.8 – Going it Solo

I can’t remember which of the two hosts, Tamale or Johnny T, was first to point it out, and I definitely don’t know how much of this specific introduction (or really any of them all night long) was pre-planned and scripted, but I was struck when the introduction to Heywood Wakefield called attention to him as a solo performer.

More specifically, the introduction highlighted how unusual it was in the contemporary moment that Heywood remained steadfast in his performance as a solo artist. It also seemed to me a call to Heywood (and implicitly, to other solo performers) to go the way of collaborating with others in group performances.

It’s true, especially in the last several years of IDKE showcases and Great Big shows, there are not many performers who take the stage solo. (Hmm…when I get the chance I’ll have to try and track this to see what kind of trend unfolds.) Never having been part of a host city committee charged with selecting who does and does not get into the IDKE showcase, I couldn’t say for sure what makes an application more or less attractive, and ultimately successful in being selected. I have my guesses that in the spirit of maximizing the amount of performers who get to participate in the showcase, there may be a preference for group acts.

Overall, I’d have to say that group acts have an added dimension that solo performances don’t. Yes, good choreography is good choreography, but good group choreography can amaze regardless of the level of talent of any one individual performer, whereas solo acts rely on the individual to be amazing. I also appreciate the way group acts embody and enact community on stage. Still, I’d never want it to be the case that there was a prohibition against solo performances.

One of the reasons that I was so surprised by the hosts’ introduction to Heywood Wakefield was that it was one of the few times I’ve heard the topic of solo performances vs. group numbers explicitly raised, and certainly the first time I’d heard it addressed during the course of a show (which was great because of how many people were there to hear it, but also perhaps not as conducive a venue for dialogue and discussion as a workshop during IDKE’s conference—maybe a possible topic for Vancouver?).

What interested me even more was that Heywood was not the only solo act of the showcase. Earlier in the evening, in the second act of the night, Charleston Chu also took the stage in a solo performance. While there are certainly similarities in that they each took the stage solo, it is the distinctions of their solo performances that captivate my attention most. In particular, I’m interested in the differential significances of their solo performances entailed by the particular racialized sexualities they portray on stage.

In other words, my mind’s been wrapped up in thinking about how Charleston’s solo performance on stage as a flamboyant, effeminate Asian king means something distinct to me than Heywood’s middle-age (heterosexual?) white man lounge act.

But more on those thoughts later, for now I have to run and get to work!