2-Spirit Cabaret
June 24
NATIVE EARTH PERFORMING ARTS + BUDDIES IN BAD TIMES
Back for its fifth year, the 2-Spirit Cabaret is a celebration of the strength, beauty, and talent of queer and 2-Spirit Indigenous people. This year, after a series of workshops with guest artists and mentors, nine artists take the digital stage as the cabaret makes its Queer Pride festival debut.
Hosted by Mx Wolverine, with performances by Nina Boujee, Ronald R. Braman, Sophie Dow, Rebecca Hope, Seán Carson Kinsella, Roger Kuhn, Denise B. Mcleod, Raylah, Aqua Nibii Waawaaskone, and Weird Alice, plus a set by Deejay Jams.
June 24, 8PM
ASL interpretation provided by Rogue Benjamin and Denica Brown.
Click here to access the zoom event (the room will open right at 8PM).
Design by Malik McKoy
Ronald R. Braman
Born in Lander, Wyoming, Ronald is an enrolled member of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe, Wind River Indian Reservation, Fort Washakie, Wyoming. A lifelong resident of Idaho, Ronald studied voice at ISU, traveling extensively throughout Europe for performance. Ron advocates for the arts, producing classical concerts, and poetry readings, including US Poet Laureate, Joy Harjo. He has hosted events with the Rocky Mountain Writers Festival. He works with the Episcopal Church as a Director of Music in Fort Hall, Idaho. He creates tribal shell dress, beadwork, moccasins, and feather work. Tribal ceremony and song are highly regarded and a regular life way.
Nina Boujee
Heard of Nanaboozhoo? Say Hello to Nina Boujee!
Nina Boujee is your weird, extra, fabulous and over-the-top Two-Spirit Trickster friend. Nina is your everyday glam drag-adjacent friend who sometimes appears as a rabbit, sometimes as a coyote, and sometimes as a fabulous human who just wants to strut their stuff down New York Fashion Week and is always ready to stir up chaotic energy in the room.
Website // Instagram // Twitter // Facebook
photo by Jenn Collins
Sophie Dow
Winnipeg-born Sophie Dow is a multidisciplinary creator, inspired by dance, music, collaboration and her Métis-Assiniboine and settler roots. An avid adventurer, Sophie has a passion for busking, yoga and traveling on top of holding a degree in Dance Performance and Choreography. With a unique list of credits deeply impacting personal process and vocabulary, Sophie’s had great fortune of working with some of the country’s wonderful dance innovators, including Chimera Dance Theatre and Kaeja d’Dance. Presently Sophie is Artistic Associate of Chimera Dance Theatre, writes music with The Honeycomb Flyers and is a licensed practitioner of Traditional Thai Massage.
photo by Sierra Dhae Murray
Rebecca Hope
Rebecca Hope is Algonquin First Nations, Irish, and an award winning singer/songwriter and guitarist. In 2019, she graduated from the University of British Columbia and now resides in Toronto where she works as a performer. She has won the Live Performance category of the Canadian Songwriting Competition, worked with Buffy Sainte Marie as an artist in residence for Ryerson University, written a play/musical for Paprika Festival and can almost always be found writing songs, singing, and playing guitar. Rebecca uses music and art as a tool to cope with ups and downs, and listening to her songs or interacting with her creations makes others feel less alone. Rebecca inspires and empowers others to tell their truth, own their power, and chase their dreams.
Seán Carson Kinsella
Seán is an Irish and Indigiqueer/2S êkâ ê-akimiht poet from the nêhiy(th)aw/otipemisiwak/Nakawé Nations who writes decolonial love poetry and imagines a future where Indigenous sovereignty and other relationship structures are honoured again on these territories.
photo by Sterling Stutz
Roger Kuhn
Roger Kuhn is a Poarch Creek Two-Spirit Indigequeer artist and activist. His music has appeared on the Logo channel in the USA as well as on radio stations in the USA and Canada. When not making music and art Dr. Roger is a community organizer of the Bay Area American Indian (BAAITS) Two-Spirit powwow, psychotherapist, and college professor of American Indian studies. He lives in Guerneville, CA (Pomo territory) with his husband and two dogs.
photo by Avery White
Denise B. Mcleod
Ojibway from Sagamok Anishnawbek F.N. A part of the last generation of the 60’s Scoop, D.B. was raised in the north west of Toronto by a non Indigenous family. Denise proudly defines herself much as Queer urban Indigenous cis woman, and is interested in the reclamation of language, culture and ceremony as that has been a large part of D.B. ‘s healing journey. D.B. along with her comedy sisters founded Manifest Destiny’s Child Comedy Collective. D.B.’s newly founded passion of burlesque is about challenging dominant cultures stereotypes on Indigenous women, sex, sexuality and sensuality.
photo by Rob Lackie
Raylah
I am Raylah Moonias and my pronouns are she/her. I love to draw, do art, play chess, dance and I am a 2Spirited Anishnawbe OjiCree/Ojibway. I am from Eabametoong FN. Situated on the lake called Eabamet Lake, by Albany River, ON. The lake is also known as the place of the reversing waters or, at the reversing of the waterplace. More recently, I am in a hormone treatment program. I live in Toronto now since the year 2016.
Aqua Nibii Waawaaskone
Aqua Nibii Waawaaskone is a free spirit, interdisciplinary artist, and activist. Though she is a proud Anishinaabe Kwe~original life giver of the land, she is also of mixed ancestry; Aniishnaabe Métis with Irish and French heritage and identifies as a 2Spirit genderless being.Through this difficult time Aqua has continued to perform her original medicine music and lead circles for her community as she is an advocate for anyone who has endured violence and adversity. She provides a safe space in her sacred circles and performances so the community can grow together, stronger, forever as a whole, as music truly is the universal language of love.
Website //Instagram // Facebook // YouTube
photo by Kelly Hashemi
Weird Alice
Weird Alice is a queer performance artist and drag queen whose work holds a mirror to their communities through curated pop culture references. Described as fabulous yet filthy, Weird Alice has brought their tongue-in-cheek work across Turtle Island and around the world including Australia and Aoetearoa with pieces like Drop Deadly Gorgeous: The Pageant, Failure the Game Show, and the League of Lady Wrestlers.
Mx Wolverine
Host
Also known as Midnight Wolverine, Mx.Wolverine [they/them] is Tkaronto’s midnight tease, trickster and shapeshifter. Originally from Treaty 8 territory in the Northwest Territories, they are a Dene/Métis indigiqueer drag and burlesque performer, writer, artist, creator, and storyteller working to decolonize performance spaces, challenge common Indigenous and gender narratives, and create much needed two-spirit representation. They have politicized and sexified stages nationally including the Fierce Queer International Burlesque Festival, Bagel Burlesque Expo Montreal, Asinabka Festival, Pride Toronto and Pride Yukon. They have also been featured on CBC Gem’s Canadian Screen Award winning Canada’s A Drag Season 3 which has recently been nominated for a Digital Publishing Award. Crispier than fresh frybread, they’re the native hottie with a little edge and a lot of sexy!
photo by Lucius Dechausay
Deejay Jams
DJ
Deejay Jams is a Tkarónto based multi-racial, non-Binary, Queer DJ, poet, community artist and radio geek specializing in 90s and futurist hip-hop, house, electric powwow vibes and all music to move you.
photo by Connor Pion
Native Earth Performing Arts is Canada’s oldest professional Indigenous theatre company. They are dedicated to developing, producing and presenting professional artistic expressions of the Indigenous experience in Canada. Buddies’ audiences will remember Native Earth from their critically acclaimed productions of Tara Beagan’s free as injuns (2012), Marie Clements’ Tombs of the Vanishing Indian (2010), and Yvette Nolan and Kennedy C. MacKinnon’s Death of a Chief (2008).
Tickets are free but need to be booked ahead.
If you have any issues with the booking system, please e-mail us at tickets@buddiesinbadtimes.com.