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Choreographies of Resistance: Latinalo Queer Dance and the Utopian Performative

2004; University of Toronto Press; Volume: 47; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3138/md.47.2.269

1712-5286

Ramon Rivera-Servera,

Theater, Performance, and Music History

As a migrant to the United States from Puerto Rico in the early 1990s, I learned to articulate my sexuality and my political identity at the dance club. Within the erotic realm of clubs like Heaven, Carpe Diem, Club Marcella's, and The Avenue Pub, I embodied my position as a queer Latino. Dancing queerly with my friends — marking my own latinidad through rhythmic phrasings that allowed me to feel and to own the music, and approaching strangers bodily within the comfort of a shared social space — allowed me to experience communities of pleasure. The club, like the theatre, is one of the places where I renew myself, where I am able to witness, in almost religious reverence, the most immediate and affective manifestations of vibrant communities in motion.