There are moments in a scholar’s career that feel quietly formative, when disparate parts of a practice suddenly cohere in front of you. This was one of those weeks.
Across the visit, I shared work on neo-burlesque and disability, crip theory, tease, temporality, embodied attention, and the thresholds between performance, desire, spectatorship, and world-building. In my lecture work, I was especially proud to highlight the artistry and scholarship surrounding disabled and disability-led performance, including the work of Jacqueline Boxx, DisabiliTease Festival, Minda Mae, Mat Fraser, Demon Derriere, and Empress Eyrie.
At the Hopkins Center for the Arts, I led two movement-based workshops: “Slow and Sensual: Tease, Temporality, and Accessible Burlesque” which drew on crip movement theory, slowness, sensation, and embodied attention; and “Tease, Tension, and Timing” which explored energetic exchange, timing, and the embodied politics of erotic performance. The development of this work was supported through my faculty fellowship with Social Practice CUNY.
The week moved across lecture, workshop, discussion, performance, and community gathering. It was a joy to share queer crip burlesque practice in a space where students, colleagues, artists, and community members met the work with such generosity, rigor, curiosity, and care.
The true culmination of the visit was the profound honor of serving as guest speaker at Dartmouth’s Lavender Gala, celebrating graduating queer students. To speak about revelation, desire, visibility, survival, and the worlds we build together in a room filled with queer students stepping into their futures is something I will carry with me for a very long time.
My deepest thanks to Elyse Singer for the invitation and for the extraordinary care and thoughtfulness extended throughout the visit. Thank you also to Angélique Barthou, Johanna Evans, Greg Potter, and the beautiful Dartmouth students for welcoming me so fully.
I leave feeling inspired, challenged, creatively reawakened, and very grateful indeed.
