Shanawaara

​

"Pleasure to meet you, here is Shanawaara speaking - what the fuck is that, a guy or girl?" That was how the queer show used to introduce itself.

In 2015, Brazil did not have the iconic trans divas in the pop music scene as it does today. Maybe that explains why the performance-show was curated by the German Projeto Brasil , and had it's premiere in Hamburg of 2016. It toured several main cities in Germany and Portugal until it hit Brazil. Maybe that also explains how colonization issues still runs the business, when first you get recognition abroad so then you get validation back home. Maybe that is why, during an art residency in Dresden in the summer of 2017, Fabio Figueiredo, the artist behind the drag queer, took the decision to kill the diva. Figueiredo understood that, there was no political meaning to keep talking to the European audience while Brazil was lacking so cultural initiatives due to the lack of fundings . Also, it would not deliver any service to be a cis man playing a trans role, in a moment that real trans divas were emerging in the Brazilian horizon. 

The images below are memories from a very short thought intense life Shanawaara had during her few years of existence.

​

Team:

Conception and direction: Fabio Figueiredo

Choreography: Manoela Rangel / Fabio Figueredo 

Performance: Manoela Rangel / Fabio Figueredo / Luan Frank

Music Beats: Cainã Vidor