IN
THE SPIRIT OF THE COCKETTES... PRESENTING "THE DAZZLE
DANCERS!" by Jed
Ryan
A few
months ago, "The Cockettes," a vibrant,
glittery documentary about the titular drag ensemble of the
70's, flew in and out of theaters WAY too
quickly. Alright, alright, I know that it's not easy to get
many people to go to theaters to pay to see a documentary.
But, hey, an entertaining film is an entertaining film. And
yes, Virginia, you just might learn something as well! "The
Cockettes," destined to join the hall of fame as
"Must See" gay cinema, gives us fascinating, well-preserved
archival footage of the Cockettes' live and filmed performances,
and juxtaposes it with modern-day footage of surviving Cockettes,
not shy about talking about themselves! We also get insight
from,
among others, director John Waters ("Hairspray,"
"Pecker"), who says of The Cockettes,
"They were the first hip drag queens; insane hippie drag
queens on and off the stage." The film successfully,
and with great affection for its subjects, allows the audience
to take a peek into a long-lost era when 1960's hippie culture
set the stage for new, unprecendented freedoms-- including
freedom of sexual identity and expression. San Francisco's
"psychadelic" culture in the 60's evolved into the
gay culture of the 70's. How were the Cockettes founded? In
1968, a blandly attractive New York actor named George Harris
moved to San Francisco and embraced the hippie lifestyle and
communal living. He was reborn as "Hibiscus," and
sought to, among other things, provide free theater to people
living on communes. He also embraced both drag and drugs on
a pathway toward spiritual liberation. Hibiscus gathered a
group of hippies with the same goals, and what started out
as a performance in exchange for free admission to a movie
showing became the formation of The Cockettes. The
Cockettes decked themselves out in fabulously tacky,
outrageous ensembles with plenty of vintage clothing, glitter,
and sequins-- although some of them weren't afraid to show
some skin occasionally! In their live shows and short films,
they transcended gender as well as traditional notions of
performance art and entertainment.
The Cockettes
were mostly gay men, but there were female Cockettes and,
wonders of wonder, at least one straight man. They sang, danced,
and performed in 20 original shows with titles like "TInsel
Tarts in a Hot Coma," "Pearls Over Shanghai,"
and "Journey to the Cener of Uranus" (which
featured the late great drag diva Divine). One show, "Les
Ghouls," pre-dated "The Rocky Horror Picture
Show" by several years. Another was a spoof called
"Gone With the Showboat to Oklahoma." Critics
of the Cockettes, both then and now, scoffed that the group
didn't have much "talent," at least in the traditional
sense of being trained singers, actors, or dancers. Yet, some
of these critics are missing the point. Movie reviewer Joe
Baltake of the Sacramento Bee observed, "Collectively,
they (the Cockettes) were not that far removed from the requisite
drunk who shows up at parties and puts a lamp shade on his
head and does a hula dance. You laugh and have fun with him,
even though he isn't very good." Exactly! From the archival
footage of the Cockettes, it's quite obvious that the group
started performing and continued to do so because of their
sheer LOVE of performing and being on stage
(and maybe just a touch of exhibitionism!). They loved to
see the audience react to their flamboyancy and outrageousnessas
much as the audience loved watching them. Interviews with
surviving Cockettes make the most vivid point of all: these
middle-aged men and women still carry themselves like stars,
not unlike Andy Warhol's "Superstars" or John Waters'
underground film actors. The Cockettes gained notoriety and
became the hottest ticket in San Francisco, attracting celebrity
admires such as Andy Warhol, Alice Cooper, Janis Joplin, Truman
Capote, and film critic Rex Reed. However, the Cockettes'
loyal following didn't translate to success on the East Coast.
In 1971, The Cockettes appeared in New York City. Many celebrities
appeared for their opening night. However, their debut was
greeted with enormously negative reaction by traditional-minded
theater attendees. Critics apparently were expecting a more
polished, "professional" show. The New York fiasco,
combined with the new stresses of having management for the
first time, and having to rehearse shows that were formerly
almost always improvised, contributed to the dissolving of
the Cockettes. Their last performance was in 1972.
TRIVIA:
Which former member of The Cockettes hit it big in the music
world, with disco hits like "Do You Wanna Funk?"
and "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)"? The answer's
at the end.
The hedonistic
sexual lifestyles and drug use (For the Cockettes, the drug
of choice was LSD.) of the 70's are largely history, surviving
mostly in small subcultures in the Big Apple and elsewhere.
Yet the influence of the Cockettes lives on. Their use of
spectacle and pageantry was a precursor to the "glitter
rock" era of David Bowie, Elton John, and the New York
Dolls. Their larger-than-life, outrageous personas weren't
too far removed from the quirky characters in the early movies
of John Waters. Today, in the spirit of The Cockettes, The
"Dazzle Dancers" of New York City have taken the
pageantry, camp, humor, and Superstar attitude and have made
their presence known to large groups of adoring fans!
I
first saw The Dazzle Dancers at Manhattan's hot East
Village nightspot The Cock (188 Ave. A at 12th St) a few months
ago. Let's just say that if anyone had told me that I'd become
a groupie at age 30, I wouldn't believe them, but... hey,
I guess it's never too late! Described by admirers as "shameless,"
"free-spirited," and "incomparable," the
Dazzle Dancers appear to love every minute of their decadent
dance routines. Audiences who hadn't seen The Dazzle Dancers
before didn't quite know what to expect, but they were soon,
pun clearly intended, dazzled. In New York's gay club and
bar scene, we're so often bombarded with brain-dead, cookie-cutter,
steroid-shooting go-go boys as entertainment (who never look
too happy to be there), or cabaret acts by performers that
seem embarrassingly recycled. The Dazzle Dancers, who began
in 1993 as a "street performance" in Manhattan's
Tompkins Square Park, breathe some desperately-needed new
life into performance art and cabaret. In their own words,
they're "more of a movement than an institution."
So, what's their mission? Click on their website, and you'll
read: "Our singular style of dancing and deep-felt group
unity create an infectious energy with audiences... Our goals,
however, extend beyond mere spectacle. We are committed to
spreading a message of love and sexual freedom. We battle
the forces of blandness, fear, and isolation so common in
our clenched culture of coffee franchises, fear marketing,
and money worship. All of this is accompanied through the
powerful forces of dance, glitter, and fun." Like the
Cockettes, they design their own fabulous, outrageous costumes
and cover themselves in glitter. After their performance at
The Cock, in fact, everyone was covered with glitter-- and
loving it! (Is this symbolic for the the Dancers' goal to
spread love?!) But I hope that everyone enjoyed the costumes
because they didn't stay on very long! And I ain't saying
another word about that-- catch their show yourself! The Dazzle
Dancers perform dance routines to 80's classics. At the last
show I caught, a benefit for LGBT homeless youth, the selection
was Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam's 1985 guilty pleasure "I
Wonder If I Take You Home." At this event, held at Marion's
Continental (354 Bowery St.) and hosted by New York drag diva
Linda Simpson, The Dazzle Dancers were part of a lineup of
some of New York's greatest talent, which also featured performances
by The Glamazons. Spotted that night in the audience: Village
Voice writer Michael Musto. The Dazzle Dancers have performed
at events such as The Burning Man Festival in Nevada and the
Millennium New Year's Eve Celebration in Miami (with Blondie),
and have become the darlings of Manhattan nightlife. They've
performed at Wigstock 2001 and, more recently, famed drag
king Murray Hill's praised, long-running show "Caught
in the Act." They also performed at the 2002 Glammy Awards,
an awards show honoring the best in New York's drag subculture,
which Debbie Harry and my friend Jayne County attended. Their
performance prompted an attendee from HX Magazine to write
"The Dazzle Dancers brought us one of the most ridiculous
musical numbers in the show. It was fast, funny, and furious--
and by the end of the number, they were all naked! Seen covering
her eyes was Debbie Harry. Could it have been because the
Dazzle Dancers' hairy backs and asses offended her, or maybe
flashes from the paparazzi's camera bothered her. Do tell,
Debbie." The Dazzle Dancers have eight members (Cherry,
Vinny, Dazzle, Prettyboy, Hole, Propecia, Robbie, and Cornflake).
Like the Cockettes who so clearly inspired them, these boyz
and girls have a love of performing which is truly infectious,
and they love to mingle with the audience after the show.
On their website, DazzleDancers.com,
you can read bios of the members of the group and contact
them. You can also get a schedule of upcoming performances
and see LOTS of photos. Dazzle Dazzle, who
co-founded the group, is also a well-known performance artist,
author, and comedian. Any guesses to his alter ego? If you
think you know, e-mail me at Jed@LICKtheweb.com
and I'll tell you if you're right!
ANSWER
TO TRIVIA: Sylvester was the most famous
Cockette and in many people's opinions, the most "traditionally"
talented. A disco icon, Sylvester sadly was also one of
the first celebrities to die from AIDS, in 1998.
from,
among others, director John Waters ("Hairspray,"
"Pecker"), who says of The Cockettes,
"They were the first hip drag queens; insane hippie drag
queens on and off the stage." The film successfully,
and with great affection for its subjects, allows the audience
to take a peek into a long-lost era when 1960's hippie culture
set the stage for new, unprecendented freedoms-- including
freedom of sexual identity and expression. San Francisco's
"psychadelic" culture in the 60's evolved into the
gay culture of the 70's. How were the Cockettes founded? In
1968, a blandly attractive New York actor named George Harris
moved to San Francisco and embraced the hippie lifestyle and
communal living. He was reborn as "Hibiscus," and
sought to, among other things, provide free theater to people
living on communes. He also embraced both drag and drugs on
a pathway toward spiritual liberation. Hibiscus gathered a
group of hippies with the same goals, and what started out
as a performance in exchange for free admission to a movie
showing became the formation of The Cockettes. The
Cockettes decked themselves out in fabulously tacky,
outrageous ensembles with plenty of vintage clothing, glitter,
and sequins-- although some of them weren't afraid to show
some skin occasionally! In their live shows and short films,
they transcended gender as well as traditional notions of
performance art and entertainment.
I
first saw The Dazzle Dancers at Manhattan's hot East
Village nightspot The Cock (188 Ave. A at 12th St) a few months
ago. Let's just say that if anyone had told me that I'd become
a groupie at age 30, I wouldn't believe them, but... hey,
I guess it's never too late! Described by admirers as "shameless,"
"free-spirited," and "incomparable," the
Dazzle Dancers appear to love every minute of their decadent
dance routines. Audiences who hadn't seen The Dazzle Dancers
before didn't quite know what to expect, but they were soon,
pun clearly intended, dazzled. In New York's gay club and
bar scene, we're so often bombarded with brain-dead, cookie-cutter,
steroid-shooting go-go boys as entertainment (who never look
too happy to be there), or cabaret acts by performers that
seem embarrassingly recycled. The Dazzle Dancers, who began
in 1993 as a "street performance" in Manhattan's
Tompkins Square Park, breathe some desperately-needed new
life into performance art and cabaret. In their own words,
they're "more of a movement than an institution."
So, what's their mission? Click on their website, and you'll
read: "Our singular style of dancing and deep-felt group
unity create an infectious energy with audiences... Our goals,
however, extend beyond mere spectacle. We are committed to
spreading a message of love and sexual freedom. We battle
the forces of blandness, fear, and isolation so common in
our clenched culture of coffee franchises, fear marketing,
and money worship. All of this is accompanied through the
powerful forces of dance, glitter, and fun." Like the
Cockettes, they design their own fabulous, outrageous costumes
and cover themselves in glitter. After their performance at
The Cock, in fact, everyone was covered with glitter-- and
loving it! (Is this symbolic for the the Dancers' goal to
spread love?!) But I hope that everyone enjoyed the costumes
because they didn't stay on very long! And I ain't saying
another word about that-- catch their show yourself! The Dazzle
Dancers perform dance routines to 80's classics. At the last
show I caught, a benefit for LGBT homeless youth, the selection
was Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam's 1985 guilty pleasure "I
Wonder If I Take You Home." At this event, held at Marion's
Continental (354 Bowery St.) and hosted by New York drag diva
Linda Simpson, The Dazzle Dancers were part of a lineup of
some of New York's greatest talent, which also featured performances
by The Glamazons. Spotted that night in the audience: Village
Voice writer Michael Musto. The Dazzle Dancers have performed
at events such as The Burning Man Festival in Nevada and the
Millennium New Year's Eve Celebration in Miami (with Blondie),
and have become the darlings of Manhattan nightlife. They've
performed at Wigstock 2001 and, more recently, famed drag
king Murray Hill's praised, long-running show "Caught
in the Act." They also performed at the 2002 Glammy Awards,
an awards show honoring the best in New York's drag subculture,
which Debbie Harry and my friend Jayne County attended. Their
performance prompted an attendee from HX Magazine to write
"The Dazzle Dancers brought us one of the most ridiculous
musical numbers in the show. It was fast, funny, and furious--
and by the end of the number, they were all naked! Seen covering
her eyes was Debbie Harry. Could it have been because the
Dazzle Dancers' hairy backs and asses offended her, or maybe
flashes from the paparazzi's camera bothered her. Do tell,
Debbie." The Dazzle Dancers have eight members (Cherry,
Vinny, Dazzle, Prettyboy, Hole, Propecia, Robbie, and Cornflake).
Like the Cockettes who so clearly inspired them, these boyz
and girls have a love of performing which is truly infectious,
and they love to mingle with the audience after the show.
On their website, 
