By: Haley Worth
Viva la Pepa, a Minneapolis-based organization that hosts Drag Story Hour events, orchestrated a performance called “Holy Doña,” in which members danced in lingerie with faux whips and enacted a performative crucifixion of the group’s director.
A three-minute video of the production begins with the performers reading from the Bible before undressing on stage until they are left in nothing but lingerie and thong underwear. They proceed to flog themselves and each other while dancing to Hispanic music. Suddenly, the music stops, and the audio changes to a woman reading Bible verses. Some of the dancers are seen wearing pig masks, while others are flogging props on stage.
Pedro Pablo Lander, the director of Viva la Pepa, who goes by the stage name “Pedra Pepa,” begins dancing naked until the next shot shows him dragging a cross on stage. Other performers are seen flogging and yelling at him, while another, depicted as the Virgin Mary, begins crying over his naked body on the floor. Lander then begins flogging himself and screaming before being tied to and raised up on the cross.
The description of the Viva la Pepa “Holy Doña” states, “Pedra performs as Doña Pepa to reimagine the crucifixion as a queer performance ritual. Pablo draws on their experience in Catholic school and seminary, while mining the theatricality of drag, burlesque, and Catholic mass, to crucify Doña Pepa for her piggy sins to ultimately be pardoned in this high-contrast spectacle. The powerful ensemble of six performers exorcises repression in a search of full individual self-expression.”
Lander stars in a number of other performances, including one titled “Donde vamos a encontrarnos?” which translates to, “Where are we going to meet?” co-starring a woman named Celia Argüello in which both dancers roll around on top of each other naked.
Viva la Pepa also hosts “Drag Story Hour” (DSH), stating that their “mission is to celebrate diverse, creative and healthy gender expression for children and their caring adults using the arts.” Co-directors for DSH include Lander, Emily Zimmer under the stage name “E Zimmer,” and Siddeeqah Shabazz, who goes by the stage name “Sid Sity.”
The organization states that they create “collective and unapologetic performances that cross conventional theatrical boundaries by employing multiple forms (experimental, drag, burlesque, movement and voice). Our works are fueled by the overlapping values of Latinx and Queer cultures: melodrama, passion, decadence, and sensuality.”