We came to know this woman as Mesma- Karin and I approached her shyly afterwards and were completely awkward, as though this was our one moment to meet the Queen of England we were totally, totally blowing it. I felt about 10 years old. But she was as gracious as could possibly be imagined- elegant while totally approachable, engaged and serene and… I don’t know… honest. She was bare and honest. Later we found out Mesma is trans (it hadn’t really occurred to us before then… though this was a GLBT conference) and pushing against enormous walls in her work as a traditional native dancer. This is someone who fights, someone who engages and enlightens on many, many levels with her work, someone who comes out and stays out over and over and over. She is perhaps one of the most entrancing and graceful people I have ever met, and we are thrilled beyond belief to bring her work to our stage, and to continue to get to know Mesma and her art.
To see for yourself, Mesma will be performing in the upcoming Bent Wit Cabaret: Grotesque on May 9th at 8pm. For tickets, hit up cluboberon.com.