Cherdonna Shinatra

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Cherdonna Shinatra
Born
Jody Keuhner

1979/1980 (age 41–42)
NationalityAmerican
EducationUniversity of South Florida (BA, BFA)
Years active2007–present
Websitecherdonna.com

Cherdonna Shinatra is the stage name of Jody Kuehner (born c. 1979/1980),[1] a Seattle-based, American dancer, drag queen and performance artist.[2] Kuehner won the Stranger Genius Award in Performance in 2015.[3]

Career[]

Performance Style[]

Kuehner has been called a "female impersonator impersonator"[1] and describes her own performance as Cherdonna as "a female-bodied person, presenting as a male-bodied person, presenting as a female".[4][5] She has been mistaken for a man by some audience members who don't expect to see the "exaggerat[ed] femininity" displayed by a drag persona to have a female body.[6] After a performance in Seattle she had her breasts grabbed by a person who expected to find a prosthetic,[6] and she performed onstage several times with a male partner before he realized she was not also male.[1]

Keuhner incorporates many elements into her performances, including dance, theater, drag, burlesque, glitter, celebrity impersonations, audience interaction, and clowning.[7]

Performances and Achievements[]

Kuehner was part of a 2014–2015 multidisciplinary exhibition at Frye Art Museum in Seattle.[8] In 2017 she was a Artist Trust Fellowship recipient,[9][10] and the 2017 Henry Art Gallery Artist in Residence.[11]

She was a member of the Pat Graney Dance Company from 2007 to 2016 and assisted in Graney's FTK Prison Project.[9][12] Kuehner is a performer with the touring cabaret and burlesque company Kitten n Lou Presents as a member of The Atomic Bombshells.[13][14]

Keuhner has presented three solo performance art shows as Cherdonna that are a part of a larger collection of shows which she calls one great, bright, brittle alltogetherness.[15] The first of these was simply called one great, bright, brittle alltogetherness and was performed at Velocity Dance Center in 2016.[16] Then she produced Clock that Mug or Dusted in 2016 which premiered at Velocity Dance Center in 2016.[11] The third installment was Kissing Like Babies which premiered at On the Boards in Seattle in October 2017.[15]

Dance instruction[]

Kuehner was artist in residence and instructor at Velocity Dance Center in 2014.[17]

Personal life[]

Kuehner describes herself as queer.[2][6][18]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Frizzelle, Christopher (September 10, 2014). "The Inexplicable, Fascinating Cherdonna Shinatra, the Drag Queen Who's Not a Drag Queen". The Stranger. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Serinus, Jason Victor (June 2, 2016). "Cherdonna Shinatra does it her way: 'Gender fluid' performer shakes off expectations". The Seattle Times. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
  3. ^ Frizzelle, Christopher (September 16, 2015). "Cherdonna, Winner of the 2015 Stranger Genius Award in Performance". The Stranger. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
  4. ^ Aaron Scott (April 23, 2016). "Drag Through The Back Door With Wigs The Size Of Texas". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Archived from the original on July 2, 2019.
  5. ^ "Two NW Drag Queens Boldly Go Where No Queens Have Gone Before". Spreaker. Oregon Public Broadcasting. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c Jacobson, Rebecca (April 27, 2016). "The Surprising Gender Bending of Drag Queen Cherdonna Shinatra". Portland Monthly. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
  7. ^ O'Kane, Kyle (February 23, 2018). "The History of Cherdonna Shinatra: From Name to Fame". FringeArts. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  8. ^ Genius / 21 Century / Seattle, Frye Art Museum, Seattle, September 26, 2015 – January 10, 2016, "an unprecedented, large-scale celebration of exceptional multidisciplinary and collaborative artistic practice in Seattle in the twenty-first century."
  9. ^ a b "About". cherdonna.com. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  10. ^ "Jody Kuehner". Artist Trust. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  11. ^ a b "Cherdonna Shinatra: Clock That Construct - Henry Art Gallery". henryart.org. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  12. ^ "Jody Kuehner". Pat Graney Company. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  13. ^ "A Camptacular! Q&A with Kitten N' Lou". City Arts Magazine. June 30, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  14. ^ "Cherdonna Shinatra: DITCH". Frye Art Museum. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  15. ^ a b "Jody Kuehner/Cherdonna Shinatra: Kissing Like Babies: Part III of one great, bright, brittle alltogetherness". The Stranger. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  16. ^ 13010128. "Association of Performing Arts Presenters 2016 Booklet". Issuu. Retrieved March 1, 2021.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ "Class descriptions and faculty bios: Professional/Advanced Contemporary with Jody Kuehner". Velocity Dance Center. Archived from the original on March 1, 2016.
  18. ^ Sommerfeld, Seth (October 13, 2014). "A Fiendish Conversation with Jody Kuehner (Cherdonna Shinatra)". Seattle Met. Retrieved September 8, 2021.

Further reading[]

External links[]

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