French Caption

Regardez les meilleurs moments d’un événement que nous avons organisé le mois dernier, intitulé Sissy that Wok ! 🤩👑 

Un spectacle de travesti par @houseofriceofficial dans l’exposition A Seat at the Table au MOV. 

L’événement a débuté avec une danse du lion par @fluffyliondance, suivi de numéros de travestis par @queenmaidenchina, @skimisme et @thatshaydior et animé par @davey_pacific1 

Shay Dior is a Vietnamese-Canadian drag luminary whose aesthetic channels both King and Queen drag elements into a harmonious body of gender fluidity. From humble beginnings in Toronto, they have led an incredible drag career having performed internationally in France, as well as New York for World Pride, while strongly advocating for queer Asian visibility in their local Vancouver community.

While striving to increase representation, Shay Dior founded Canada’s only all Asian drag family, becoming matriarch of the House of Rice. Chock-full of artistry and talent, the members of this house have collectively and individually become inspiring leaders for the queer and Asian communities. Since its inception, the House of Rice has been featured in 3 documentaries, 2 theater festivals, and many artist collaborations, which leaves no question as to how important their work is. Dedicated to creating a world where queer Asians can feel important, Shay Dior also founded Ricecake, an event organization that initially began as a dance party celebrating the queer and Asian community by providing well-paid work and a platform for queer Asian entertainers. With tremendous support and love, Shay Dior and the team behind Ricecake has expanded beyond a dance party- Ricecake Events will first and foremost be a safe space for queer Asians to share joy, participate in activism, and to express their excellence.

Maiden China is a second generation Chinese, trans-femme, non-binary artist living on the stolen lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) nations. Her drag explores themes like vulnerability, queer ritual, the concept of the “hyphen”, and liminal experience by incorporating elements of classical Chinese opera, glamour, punk, and intimate contact performance art.

Performing since 2016 in so-called "Vancouver, BC”, Maiden holds the pageant titles of Mr/Ms Cobalt All Star, and the Dogwood Monarchist Society’s Entertainer of the Year 2018. In 2019 Maiden was the subject and a creative director of an award-winning documentary titled Yellow Peril: Queer Destiny, which has screened in over six countries, including BAFTA qualifying Aesthetica Short Film Festival in Leeds, UK.They perform regularly as a member of the House of Rice, “Canada’s” only all-Asian drag family, and with other members of the house has co-produced and co-written two digital art drag shows for Upintheair Theatre - “In Rice-olation” for rEvolver festival in June 2020, as well as “Connection Error: Attempting to Reconnect” for The Array Festival in December 2020. Maiden is also a member of The Darlings, a non-binary drag performance collective whose self produced “Quarantine” film series garnered international recognition for digital ingenuity during the COVID pandemic lockdown across 2020/2021. The

Darlings have written and produced drag theatre shows, installations, and feature length films for the PuSH International Performing Arts Festival, the Vancouver Queer Arts Festival, The Transform Cabaret Festival, and Outstages Victoria. In addition to drag, Maiden China co-owns and operates Queer Based Media, a QTPOC multimedia production company that provides videography, photography, projection installation, and design work for queer creators.

Skim also known as Romi Kim or 김새로미 is an interdisciplinary artist currently living on the unceded xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Skim is a queer, genderfluid, second-generation Korean. They identify themselves in recognizing these words as verbs rather than nouns or adjectives—constantly in action, and in flux.

Their practice and performances often explore stories through vulnerability and care. Skim has a collaborative artistic practice as part of the House of Rice, an all-Asian drag house in Vancouver and a solo one. They have shown works in Seoul, South Korea- Ani-seed Festival and Space 55; the United Kingdom in the Queer Asia Festival; Edmonton, Canada as part of The Works Art and Design Festival and Vancouver, in the Vines Festival and at the Polygon Art gallery. They have performed in bars and clubs in South Korea, Vietnam, online internationally, San Francisco and in Vancouver (as well as in the Cultch Theatre, Upintheair Theatre, and Transform Cabaret Festival).

Davey Samuel Calderon (he/they) - is a director, curator, writer, producer, drag artist, dramaturg and settler on the unceded lands of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh speaking peoples. He is the Co-Founder of New(to)Town Collective, an emerging theatre collective. Big Queer Filipino Karaoke Night! was his first written solo show that had a workshop showing at the 2018 Vancouver Fringe Festival (Produced by Tender Container and associate producers New(to)Town Collective and Neworld Theatre; Funded by BCAC). And the writer and producer of the short film, RUN (2018 Vancouver Queer Film Festival). Assistant director and co-dramaturg on My Name Is SUMIKO by June Fukumura at the 2019 Vancouver Fringe Festival (Produced by New(to)Town Collective and winner of the 2019 Pick of the Fringe Award).

Currently, he is Playwrights Theatre Centre’s Dramaturg, Public Engagement, and is currently the dramaturg for  Mily Mumford’s It Lives in My Bedroom (PTC Associate 2021-24), Bianca Miranda’s Opo (2021 vAct’s  MSG Lab), Jenna Masuhara’s Before They Cut Down Our Tree (2020/21 vAct’s MSG & MSG2 Lab), and Zahida Rahemtullla’s The Frontliners (winner of the PTC New Play in Development Prize and the 2021 PGC’s RBC Emerging Playwright award). 

Follow him on Instagram @davey_pacific1 and his drag persona, Ate Dee-Dee Kalderetta giving face @atedeedee.