ABSTRACT
Part of a long-standing, ongoing, revolution in female representation, Glitter in the Gutter (GIG) grapples with misogyny, ageism, and the relentless pressures of capitalism through comedy that shimmies off the numbness of cultural conditioning in a cathartic dance of sparkling subversion. The show opens with a classic cabaret number, costumed in copious amounts of sequins, feathers, false eyelashes, and very high heels. Bevels, high kicks, and jazz hands abound in choreography that quotes cliched showgirl movements and performance qualities. Through physical comedy and raucous dialog, GIG critiques both popular culture’s obsession with female objectification and its glorification of the impossible capitalist working conditions rampant in academia and the arts. The humor in GIG spans an arc between the artist’s alcohol-infused, self-sacrificing dedication to show business, their almost religious fervency as modern dance lineage bearers, and the soul-sucking administrative nightmare that is their experience of dance in higher education.
