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Lifting the tattered sleeve of my red checkered flannel shirt, I once again glanced at my watch and felt the aggravation, which I had taken great strides to hide throughout the evening, suddenly threaten to make itself known. Despite my reputation as a patient person, I found myself becoming extremely irritated, having waited over forty-five minutes for the performance, "Drag Kings and Subjects," to commence. Silently, I began to stare intently at the thin, yellow backstage entrance, willing it to open and allow admittance to the small congregation of students that had formed. As if upon command, a harried theatre assistant magically appeared, unlocked the door and quickly herded us into the dressing room. The procession continued up a small staircase and onto a darkened stage, made stranger by the odd sounding rhythms of a New Age selection, flowing through the theatre like a delicate dove in flight. The weird sensations pervading my body were furthered after arriving on stage and viewing three glass bottles, each possessing a bubbling solution and a wiggling, human tongue. Taking a seat in the audience, I realized that the organs on stage had been moving in perfect harmony with the futuristic music. Preparing myself for what proved to be a truly unique performance concerning gender in the Î90s, I finally relaxed and allowed myself to enter the world of a provocative artist, Diane Torr.
A native of Scotland, Torr first arrived and began to perform in the United States after graduating from England's Dartington College of the Arts in 1976. An accomplished dancer, Diane possessed a vast array of skills, as well as a unique interest in exploring "the self (her physical being)," but was forced to go-go dance in order to survive. Even though she was basically dancing for dollars, Torr made the best of her opportunities, continually using her work as a process for self-exploration. "Go-go dancing allowed me to make... studies of my own erotic possibilities as a mover. When you are dancing... you're on the line. You have to come up with the goods; you have to find out what you're made of and what you're resources are. I quickly learned the go-go formula... fingers down the inside of the leg, circling the nipples, bending over and looking between the legs--- simulating sex or whatever. You have to do those moves in a way that you feel like they have some kind of flavor to them, but at the same time also make your own moves."
With the assistance of Aikido, a Japanese martial art form in which Torr holds the rank of Nidan, a second degree black belt, she began to design her own movements and show within the confines of her job as a go-go dancer. Her interest in martial arts, as well as yoga enabled Torr to develop physically and she believed, "A lot of men didn't actually think I was a woman. They all thought I was a transvestite and that I had a penis taped up under my scrotum...."Consequently, Diane did not conform to the typical dancer stereotype and decided, "I' m just going to make my own exploration. And I started to bring in toys like rubber snakes and objects to amuse myself, and to improvise with, and it became a go-go dancer/performance art/sex experiment.... In fact, I made my own erotic piece.... Some of the men really appreciated it, though a lot of them wanted the same old, same old. But for myself, it was really an interesting experiment, and I decided to make a performance with that."
The performance that evolved, "Go-Go Girls Seize Control," was a true representation of the artist, Diane Torr, a product of physical knowledge, critical thinking, investigatory performance and something that defied all systems of labeling. When the show debuted in 1981 at the Women's One Theatre Festival in New York City, many of the audience members were aghast. For much of the performance, Torr and her dancers masqueraded in costumes designed as caricatures that overly exaggerated their chest and vaginal areas, while performing erotic dances complete with sound effects for the viewers. Critics of the show believed it exploited women and other dancers found the performance too sexually explicit. They did not see it as the research experiment, for which Torr had hoped. During one performance at a women's festival in Amsterdam, a riot occurred as bottles were thrown at the performers and women arm-linked themselves across the front door of the theatre, forcing Torr and other artists to flee through the rear exit. Many in the audience believed Torr was performing only for men and were appalled.
In sharp contrast to the criticism concerning "Go-Go Girls Seize Control," attitudes toward Diane Torr' s most recent endeavor "Drag Kings and Subjects," as well as her cross-dressing workshops, are surprisingly positive. The show centers around Silvia, a rich, middle-aged woman who enjoys dressing as a man. The alter-ego created is a middle-class, hard-working, Pittsburgh native named, Danny King, who establishes an "American Society of Men," through which he instructs other males on issues such as, masculinity and the role of men in society. His views conform to the typical, heterosexual male stereotype, but are shattered when it is later revealed that Danny possesses a secret, a desire to dress in women's apparel. The personality created is Dolores, a sexy, cabaret singer with a sultry voice and dynamic movements who concludes the show with a rousing disco ensemble, complete with neon lights and a glittering ball.
In addition to the performance, Torr also offers workshops for women in which she teaches the art of female to male crossdressing. Participants must do a thorough examination of the persona they wish to become, and Danny King assists in teaching them how to walk, talk and sit like a man. Fake penises are also a necessity, created out of tubular bandages and cotton wool. It is in assuming the role of a man, Torr believes, a woman "(is) assuming the role of authority, that as woman she might deny herself. Not because she isn' t enlightened; it' s to do with a certain conditioning she grew up with." Through crossdressing, women are exploring their "other self," a part which they have been taught to repress by society. Only by realizing the needs of the "other self," can a person truly evolve and free themselves from the confines of societal norms that have been enacted over the years.
Since first arriving in the United States, Diane Torr has worked to destroy
the existing gender stereotypes and bring sexuality to the forefront of education.
By acknowledging both our male and female selves, Torr believes true harmony
can be created in the body, and humanity will be able to evolve to its fullest
capabilities. Furthermore, everyone is born with the realization that they possess
both male and female persona; but society forces us to conform to the norms
of our gender, and subsequently stifles our abilities as human beings. I, for
one, do not wish to conform any longer. Do you?
