Miss

English

Queer beauty pageants are a phenomenon in the Philippines. Hair, make-up, posture, shoes: what political and cultural ideas inform the participants’ radiant appearance? 

Theatre maker Joshua Serafin is proud of his native country the Philippines, which over the past years has supplied no fewer than fifteen winners for beauty pageants such as Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss Earth, and Miss International. For his choreography MISS, Serafin draws on the transgender beauty pageants that are a phenomenon is his country. MISS is a solo that cracks open congealed notions around gender. 

Hair, make-up, posture, shoes: the codes that must be adhered to in order to be viewed as woman are countless and compelling. It makes femininity a constant interplay between ‘being’ and ‘appearing’. Especially in the case of queer beauty pageants. Leave it to Joshua Serafin to find an equally compelling form to capture this game.

Serafin interviewed several Filipino Miss-winners and incorporated their experiences in his performance. Including the less visible aspects: the precision and discipline demanded of participants, the underlying cultural and political ideas about gender, and the religious and colonial influences feeding into those. 

Joshua Serafin is a visual artist, dancer, performer and theatre maker. He was born in the Philippines and now lives and works between Manilla and Brussels. He has worked with a range of Asian and European artists, such as Eisa Jocson, Choy Ka Fai and Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker. 

Some of the major themes in Serafin’s work are identity, transmigration and queer politics. He is interested in the dualities between physical form and appearance. To explore the different ways a person can inhabit their body, Serafin has created an alter-identity called Void.