{"id":26265,"date":"2025-01-06T09:00:39","date_gmt":"2025-01-06T17:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/?p=26265"},"modified":"2024-12-16T14:12:22","modified_gmt":"2024-12-16T22:12:22","slug":"pieces-of-performance-an-introduction-to-wander-lost-and-the-importance-of-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2025\/01\/06\/pieces-of-performance-an-introduction-to-wander-lost-and-the-importance-of-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Pieces of Performance<\/em>: An introduction to Wander Lost and the importance of community"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello, Nexus<\/i> readers and performance lovers. If I\u2019m going to write this column with all of my excitement and adoration for my community, I figured I should introduce myself. You would know me as Camosun student Acacia Tooth, but my stage name is Wander Lost.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m a mother of two; a queer, non-binary military veteran; an entertainer; and now, thanks to this platform, a published writer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It has always been important to me to share and support the unique and beautiful individuals in the performance community. As our spaces to perform become smaller, it\u2019s a huge deal, more so now than ever, to extend our reach and share our stories. Each and every one of us who puts in so much love and so many pieces of ourselves into our performance deserves space to thrive and shine.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Nexus columnist Acacia Tooth performing at a recent event (photo by Kitty Photography).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As a mother I see firsthand how performance and authenticity to oneself can shape the outlook of community for the next generation. My four-year-old son is the first to take interest in my drag performances, make-up, and dancing. The kindness he shows when I paint my face by telling me I\u2019m beautiful, or the giggle I get when I put on a moustache is all worth the fight to just live how we choose every day as queer individuals. Our acceptance of ourselves should never be shrouded in guilt or shame\u2014it deserves to be celebrated and kept sacred.<\/p>\n

Showing gratitude to those who came before us, the rich history behind drag and burlesque performance, is the flame that we keep alive. If you\u2019ve yet to experience a show on either of these platforms, here are a few of many things to know, because education is the most important way to fully understand and support what you watch.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Keep up to date with political affairs affecting the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, sex workers, Indigenous communities, and youth. Stand with us in solidarity when it comes to protecting our rights as humans. Read the 94 calls to action and hold our government responsible for their actions, as well as your own, in reconciliation.<\/p>\n

Know the names of performers who changed the world and fought for our right to exist. The 1969 Stonewall riots are a pinnacle of the movement of gay rights, tracing drag back to 1870 theatre performances and pushing women to fight for equality in 1929.<\/p>\n

I encourage you to take these dates, look at the technology in your hand that gives you access to millions of documents and current affairs, and do your homework. How we progress forward into the future affects everyone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While doing our homework, support local businesses. Since the Victoria Event Centre has closed, we have limited spaces to continue our performance arts in a safe space, The Vicious Poodle and Friends of Dorothy being our bigger spaces for drag, Metro Studio and Intrepid Theatre being larger venues that lovingly allow us the space to create.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are artists and producers that also deserve our following and support: Shelita Cox (Drag Sunday Productions), Holly Shirt (Shirt Show Productions), Hazel Nunez (Diosa Luna Entertainment), Decathlon (MUG\u2019d Events), Eddi Licious, and so many more. All it takes is a like and share on social media. We do this every day, so why not support local arts.<\/p>\n

In a world of bigotry, racism, sexism, and phobias, let\u2019s come together and end these stigmas\u2014celebrate love, kindness, acceptance, and our differences that make the world a better place to live and exist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello, Nexus readers and performance lovers. If I\u2019m going to write this column with all of my excitement and adoration for my community, I figured I should introduce myself. You would know me as Camosun student Acacia Tooth, but my stage name is Wander Lost.\u00a0 I\u2019m a mother of two; a queer, non-binary military veteran; […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26266,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-columns"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26265"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26265\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26267,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26265\/revisions\/26267"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}