Pushing dollar bills into the air, students excitedly swarmed the outskirts of the stage, awestruck as drag queens and kings expertly danced to roaring music.
The Official MSU Drag Show, one of the University Activities Board’s most popular events of the year is a collabortation with Residence Hall Association and draws in more than 500 students of all backgrounds to create relationships and foster a sense of belonging.
“Events like drag show create a unity between populations of different identities in the MSU community and it’s always great to celebrate and recognize these various identities,” UAB multicultural director and professional writing sophomore Caroline Poole said.
The Official MSU Drag Show hosted a spotlight for eight drag queens and one king to perform dance routines accompanied by popular music supporting independence and LGBT students.
The show began with the host, Hershae Chocolatae, giving a quick lesson in the difference between drag, transgenderism and transvestism.
Chocolate began by talking about the three ways behind drag — a man who dresses like a woman, a woman who dresses like a man and a glamour drag. Chocolate then provided a lesson on the definitions of drag terms. Transgenderism is ignited by people, whether male or female, believing they are born in the wrong body, and a transvestite is someone who enjoys dressing in the opposite gender’s clothing.
After the lesson, the night began when the music turned up and Ace DeVille, awarded the 2015 Miss Michigan Entertainer of the Year, took the stage followed by Cheetah Jameson, Daunte Chaunte, Dahlia Drake, Maria Mirelez, B. Spectacular, Alicia Moore, Chanel Hunter and Karma Vuitton featuring Louis Vuitton.
B. Spectacular, a drag king, began a career in drag about five years ago after recommendations from high school friends Ace DeVille and Maria Mirelez.
Now as one of the hosts of the King Show Sunday Funday at Spiral in East Lansing, B. Spectacular hasn’t looked back.
“I enjoy the crowd the most,” B. Spectacular said. “It’s their energy that gives me my energy.”
B. Spectacular’s advice to anyone who might be interested in pursuing drag would be to “don’t stay in your head, just let it go and let it all be relaxed, let it happen. I know it’s kind of nerve-wracking up there but just let it be. They’re here to watch you and enjoy you so give it your all.”
Although the Official MSU Drag Show is an annual event, the greek-themed show was the first drag experience for many of the student participants.
When civil engineering junior Shacara Ansley read about the Official MSU Drag Show on the UAB tent at her table in the dining hall, her curiosity instantly piqued.
Ansley then hopped on her computer and began watching cellphone videos of last year’s show.
“It was interesting to see people in drag putting on the show,” she said.
Admiring the performers, Ansley gave kudos to the drag queens and kings.
“I think that’s a very brave thing for people to come out in drag and do what they do with the judgement there is in society,” she said. “I respect that.”
