Wavelengths is a semi monthly drag and burlesque event curated by Katie Rauth (aka Lezzie McGuire) that uses gendered performance to explore marginalized identities and the politics by which they are surrounded. Within the show, local artists from Philadelphia and NYC reclaim forms of performance that are oftentimes seen as “low brow” or “bar performance”, engaging their audience in deeply personal performances that spark conversation about larger topics surrounding gender, race, mental health, and queerness. Originating as programming to accompany Katie Rauth’s body of work centering around the intersection of femininity and drag culture, Wavelengths has transformed into a body of work in itself.

Wavelengths V’s cast includes Ron Binary, Samora Cunt, Minnow Future, Bum Bum Kapau and Onyx Ondyx, and is hosted by Lezzie McGuire.

Doors 8:30pm // Show 9pm // $7-10 suggested donation // No one turned away for lack of funds

Tech support by Lucia Alber, MacKenzie Clark, and Thomas Lauria.

   

Katie Rauth is a Philadelphia-based multimedia and performance artist, and the curator and host of Wavelengths. Using it as a lens to explore her own femininity, Rauth’s work with drag began as a way to explore the disempowerment and invisibility of a high femme identity within the queer community. Embracing the appropriative stereotypes of femininity in drag queen culture as a place of comfort rather than exploitation, Rauth engages her alter ego- “Lezzie McGuire”- to establish power and strength in her own femininity, while questioning the surprisingly narrow mindset of gender inclusivity in mainstream drag.