Going to a small basement club hidden beneath Cruz 101 in the heart of the Gay Village on a Saturday night almost ten years ago would prove to be a pivotal moment for performance artist Beau-Azra Scott.
Witnessing drag queens and queer performers, including the likes of Anna Phylactic, Cheddar Gorgeous and Grace-Oni Smith, perform on the stage of Cha Cha Boudoir, Beau realised that’s being unapologetically queer both on and off the stage was exactly where they wanted to be.
Beau, who is non-binary, started frequenting club nights in the village more and more, making vital connections with the ‘movers and the shakers’ of Manchester’s queer performance scene, before hosting their own club nights and events throughout the city. This year, Beau is now curating Manchester Pride’s Superbia festival - described as being a ‘culturally rich celebration of LGBTQ+ life’ with free activities for people of all ages to attend.
“Cha Cha Boudoir absolutely was my intro to the queer scene in Manchester,” Beau, who is originally from Bury, told the M.E.N. “I’ve been a performer since I was a teenager and I was in a band at the time. Looking back on that time, quite a lot of it was a negative experience for me as it was very controlled and I had to be a certain way.
“Finding club nights like Cha Cha Boudoir and Bollox really did make me realise that it was exactly what I was supposed to be doing. Pretty soon on, I left the band, moved to the city centre and moved in with some of the Family Gorgeous - who are now a huge part of my queer family - and started creating events.”
One of their biggest achievements is the Creatures of Catharsis club night, a queer cabaret collective celebrating all forms of queer art, which has performed at the likes of HOME, Islington Mill and The White Hotel.
That collective, Beau says, was always to continue the experience and feeling they had on that first night of seeing Cha Cha Boudoir. “I started making music with [fellow Manchester performer] Laurie and we couldn’t really find a lot of spaces where we could perform,” Beau explains.
“That’s when Creatures of Catharsis came about really. It was a place where artists could perform anything they wanted without entirely being focused on entertaining the masses.
“It gave people the stage space to find the catharsis in what was going on at the time for them and has organically become a real meeting ground for people to come together.”
From then on, Beau continued to ‘cut their teeth’ in event management and working with city big leagues, while still being able to showcase their own artistry through performances.
Another of Beau’s highlights came earlier this year when they were invited to run a stage at Glastonbury. Explaining the point they’re at in their career, Beau said: “It’s really nice that I get to do my creative work, which has a DIY and community focus, and then I get to do stage and production management too.
"Getting to manage one of the Block9 stages at Glastonbury was a real ‘pinch me’ moment. The entertainment industry as a whole can still be very rigid in its ways - it’s still white male orientated.
"I have had to fight for not only myself but for other people to get into production or performing. But I feel like I’m at a point now where I can turn around and say ‘look, I worked at Glastonbury'. It’s much harder for people to ignore me now.”
These achievements have all helped lead to the position of curator of Superbia’s 2022 programme, which features a varied selection of events from kids music sessions, queer kids music workshop, a 'disabled, queer and hear' showcase, and panel discussions and talks from the likes of trans activist Charlie Craggs, House of Ghetto’s Darren Pritchard and Manchester legend DJ Paulette.
“It’s cool that this has all started from me just wanting to sing sad songs in a basement in Manchester,” Beau laughs. “With Superbia, we’ve been able to create a whole host of social community spaces that exist out of the world of nightlife.
“I think something that’s been playing a lot on my mind, and seeing programmes like Heartstopper, is that young queer people can have really positive formative experiences. A lot of people who aren’t from that generation, their experiences within the community tend to have been largely revolved around nightlife.
“There’s a real push and pull between wanting to be with your people and find your community, but also wanting to be in spaces that aren’t focused around massive amounts of escapism, like clubbing.
“It’s also about creating something that is accessible for all people and all ages. It offers spaces of real positive representation and community.”
Other events on Superbia’s calendar include a punk workshop and jam session, an opportunity for queer people of colour to converse and create, and a day-long ‘Feel Good Fest’ at Feel Good Club in the Northern Quarter.
“I think there’s a lot of different things going on and it’s really about what you’re looking for,” Beau explains. “Hopefully we’ve managed to cover a range of different bases. Pride can be quite overwhelming for some people so we’ve wanted to ensure that while there are social events, there are also things that are laid back and relaxed.
“One of my favourites has to be an event we’re working on with the Untold Orchestra, which is an artistic ode to queer protests to specific references to the ACT UP movement. It’ll feature dancers, singers and band members, and it’s going to be something super visual and special.
“The nice thing about doing the project and the way I was able to curate it is that I was able to bring people in as co-producers and let them run with their own elements and ideas - it’s really exciting to see.
“It’s a very varied programme, hopefully there’s something for everyone there. It’s been really fun to curate these events and make sure they’re free for everyone.
“With everything going on right now politically, everyone being in a room together and given a chance to deepen community connections is something that I think we all really need right now.”
Superbia runs from August 24 to 28. While all events are free to attend, some have limited capacity and require tickets. Details for all events can be found here.
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