Cherdonna Shinatra

Cherdonna Shinatra is the stage name of Jody Kuehner (born c. 1979/1980),[1] a Seattle-based, American dancer, drag queen and performance artist.[2] Kuehner won the Stranger Genius Award in Performance in 2015.[3]

Cherdonna Shinatra
Born
Jody Keuhner

1979/1980 (age 42–43)
NationalityAmerican
EducationUniversity of South Florida (BA, BFA)
Years active2007–present
Websitecherdonna.com

Career

Performance style

Kuehner has been called a "female impersonator impersonator"[1] and describes her own performance as Cherdonna as "a female-bodied person, presenting as a male-bodied person, presenting as a female".[4][5] She has been mistaken for a man by some audience members who don't expect to see the "exaggerat[ed] femininity" displayed by a drag persona to have a female body.[6] After a performance in Seattle she had her breasts grabbed by a person who expected to find a prosthetic,[6] and she performed onstage several times with a male partner before he realized she was not also male.[1]

Keuhner incorporates many elements into her performances, including dance, theater, drag, burlesque, glitter, celebrity impersonations, audience interaction, and clowning.[7]

Performances and achievements

Kuehner was part of a 2014–2015 multidisciplinary exhibition at Frye Art Museum in Seattle.[8] In 2017 she was an Artist Trust Fellowship recipient,[9][10] and the 2017 Henry Art Gallery Artist in Residence.[11]

She was a member of the Pat Graney Dance Company from 2007 to 2016 and assisted in Graney's FTK Prison Project.[9][12] Kuehner is a performer with the touring cabaret and burlesque company Kitten n Lou Presents as a member of The Atomic Bombshells.[13][14]

Keuhner has presented three solo performance art shows as Cherdonna that are a part of a larger collection of shows which she calls one great, bright, brittle alltogetherness.[15] The first of these was simply called one great, bright, brittle alltogetherness and was performed at Velocity Dance Center in 2016.[16] Then she produced Clock that Mug or Dusted in 2016 which premiered at Velocity Dance Center in 2016.[11] The third installment was Kissing Like Babies which premiered at On the Boards in Seattle in October 2017.[15]

Dance instruction

Kuehner was artist in residence and instructor at Velocity Dance Center in 2014.[17]

Personal life

Kuehner describes herself as queer.[2][6][18]

References
  1. Frizzelle, Christopher (September 10, 2014). "The Inexplicable, Fascinating Cherdonna Shinatra, the Drag Queen Who's Not a Drag Queen". The Stranger. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
  2. Serinus, Jason Victor (June 2, 2016). "Cherdonna Shinatra does it her way: 'Gender fluid' performer shakes off expectations". The Seattle Times. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
  3. Frizzelle, Christopher (September 16, 2015). "Cherdonna, Winner of the 2015 Stranger Genius Award in Performance". The Stranger. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
  4. Aaron Scott (April 23, 2016). "Drag Through The Back Door With Wigs The Size Of Texas". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Archived from the original on July 2, 2019.
  5. "Two NW Drag Queens Boldly Go Where No Queens Have Gone Before". Spreaker. Oregon Public Broadcasting. Archived from the original on September 8, 2021. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
  6. Jacobson, Rebecca (April 27, 2016). "The Surprising Gender Bending of Drag Queen Cherdonna Shinatra". Portland Monthly. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
  7. O'Kane, Kyle (February 23, 2018). "The History of Cherdonna Shinatra: From Name to Fame". FringeArts. Archived from the original on February 28, 2018. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  8. Genius / 21 Century / Seattle, Frye Art Museum, Seattle, September 26, 2015 – January 10, 2016, "an unprecedented, large-scale celebration of exceptional multidisciplinary and collaborative artistic practice in Seattle in the twenty-first century."
  9. "About". cherdonna.com. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  10. "Jody Kuehner". Artist Trust. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  11. "Cherdonna Shinatra: Clock That Construct - Henry Art Gallery". henryart.org. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  12. "Jody Kuehner". Pat Graney Company. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  13. "A Camptacular! Q&A with Kitten N' Lou". City Arts Magazine. June 30, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  14. "Cherdonna Shinatra: DITCH". Frye Art Museum. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  15. "Jody Kuehner/Cherdonna Shinatra: Kissing Like Babies: Part III of one great, bright, brittle alltogetherness". The Stranger. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  16. "Association of Performing Arts Presenters 2016 Booklet". Issuu. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  17. "Class descriptions and faculty bios: Professional/Advanced Contemporary with Jody Kuehner". Velocity Dance Center. Archived from the original on March 1, 2016.
  18. Sommerfeld, Seth (October 13, 2014). "A Fiendish Conversation with Jody Kuehner (Cherdonna Shinatra)". Seattle Met. Retrieved September 8, 2021.

Further reading
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