Gabrielle Martin chats with performance artist Ralph Escamillan. Show Notes Gabrielle and Ralph discuss: How did you come to know about PuSh and get a commission for Hinky Punk? How do you elevate the performer into the visually iconic? What is Hinky Punk? How do you embody aspects of queerness in one performer? How do you work with restriction? What role can costume play? What is the value of ballroom culture in other artistic practices? How do you find your place in society like you find your category in ballroom—and then transcend it? Does the collective community ethos of ballroom translate into your other work? What does it mean to have a true open door with the community? What is the cultural context and significance of PuSh? How do we continue building bridges between the different artistic communities? About Ralph Escamillan Ralph Escamillan is a queer, Canadian-Filipinx performance artist, teacher and community leader based on the unceded territories of the xwməθkwəy̓əm, Skwxwú7mesh, Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh Nations - on so called Vancouver, BC. Starting at age 14, Ralph trained first in Breakdancing then explored a multitude of other street dance styles such as HipHop, Popping, House, Waacking and Locking. His passion for dance expanded to include training in Vogue, Ballroom, Ballet, Modern, Jazz and was a graduate of Contemporary Training Program Modus Operandi in 2015. Ralph has worked/toured with Vancouver companies: Company 605, Co. Erasga Dance, Kinesis Dance Somatheatro, Out Innerspace Theatre, Wen Wei Dance, Mascall Dance, apprenticed with Kidd Pivot in (2014) and and was a guest dancer with Ballet BC (2020). In the commercial industry, he’s worked with choreographers including AJ Aakomon, Luther Brown, Kenny Ortega, Tucker Barkely and Mandy Moore as well as artists Victoria Duffield and Zendaya Coleman, and was a guest dancer for Janet Jackson’s “Unbreakable” tour in 2015. With his company FakeKnot he creates work that strives to understand the complexities of identity using sound, costume, technology and the body. Ralph is currently premiered his all philippine cast work inspired by the queen of Philippine textile Piña in Vancouver May 4-6 2023 (Co-Presentation with SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs and The Dance Centre). Ralph ‘Posh’ Gvasalia Basquiat has been in the Ballroom Scene since 2014, founding his own Kiki House of Gvasalia in Vancouver and joined the Mainstream House of Basquiat in 2021. The founder and Artistic/Executive Director of the non-profit organization VanVogueJam, Ralph shares his passion for Vogue/Ballroom culture at his weekly pay-what-you-can classes and vogue balls, acting as a beacon for the queer dance/culture in Western Canada. Ralph was recently awarded the Inaugural Miriam Adams Bursary fund at the DCD Hall Of Fame in October 2022 in Toronto, aswell as the Inaugural RBC Emerging Artist Award at the 2023 Governor General Performing Arts Awards in Ottawa. Land Acknowledgement This conversation was recorded on the unceded, stolen and ancestral territories of the Coast Salish Peoples: the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), colonially known as Vancouver. It is our duty to establish right relations with the people on whose territories we live and work, and with the land itself. Show Transcript Gabrielle Martin 00:02 Hello and welcome to Push Play, a Push Festival podcast featuring conversations with artists who are pushing boundaries and playing with form. I'm Gabrielle Martin, Push's Director of Programming, and in this special series of Push Play, we're revisiting the legacy of Push and talking to creators who have helped shape 20 years of innovative, dynamic, and audacious festival programming. Gabrielle Martin 00:23 Today's episode features Ralph Eschimulen and is anchored around the 2018 Push Festival. Ralph, aka Posh, Visalia, Basquiat, is a queer, Canadian, Philippine ex -performance artist, choreographer, and teacher based in Vancouver. Gabrielle Martin 00:40 As the Artistic Director of Fake Knot, he develops collaborative performance works that have been presented both nationally and internationally. His work questions notions of identity, tradition, and clothing, and the influence of pop culture in a globalizing world. Gabrielle Martin 00:54 Ralph is a recipient of the inaugural Miriam Adams Bursary Fund at the DZD Hall of Fame in October 22 in Toronto, as well as the Inaugural National Arts Centre RBC Emerging Artist Award at the 2023 Governor General Performing Arts Awards in Ottawa. Gabrielle Martin 01:11 Here's my conversation with Ralph. I have been acknowledged that we are here on this stolen traditional and ancestral territories of the Coast Salish peoples, the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil -Waututh. Gabrielle Martin 01:25 I am unbelievably privileged to be on this land. And we're downtown, we're close to your offices. ...
