Trans Amazonian actress and singer throws party that mixes art, emotion and resistance

Manaus (AM) – Last Saturday (5) was marked with an event filled with exciting moments and a lot of art involved. Actress and singer Lenine Charles, a transgender woman, decided to turn her 25th birthday party into the debutante ball she always wanted, and was attended by several artists and members of the trans community in the city of Manaus.

The event had all the possible details, idealized by Lenine and organized by the adoptive mother and consecrated ceremonialist Jane Uchôa. Entrance with a princess, changing shoes, waltz with the prince and, something never thought of for parties of this format: a “ball”, a competitive event characteristic of the trans community.

The multi-artist is part of Companhia Transversal de Artes Integradas, under development since last year, and is currently a student of Theater and Contemporary Singing, respectively, at Escola e Produtora Interarte and at Studio Belcanto. In addition, she is a member of the Adult Dance Corps of the Arts Center of the Federal University of Amazonas (Caua) and works in the Cultural Traditions segment of the city, promoting the Ballroom movement.

For those who don’t know, the Ballroom (in direct translation, ballroom), is a movement that began in the late 1960s in the United States, with events that celebrated the LGBTQIAP+ experience of black and Latino people, especially trans women. , who were marginalized in the country. The “balls”, or balls, are full of competitions in dances, clothes and other performances, designed to expose and encourage the talent of this community, and among their great highlights is the characteristic “vogue” dance, which inspired the singer Madonna in 1990 Here in Manaus, ballroom culture has existed since 2019 and is increasingly effervescent, as explained by Lenine, who is a participant in the scene.

The artist says that she began her transition process four years ago, but that she has only recently rediscovered her femininity.

“After so long trying to convince people that I deserved to live like any other human being, I got lost in the most intimate part of the process. I continue to learn what it means to be a woman for me and, for me to be able to live this learning, I started to chase what I lost, the experiences that socially speaking I was denied. It’s simple things, but they make all the difference. For example, two months ago I had my first doll”,

said the actress.

According to Lenine, there are trans people who recognize themselves outside their declared gender from an early age, but there are other trans women who take time to go through this process. For her, gender is not a natural issue.

“I understand it more as the result of a social experiment. Someone took different anatomical parts and said: one is a man, one is a woman. There is no specific explanation of what they are, just rules about what they can and cannot do. Technically, we may or may not follow these rules, but when this becomes a tradition, it’s hard to think that it can be something changeable. And then we act according to these roles without knowing that we can do it differently”,

affirm.

15+10

Jane Uchôa, mother and ceremonialist, proudly took over the organization of the party and made sure that everything, every detail was perfect.

“It was challenging for me to be a ceremonialist and part of the event at the same time, but seeing everything happening brings me a taste of victory”,

reminds Jane.

She says that mother and daughter met in their own home, through Jane’s biological son. Afterwards, she, who is also a photographer, offered a rehearsal for the two of them and a few colleagues while they publicized the activities of their first theater company, started and deactivated in 2020. She noticed Lenine’s talent. And so, a great desire to help her was born.

“After the pandemic, we got closer and little by little I saw in her the daughter I never had. At age 23, she threw a surprise party at the foster home where she lived. Last year, she said that she had this desire for a 15th birthday party and it was my same desire, but being a mother. Thus was born the party, I gave it as a gift. And it was really fulfilling, wonderful, it turned out the way I expected”,

said Jane.

With the support of the most diverse event companies, the party gained an air of luxury and elegance. It featured all the rites of passage present at a 15th birthday party, such as changing dresses, changing shoes, waltz with the prince (her boyfriend Alexandre Gomes) and beautiful speeches made by mother and friends.

“This party means a lot to me, a very big achievement, especially for sharing this moment with other people in my community. I made a point of inviting them, bringing them with me, so that other girls like me could live with me this collective, almost political process of being feminine, within this great ritual of acceptance”,

Lenin told.

The princess in each of us

Friend Gabriela Galvão, 20, also a transgender woman, says that she started the transition when she was 15, and that she still has to validate her gender identity every day.

“We trans people do this every day, even if it’s exhausting. But I always like to reaffirm that I’m not just a trans woman, I’m several other things: I like to draw, to sing, it’s how I express myself to the world. When I met Lenine, I connected with her through the way she expresses herself. It’s beautiful to be able to see that I can have more of ours around, speaking for myself. And being able to be here, being able to have a 15th birthday party, is something that every girl dreams of.”

finished Gabriela.

For Lenine, the freedom to live this moment represents the closing of a cycle. “At the age of 5, I wanted to take a ballet class, but I understood already at that age that I shouldn’t want that because ‘I’m a boy’. I asked my parents for a football themed party for my 7th birthday and I hated every second of that day, but I knew it would please the people around me. I lost myself and canceled myself very easily, and it took me a long time to understand that I could be a girl and, as an adult, it is something that I am very happy to be living”, said the singer.

A little more about Lenine Charles

Lenine Charles (ela/dela) is a Brazilian trans woman, is a multi-artist and works mainly in the areas of theater and singing. Still attending higher education, her passage through the Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM) allowed her to know and study at the University of Coimbra (UC), in Portugal, where she began her social transition and her artistic career.

She has proven experience as an actress, co-creator and director of shows since 2019, although many of these records were made before her transition. His last work and the highlight of his career is his participation in the show “DIVALAND” (2023), presented at Teatro Amazonas in July during the Encontro das Águas series.

*With advisory information

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