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Fauxnique, aka\u00a0Monique Jenkinson,\u00a0contemplates aging as an artist in \u201cHow Do I Look?\u201d<\/p>\n
Courtesy of Robbie Sweeny<\/p>\n
Somewhere within the undulating fabric is Monique Jenkinson<\/a>.<\/p>\n During a recent rehearsal at a studio in the ODC Annex, she manipulated swaths of cloth as combination set pieces-dance elements preparing for her new work, \u201cFauxnique: How Do I Look?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFauxnique: How Do I Look?\u201d: 7:30 p.m. Friday-Sunday, April 17-19. $10-$100. Brenda Way Theatre, 3153 17th St., S.F. www.odc.dance\/fauxnique<\/a><\/p>\n The expanse of magenta polyester flowed behind her as she lifted it aloft like childhood parachute time, letting it fill with air and dome upward. Or her body would stretch it from within, limbs pressing into the textile in the modern dance style of Martha Graham<\/a>. In another moment, her arms flap the fabric like a butterfly.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cYes, I\u2019m making shapes for you right now,\u201d said Jenkinson, 55, who also performs in drag as Fauxnique. \u201cBut part of the under-the-fabric section is me having my own private moment of abstraction.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFauxnique: How Do I Look?,\u201d at ODC on Friday-Sunday, April 17-19, is the performer\u2019s \u201csister\u201d to her 2025 cabaret show \u201cFauxnique.\u00a0So Relevant,\u201d which had two sold-out runs at Oasis<\/a>. Both works deal with questions about aging as an artist, audience perception and how we form our identities.\u00a0<\/p>\n San Francisco Chronicle Logo<\/p>\n Make us a Preferred Source to get more of our news when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Part of what \u201cHow Do I Look?\u201d is asking, however, is who Jenkinson is as an aging artist, and whether she can separate her sense of self from \u201cbeing a dancer.\u201d<\/p>\n At rehearsal, Jenkinson next gathered a mossy-green and shocking-pink cape from the floor. She twirled it around her body like a toreador, first forming a skirt and finally drooping into \u201cDying Swan\u201d-like wings at her side. The costume was made for another performance by San Francisco drag couturier Mr. David Glamamore<\/a>, a longtime collaborator of Jenkinson whom she credits with helping form Fauxnique\u2019s visual identity.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cFauxnique: How Do I Look?\u201d by Monique\u00a0Jenkinson is the sister work to the performer\u2019s 2025 cabaret show \u201cFauxnique.\u00a0So Relevant.\u201d<\/p>\n Courtesy of Robbie Sweeny<\/p>\n In line with the theme of aging, \u201cHow Do I Look?\u201d is also the San Francisco artist\u2019s first movement-heavy solo work since her double hip replacement in 2022.<\/p>\n \u201cA teacher I had told me, \u2018Learning is chaos,\u2019 and I think aging is chaos,\u201d said Jenkinson. \u201cThere have been things about aging I\u2019ve haven\u2019t been prepared for, like being called \u2018an aged-out old art f\u2014,\u2019 which is something at the root of both pieces.\u201d<\/p>\n Jenkinson has been creating performances at the intersection of dance, drag and experimental theater for three decades. Although she still considers ballet \u201cthe country I defected from,\u201d Jenkinson is a modern dancer who graduated from the prestigious program at Bennington College in Vermont. In that field, she\u2019s worked with choreographers including Kathleen Hermesdorf and Sara Shelton Mann.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n