Poetry / Jasmine Gardosi
Birmingham’s boundary-breaking Poet Laureate Jasmine Gardosi to headline Milk Poetry night
Birmingham Poet Laureate Jasmine Gardosi is a multiple award-winning spoken word artist and beatboxer. Her debut show, Dancing to the Music You Hate, comes to The Wardrobe Theatre on July 10, hosted by Milk Poetry.
Known for boundary-blurring work that combines slam poetry, beatbox and Celtic dubstep, Gardosi explores themes around gender identity, articulating what it feels like for someone to come to terms with their own queerness.
In a performance that is radically honest, bold, funny and celebratory in tone, she also emphasises how everyone – be they straight, gay, trans or cis – can find joy and fulfilment from questioning the gender binary and its expectations.
is needed now More than ever
Wishing her audience “gender euphoria”, she asks them: “What if you’re everything you’re supposed to be? What if there are as many genders in this room as there are people?”
Having seen her perform, some people have told Gardosi their perceptions of gender have changed. Some have been encouraged to come out to their family having seen it, while others have been validated in their cis, straight identities. She is keen to assure people that Dancing to the Music You Hate is intended for everyone.
At its heart, Gardosi cites self-expression as the beating heart of the show. “Struggling to express myself – whether as an anxiety-ridden kid, a teenager unable to accept their sexuality, a poet trying to find the words, or a partner trying to communicate honestly in relationships – is a common theme in my life.”
Dancing to the Music You Hate is the title track, which was also recently adapted by conductor/arranger Jules Buckley and performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Gardosi describes it as “a poem about being gay while surrounded by your straight friends in an uber-straight nightclub, pretending to love where you are, but just not feeling like you belong.
“The show is about grappling with sexuality and gender identity, as well as the musicians I’m on stage with, which is why it felt suitable as a title, but don’t worry. You won’t hate the music. The music’s actually pretty rad.”
DTMYH – poster: Milk Poetry
Milk Poetry presents: Dancing to the Music You Hate is at The Wardrobe Theatre on July 10 at 7.30pm. Tickets are available at www.thewardrobetheatre.com. Follow news from Jasmine Gardosi at www.jasminegardosi.com.
All photos: Jack Hicks
Listen to the latest Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast:
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
