My ideal performance. Get into it, it is much.

A few years ago Kate Bush came out with an album called Aeriel. The second disk is one long 45-minute song, a journey from morning to evening then morning again. The last two songs are called Nocturn and Aeriel. Every time I listen to them my dream show comes into focus:

It would be in Ibiza on the beach just before sunrise. Naturally, Kate Bush would miraculously overcome her fear of flying specifically to come see me perform this amazing tribute to her art.
My show starts with me as the Lady in the Moon. I would be suspended from scaffolding, perched on a glowing sculpture of a crescent moon.

I would begin to lipsynch and as the sun slowly rises, the moon would fall, revealing my costume, a shroud of glimmering silver fabric blowing in the wind with tails and trains at least 50 feet long. This costume would be slowly illuminated by all colors as the sun rises. As the second song begins the moon would slowly descend to the ground. The stage, which appeared empty, would then undulate with movement. The sun would illuminate previously hidden shapes: that of dancers shrouded with exuberant fabrics in all the colors of the sunrise. At least 50 dancers, mind you, and not just ANY dancers: the complete cast of the Alvin Ailey Dance Company.

As the music builds, a flurry of brightly colored fabrics would swirl and swirl as the dancers strip off their clothing until completely nude, except a light dusting of gold shimmer. They would part like the sea to remove my now sunrise-colored shroud and reveal me in crystal-covered glory: a nude bodysuit encrusted entirely in Swarovski crystals. Not ONLY am I encrusted in crystals, darling, I’m also wearing crystal-encrusted pointe shoes. At this point I would begin a stunning pointe variation complete with 32 fuetés. At the close of the song, the dancers would form a human pyramid, using their hands to elevate me once more against the now-shining sun.

Ms. Bush would be moved to tears and thank me for helping her get over her fear of flying. She would be so overcome with emotion she would then ask me to choreograph a ballet for which she would write original music, so as to travel the world singing live while I perform alongside her.

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Let the good times roll!

Hi everybody!

Thanks to all of you lovely, sexy, and very intelligent people for voting for me!!

I just finished and submitted my first video, hopefully it'll be up really soon!

xoxoEricka

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Get Into It

Hello Children,
I am Erickatoure Aviance. I hail from a small town on the coast of New Hampshire called Portsmith. Lots of cows, trees, cobblestones, et cetera. A nice place to visit, but you wouldn’t want to live there. And I don’t.

I moved to New York City in 1999 to study dance at the NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, concentrating in ballet and modern dance. I graduated in 2003 with a BFA in dance performance. I started doing drag after I moved to New York City in the year 2000.

Entranced by the nightlife scene, after moving here I knew that I wanted to be one of the pretty people, the glitterati – those who NEVER have to wait on a line. So I actively sought out the legendary children. At the time the most colorful and most revered of all nightlife creatures were, of course, the drag queens. As I’m sure you all know, NYC has given rise to and nurtured some of the most legendary drag names in history, including the incomparable diva herself, RuPaul.

During the time of my studies all of the big clubs – Twilo, Tunnel, Exit, Sound Factory, and Limelight – were all near the close of their heyday. Nightlife wasn’t just about going to a club and dancing in your sneakers. It was about being dressed, getting pressed, and working it. When a queen started to turn it, you cleared the floor and reveled in awe. The shows were sometimes scary, sometimes spiritual, but always fierce. Queens rose from floors, hung from ceilings, and wore every manner of outlandish apparel one can imagine. Coming of age in such a rich environment filled with freaks, glamourpusses, and elegant children, how could I be ANYTHING but a drag queen.

I learned everything I know about being a queen from partying at these clubs. I met queens who later became my sisters in the House of Aviance. I learned how to walk, how to dress, how to beat my face and how to perform. And I learned how to turn it.

My own personal style evolved out of my early influences: being a child of the 80s all of my earliest notions of ferocity sprung from such divas as Vanity, Sheila E, Annie Lennox, Appalonia, Siouxie Sioux, Lisa Lisa, and any other manner of Prince protégé. I think of myself as elements of all of these ladies rolled in to one supremely gorgeous package. I don’t JUST lipsync. I express the emotion of a song through movement. Of course I DO lipsync, as it is a time-honored and deceivingly difficult drag art.

I’m also a singer. I have recorded songs with New York artists and nightlife superstars like Jonny McGovern and Adam Joseph. I am member of La’Mady, a tranny rap supergroup that defies description. I’ve traveled with the Gay Pimp, Jonny McGovern, to perform at clubs and private parties in Hawaii, Florida, California, Washington state, Pennsylvania, and all over the United States.

My video is still in production but only because I really want to turn it for the children. And trust, darling, it will be fierce.

Thanks for voting for me!!!
Ericka sends you love from Behind the Waterfall.

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