With: The Dames, Mad Kate w/ The Tide, Dornika, KALEO, Legion Seven, Lunchbox Candy, Bleach, The Dolls, Trailers 4 Trannies & Fag Bar

Queer cabaret can be seen not only as an escape from reality, but also as a rehearsal for what could be. It is a collective experiment in imagining life differently. On stage, bodies can become living archives that carry stories, contradictions and resilience. They unfold through glamor and performance. In this sense, cabaret can be understood as an act of collective unmasking. A revealing of the systems it dares to mock. Cabaret is criticism as spectacle. Through exaggeration and ambiguity, queer cabaret can become a way of thinking: dazzling, political and moving. In this way, queer performance becomes a space in which we can rehearse how we want to live, love and celebrate together.

On New Year's Eve, The Dames shape the theater as a place of reflection, celebration and solidarity. In three acts, the New Year's Eve gala unfolds from a communal gathering into a signature performance by the Dames. Their drag acts interweave with contributions from invited artists and representatives of queer communities and end in an after-party hosted by Lunchbox Candy. Grassroots organizations will also be present with information stands and activities.

Program

Part One - Queer Community Gathering

The Dolls
A transfem* community collective, founded in 2022, a space for exchange, care, collective self-organization, workshops, community dinners and direct solidarity. The Dolls are fighting to preserve their self-organized space in the face of drastic cuts to Berlin's anti-discrimination budget.

Trailers 4 Trannies
A project to support the queer autonomous car group Marzipahn in their fight against eviction and to fund legalization and community structures. A radical, tender space for trannies, queerdos, faggots, butches, bottoms and their friends.

Fag Bar
Nights of bawdy dancing and scandalous sodomy. Radical service tops organize Fag Bar to fundraise for queer communities in Palestine.

Part Two - Main Show

The Dames - Your hosts for the evening
A queer live cabaret music duo that has been inspiring Berlin's scene for three years with emotional, humorous and collaborative shows.

Dornika
The Iranian-American, hyper-political underground icon: singer, rapper, producer, activist, director. Cross-genre between dark electronic, hyperpop and punk energy.

Mad Kate w/ The Tide
Producer, performerand writer. Since 2004, Mad Kate has been shaping Berlin's queer performance landscape with works on physicality, consent, touch and the political dimension of the performative.

Angel Maxine
Ghana's first openly trans musician and activist. Her work encompasses music, performance and grassroots organizing. Through her art, she advocates for LGBTQI+ and trans rights, gender equality, access to healthcare, sex workers' rights, social justice and the realities of queer Ghanaians and the African diaspora.

KALEO
Queer Palestinianartist. Stories of resistance, family and hope are embodied in dance and song.

Legion Seven
Interdisciplinaryartistwhose work moves between dream logic, sci-fi, audio performance and immersive spaces. Awarded the Basel Media Art Prize, among others.

Part Three - Afterparty with Lunchbox Candy
The Berlin queer rave collective between house, EBM, techno, breakbeat and performance. Dance floor as healing space, community as heartbeat. DJs and performers will be announced here shortly.