Cherdonna Shinatra Explained

Cherdonna Shinatra
Birth Name:	Jody Keuhner
Nationality:	American
Years Active:	2007–present

Cherdonna Shinatra is the stage name of Jody Kuehner (born 1979),^[1] a Seattle-based, American dancer, drag queen and performance artist.^[2] Kuehner won the Stranger Genius Award in Performance in 2015.^[3]

Career

Performance style

Kuehner has been called a "female impersonator impersonator" and describes her own performance as Cherdonna as "a female-bodied person, presenting as a male-bodied person, presenting as a female".^{[4] [5]} She has been mistaken for a man by some audience members who don't expect to see the "exaggerat[ed] femininity" displayed by a drag persona to have a female body.^[6] After a performance in Seattle she had her breasts grabbed by a person who expected to find a prosthetic, and she performed onstage several times with a male partner before he realized she was not also male.

Keuhner incorporates many elements into her performances, including dance, theater, drag, burlesque, glitter, celebrity impersonations, audience interaction, and clowning.^[7]

Dance instruction

Kuehner was artist in residence and instructor at Velocity Dance Center in 2014.^[8]

Personal life

Kuehner describes herself as queer.^[9]

Further reading

• Web site: Kurtz . Katie . Cherdonna Performs at the Frye Every Day for Three Months Straight . The Stranger . 2019-01-16 . 2019-03-03 . mdy-all .
• Web site: Richards . Becs . Cherdonna Shinatra takes her subversive clowning to Frye Art Museum with 'DITCH' . The Seattle Times . 2019-02-27 . en-US . 2019-03-03 . mdy-all .

Notes and References

1. News: Frizzelle. Christopher. 2014-09-10. The Inexplicable, Fascinating Cherdonna Shinatra, the Drag Queen Who's Not a Drag Queen. The Stranger. 2021-09-08.
2. News: Serinus. Jason Victor. 2016-06-02. Cherdonna Shinatra does it her way: 'Gender fluid' performer shakes off expectations. The Seattle Times. 2021-09-08.
3. News: Frizzelle. Christopher. 2015-09-16. Cherdonna, Winner of the 2015 Stranger Genius Award in Performance. The Stranger. 2021-09-08.
4. News: Aaron Scott. 2016-04-23. Drag Through The Back Door With Wigs The Size Of Texas. Oregon Public Broadcasting. https://web.archive.org/web/20190702134442/http://www.opb.org/artsandlife/article/kaj-anne-pepper-cherdonna-shinatra-portland-drag-queen/. 2019-07-02.
5. Web site: Two NW Drag Queens Boldly Go Where No Queens Have Gone Before. live. 2021-09-08. Spreaker. Oregon Public Broadcasting. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20210908180917/https://www.spreaker.com/user/oregonpublicbroadcasting/two-nw-drag-queens-boldly-go-where-no-qu_1 . September 8, 2021 .
6. News: Jacobson. Rebecca. 2016-04-27. The Surprising Gender Bending of Drag Queen Cherdonna Shinatra. Portland Monthly. 2021-09-08.
7. Web site: O'Kane. Kyle. 2018-02-23. The History of Cherdonna Shinatra: From Name to Fame. live. 2021-03-01. FringeArts. en-US. https://web.archive.org/web/20180228120749/http://fringearts.com:80/2018/02/23/history-cherdonna-shinatra-name-fame/ . February 28, 2018 .
8. Web site: Class descriptions and faculty bios: Professional/Advanced Contemporary with Jody Kuehner. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160301100927/http://velocitydancecenter.org/festivals/strictly-class-descriptions-faculty-bios/. 2016-03-01. Velocity Dance Center.
9. News: Sommerfeld. Seth. 2014-10-13. A Fiendish Conversation with Jody Kuehner (Cherdonna Shinatra). Seattle Met. 2021-09-08.