/regions/2026/01/02/marie-renaud-6957dae3e5586415010064.jpg "TESTIMONIALS. \"Drag is inherently political\"the drag queens take center stage at the after pride in")
Saturday June 6 will take place the Pride March, also known as Pride in Nancy. An event which will be followed by an “After Pride” at the Other Canal with a drag show. Another way to make the LGBTQIA+ community visible.
“What’s more militant than drag queens?”smiles Madeleine Reina, producer of After Pride in Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle). The official evening of the Pride March will host a drag show with performances by Nikaïa, Souluuux, La Voisine, Treize, Kishlow Rain, Lovana, Yami and Marilyne 2000 as mistress of ceremonies. But also Moon, known for having participated in Drag Race France and Drag Race France All Star.
“The arrival of Moon sparked a lot of excitement because she is really very sweet, she has the same values as us,” notes the producer of the evening. But this event also highlights the local LGBT scene. Souluuux is a queer drag queer from Nancy. With her androgynous look between facial hair and makeup or even a suit jacket and corset, she assumes her personality “flicker around the edges”.
“I like to disturb, for the public to be surprised and to create a closeness with them”confides Souluuux. If Souluux is a “performer” that we hear a lot, this was not always the case for Soulémane Cheli. As a child who stuttered, taking the mic as a queer drag was a challenge for him. Thanks to his alter ego, Soulémane Cheli speaks on subjects that are close to his heart: “None of my performances are politically justified.” Messages embedded in shows with references to pop culture, his experiences and even his Algerian origins.
If his art is an activist act, Souluuux does not wish to lock himself in a box and wants to allow representation of racialized queer people. Supported by her mother and her brother, she also received encouragement from many spectators: “Often people tell me ‘you’re not the profile that excites me the most but in the end I liked your way of turning things around’, It touches me a lot.”.
Often women are shocked and tell me that they don’t know how to do makeup as well as me but I tell them but no one would go to the bakery like that!
Nikaïa has a lot of positive feedback on her performances too. Originally from Nice but having studied in Nancy, Dylan Escriva often returns to Nancy to perform. This will be the case for After Pride. For him, Nikaïa is an extension of him which allows him to say and do things that he would not have done in civilian life. “With drag we create a form of authority because we have big wigs, big heels, it’s imposing”explains Nikaïa. If Dylan Escriva is rather calm and reserved, Nikaïa is “the southerner par excellence with a humorous touch and leadership but above all she does not hesitate to shade (tackle in a humorous way)”.
With her big buttocks, her fake hips, her fake breasts, her big wigs and her glamorous side, the artist’s objective is not to “look like a woman but push the features to the maximum”. “Often women are shocked and tell me that they don’t know how to do makeup as well as me, but I tell them, but no one would go to the bakery like that!”laughs the drag queen.
“Contrary to what some people may think, drag is art, it’s not just about dressing up and acting like a clown.” she says. Although Nikaïa believes that this art “has a claim by nature”she does not consider herself to be the most militant. “Drag is political in essence but I get my messages across because I love this art, he’s like a painter, he paints for pleasure and his message gets across when he sells them”she compares. She notably chooses to perform in “clubs hétéros” in front of people who have never met a drag queen. “We can change things by facing people who don’t know us to show them that we are normal and that we deserve to exist”she believes.
After Pride is also open to all “curious” whether they are part of the LGBTQIA+ community or not. The event will take place this Saturday, June 6, from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. at l’Autre Canal in Nancy.
