Queerass(é): Act I – “Songs of a Genderless Body” - QUEERASS(É): ACT I – “SONGS OF A GENDERLESS BODY”.

Fragility as Poetics in the Politics of Performance

Authors

Keywords:

performance, body, gender, politic

Abstract

This article analyzes the poetics of indeterminacy in Queerass(é): Act I – “Chants of a Genderless Body”, a performance created by Mau Cugat, an Argentine artist based in France. Drawing on national and international reviews and engaging with the theoretical perspectives of Judith Butler, Karen Barad, and Sara Ahmed, the paper explores how the work dismantles normative representations of the body and proposes an affective, posthumanist materiality. It argues that the piece articulates a politics of vulnerability in which the body —through suspension and exposure— becomes an event rather than a representation. Indeterminacy thus emerges as both an aesthetic and political strategy that reconfigures the relationship between matter, affect, and gaze within contemporary performance practices.

References

Dramis, A. (2025, 23 de julio). Queerass(é) Acto 1: un réquiem para despedir los géneros. Página/12. https://www.pagina12.com.ar/843726-queerass-e-acto-1-un-requiem-para-despedir-los-generos

Tiempo Argentino. (2025, 8 de julio). «Queerass(é)»: la apasionante proclama poético-política de Mau Cugat. Tiempo Argentino. https://www.tiempoar.com.ar/ta_article/queerasse-poetica-politica-mau-cugat/

Saravia, C. (2025, 23 de agosto). Queerass(é): la poética de un cuerpo sin género. Marcha Noticias. https://marcha.org.ar/queerasse-canticos-de-un-cuerpo-sin-genero/

Uceda, G. P. (2025, 4 de agosto). Queerass(é) – Mau Cugat. Alerta Cultural. https://www.alertacultural.com/queerasse-acto-i-canticos-de-un-cuerpo-sin-genero/

Kafka, Y. (2024, 7 de febrero). Festival Trente Trente 2024 – Épisode 5: Queerass(é). La Revue du Spectacle. https://www.larevueduspectacle.fr/Festival-Trente-Trente-2024-Episode-5-Queerass-e--Lontano--Landing_a3813.html

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Published

2025-12-16 — Updated on 2026-07-20

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How to Cite

Gutiérrez, L. M. (2026). Queerass(é): Act I – “Songs of a Genderless Body” - QUEERASS(É): ACT I – “SONGS OF A GENDERLESS BODY”.: Fragility as Poetics in the Politics of Performance. The Step. Notebook of Theatre Studies, 2(25), 5–12. Retrieved from https://www.ojs.arte.unicen.edu.ar/index.php/elpeldano/article/view/1511 (Original work published December 16, 2025)

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 25 (2026): The Step. Notebook of Theatre Studies

Section

Artículos

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Copyright (c) 2025 Leonel Matías Gutierrez

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