The Dames Sylvester: A Big Gay Countdown

With: The Dames, Mad Kate w/ The Tide, Dornika, KALEO, Legion Seven, Lunchbox Candy, Bleach, The Dolls, Trailers 4 Trannies & Fag Bar
the event will be held in English

Queer cabaret can be seen not just as an escape from reality but a rehearsal for what could be. It is a collective experiment in imagining life differently. On stage, bodies may become living archives that carry histories, contradictions and survival stories which unfold through glitter, rage and movement. In this sense Cabaret can be understood as an act of shared unmasking. A reveal of the systems it dares to mock. Cabaret is critique dressed in spectacle. Through exaggeration and double meanings and a refusal of closure, queer cabaret can be a way of thinking: shimmering, political and always in motion. Thus, cabaret becomes a space to rehearse how we might live, love, and celebrate differently.

On New Year’s Eve, The Dames transform the theatre into a place of reflection, celebration and solidarity. In three acts, the New Year’s Eve gala unfolds from a communal gathering into a characteristic performance by The Dames. Their drag acts interweave with contributions from invited artists and representatives of queer communities, culminating in an after-party hosted by Lunchbox Candy. Grassroots organisations are also present with information stands and activities:

Programm Overview

Part One – Queer Community Gathering

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

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

Fag Bar
United radical service tops organize Fag Bar, nights of indecently dancing scandalously sodomizing, raising funds for queers in Palestine.

Part Two – Main Show

The Dames – Your hosts for the evening
A queer live cabaret music duo that has been thrilling 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. Crossing genres between dark electronic, hyperpop and punk energy.

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

Angel Maxine
Ghana’s first openly trans musician and activist whose work spans music, performance and grassroots advocacy. Her art boldly addresses LGBTQI+ and trans rights, gender equality, healthcare access, sex workers’ rights, social justice and the lived realities of queer Ghanaians and the African diaspora.

KALEO
Queer Palestinian artist. Stories of resistance, family and hope are embodied in dance and singing.

Legion Seven
Interdisciplinary artist whose works move 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. The dance floor as a healing space, community as a heartbeat. DJs and performers will be announced here shortly.