(this article from Imprint, the University of Waterloo’s Official Student Newspaper, Nov 18, 2011, written by Paul McGeown, Assistant Arts Editor)
Arsenault set to turn on minds at Waterloo
Prominent transgender performer speaks with hope of opening new channels of discourse
Nina Arsenault has been performing for most of her life. Her body of work includes two plays (written and performed by her), TV appearances on Kink and Train 48, and dozens of photo shoots. Still, the 37-year-old performer gets nervous on occasion. “Sometimes I get nervous when I show the nude photos… but I’m also just so proud of them as artistic pieces.”
Arsenault, one of the most prominent transgender performers, will speak at the Modern Languages theatre on Monday, Nov. 16. The talk will sample some of her past work (she plans to perform one monologue from each of her plays, I Was a Barbie and The Silicone Diaries) and will also include photos and videos that she took during her transformation.
She sounded most excited, though, about debuting a new video that she called, “My $20 million sci-fi film.” The footage was shot inside Maple Leaf Gardens, which is in the midst of a sizable makeover. Of course, the actual budget was less than $20 million — far less.
“Really, we just broke in at night and shot the stuff until security kicked us out,” said Arsenault.
She calls the performance “part artist talk, part performance lecture, part comedy.” It sounds ambitious, but Arsenault has enough experience to make it happen. She has two postgraduate degrees in theatre, and has contributed to both the National Post and Fab magazine. She also has no shortage of content: “My life has been so sensational I haven’t had to make anything up,” stated Arsenault.
A talk like the one on Monday affords Arsenault more than the oppurtunity to cross genres. It also allows her to open channels of discourse that are frowned upon on television.
“I feel like whenever I’m on TV, I sort of have to dumb things down for Grade 3 people, and I’m at the point where I don’t want to do it anymore,” said Arsenault.
When speaking to university crowds, “It can be a higher level of conversation. Not in an art snob kind of way but… it can go to another place,” she said.
The lack of control in television is equally frustrating: “It’s so maddening when some TV producer who’s never met a transsexual before me is telling me how I should be represented.” Television does have an upside, though. She laments that some grassroots documentaries highlight what they feel is the “real” story: generally, the gritty side of her transformation. But, “The real stuff is glamourous,” laughed Arsenault. “Glamour is really — it’s at the heart of me.”
That some people don’t understand her is something she laughs about. She talked about speaking to a Sociology 101 class at a local university, and how “they all thought I was the devil… they weren’t sure if it was a performance or if it was a lecture. But I was sort of like, ‘It’s both a performance and a lecture. Like, get with the program.’”
Of course, Arsenault is exploring topics that are foreign to lots of straight university students; particularly the concept of a male G-spot, and how to stimulate it.
“I notice that some of the straight guys don’t want to keep eye contact with me after I start talking about that stuff. I don’t know if it’s because they’re uncomfortable about it, or it’s because they think about it, or if it’s just… wow, that’s a lot of information.”
Regardless, Arsenault talked excitedly about being in a university environment. “What I’m interested in is… talking to people with open minds; I’m interested in talking to people who are hungry for new ideas; I’m interested in people who want to explore the complications of life… their mind, their body, their being, their breath: the whole thing is turned on.” On Monday, Arsenault will undoubtedly turn on more than a few minds.