With AUTOGYNEGAMY, Montreal underground icon Elle Barbara has set out to create an interdisciplinary performance of stunning intensity. In a dazzling display of her talents—from dance to music, multimedia to revisionist Bible stories—the singer, performer, and model undergoes a rebirth before our very eyes.
Amid the architectural splendour of Très-Saint-Rédempteur church, presided over by a priest/narrator, the story of her life is performed through a series of powerfully symbolic acts. Her gender transition, socio-medical sacrifice, and liberation are transformed by a bevy of dancers who revel in outrageousness and excess—just like the “queen of Montreal” herself.
In AUTOGYNEGAMY, Elle Barbara appropriates the rites of marriage, with the audience cast as guests at a wedding ceremony right out of a fairy tale, in a spectacular celebration of self-love and self-respect.
Credits
Produced by Danse-Cité
Directed by Elle Barbara
Performed by Elle Barbara + Angélique Delorme + Amandine Garrido + Ben Harvey + Ericka Julie Jean Louis + Motrya Kozbur + Nyda Kwasowsky + Jontae McCrory + Sarah Lefebvre + Gabriel Olivella + Daniel Parent + H. Nigel Thomas
Choreographed with Sasha Kleinplatz
Written with Enora Rivière
Production dramaturgy Raja Feather Kelly
Sound Design Markus Lake
Set Design Marilène Bastien
Costume Design Elen Ewing
Lighting Design Jon Cleveland
Production Manager and Technical Director Samuel Thériault
Assistant Director Alexie Pommier
Costume Assistant Pascale Bassani
Make-Up Véronique St-Germain, Micaela Alleyne
Special Effects Rémy Couture
Co-produced by Elle Barbara + Festival TransAmériques + Fonds national de création du Centre national des Arts (Ottawa)
Co-presented by FTA + Danse-Cité in association with Théâtre Adam- Église Très-Saint-Rédempteur
The creation of this work is made possible with the financial support of : Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec
Programmed at Danse-Cité by Sophie Corriveau and Winnie Ho
Premiered at Festival TransAmériques, on May 28, 2025
Written by Sara Fauteux
Translated by David Dalgleish
About the artist
Elle Barbara is a self-taught multi-disciplinary artist active in the fields of music, dance, video, and performance who started out in the nightclub scene. She made her name as a musician in the early 2010s with a sound that intertwines sophisti-pop, jazz, soul, and glam. Her group Elle Barbara’s Black Space allowed her to redefine herself as a black trans woman while fighting the racism that still exists in the music and arts scenes. Accompanied by her band, she presented the musical event Elle’s Black Space Mission: An Afrodiasporic Odyssey at MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels) in 2018.
In 2019, she founded the House of Barbara, an artistic and community space in the tradition of New York’s ballroom “houses,” which sprang up in the late 1960s as a response to the oppression experienced by queer, trans, gay, black, and Latin American people. In 2021, along with young artists belonging to the house, Elle Barbara created Ayibobo III: Little Dollhouse on the Prairie at La Chapelle Scènes Contemporaines. In 2025, she will unveil her latest work, AUTOGYNEGAMY. What’s more, after sharing the stage with Madonna during the Queen of Pop’s most recent visit to Montreal, she will release her first album in over a decade.
Interview
INTERVIEW WITH Elle Barbara
What does “autogynegamy” mean and where does it come from?
It’s an expression I made up by combining the Greek words αὐτό (“auto”), which means the self or oneself, γυνή (“gyn”), which refers to women, and γάμος (“gamie”), meaning marriage or union. It could have been “autogynégamie” in French, but I wanted a name that could be used everywhere without translating it. It’s also a reference to a controversial psychological typology established by the Canadian-American researcher Ray Blanchard in the 1980s. After conducting research with transgender women, he divided his subjects into two groups. On the one hand, there are “homosexual transsexuals,” whose transition from the male to female gender was caused by homosexuality. On the other hand, there are “non-homosexual transsexuals,” who were “autogynephiles,” meaning they are sexually aroused by the idea of themselves as a woman. Blanchard presented this attraction as a paraphilia—in other words, an atypical or even abnormal sexual practice.
To this day, his theory is still discussed in the trans community, and his terminology is increasingly being adopted by mainstream media. That’s a problem, because many trans people, especially activists and campaigners, are vehemently opposed to it. For them, this kind of categorization pathologizes a large segment of the trans population. So the name of my show refers to this typology as well. Since I’m marrying myself, it’s a case of “autogynegamy,” not “autogynephilia”!
What does this “self-marriage” mean to you?
Ever since I was a child, I’ve dreamed of a fairy-tale wedding—so I’m giving myself one in this show. It’s a spectacular affair: there will be a church, a dress with a train, guests, the whole nine yards! I could have found someone to marry for the performance, but the more I thought about it, the more I said to myself that, in the end, a self-union would be more meaningful. Like many people, I’m trying to free myself of the notion that my happiness depends on being part of a couple. That’s a social construct that needs to be reinvented. These days, given the prominent role of capitalism and the constant stream of new technologies in our lifestyles, there’s no question that we are being pushed more and more toward individualism, which isolates us and makes it even harder than before to find a partner. At the same time, society associates celibacy with failure. Like many women, I’ve chosen to see things differently and devote that love to myself instead. In that sense, my engagement represents an act of empowerment.
Self-marriage is not yet legally recognized. In conjunction with the show, I’ve therefore undertaken some legal proceedings to see just how far this performative act can be pushed. My collaborator Enora Rivière has described it as a “legisthetic” initiative, which I think is exactly right. But to be honest, more than anything, it’s an act of personal healing and reconciliation. To declare my undying love to myself, I have to be able to forgive myself, like myself, and have the courage to look back at my past.
You’re a self-taught artist who has chosen an open-ended, multidisciplinary path. How does AUTOGYNEGAMY reflect your creative mindset?
I’m a real jack-of-all-trades. I don’t specialize in anything, but I’m interested in lots of things. This show reflects my very wide range of interests. I love music and singing, of course, which I’ve done for a long time, but AUTOGYNEGAMY foregrounds many other artistic languages. I have a natural affinity for maximalism and exuberance, and I wanted to create a larger-than-life performance with a spectacular aesthetic approach. From the start of the process, I had an extremely clear idea of what I wanted to do, and I like to get involved in all aspects of the production, because in my view, each of them is part of the creative work. That said, I surrounded myself with a valuable team of collaborators who each have their own specific area of expertise. AUTOGYNEGAMY represents, in a sense, the culmination of a professional, artistic, and personal journey. I had no choice but to go all out!
Practical Informations
Dates :
May 28, 2025 - 9.00 PM * In French
May 29, 2025 - 9.00 PM * In French
May 31, 2025 - 9.00 PM * In EnglishVenue:
Théâtre Adam - Église Très-Saint-Rédempteur
3530 Rue Adam
Montréal, QC H1W 1Y7